Anthropy Poems

Douglas Barbour is a professor of English at the University of Alberta.
He is the author of Lyric/anti-lyric : Essays on Contemporary Poetry,
Breath Takes, and Fragmenting Body Etc.

Ray Hsu’s first book demonstrates that this young writer knows exactly
what he’s doing. Anthropy covers a lot of ground, containing poetic
sequences, lyrics and anti-lyrics, (mis)translations, and, in the title
piece, a (de)constructed autobiography. Hsu has a smart sense of the
dramatic comment, the witty aside, the slightly offbeat observation, the
fragmented but direct perception, all of which make strange sense. His
is a vision mature beyond his years.

Anthropy is divided into three parts: Third Person, which contains
“Benjamin: Nine Epilogues”; Second Person, which contains a
collection of shorter poems; and First Person, which contains the long
title sequence, another autobiographical fiction, “Olden Days,” and
“[Deleted Scenes],” a kind of eccentric commentary on the Benjamin
piece. Hsu’s prose is lapidary, his verse sharp and syntactically
daring. “The Art of Being Photographed” provides a good indication
of his craft: “When I saw my first James Dean / He was already dead.
Already tragic. / The film is an extended funeral. / I fell for the race
/ He hurtled in.... / ... / signs lean like blank, stupid trees. / The
engine is a heart, / A handful of nails.”

Hsu finds a new and different way to see old stories, pieces of
history, even the few personal and homey events he slips into a couple
of pieces. His scholarly background (he is a PhD student) shows up in
many pieces, as in the comment in the supposedly autobiographical
“Anthropy” that even if “Joyce was on to something,” an
“autobiography is a Kunstlerroman in reverse, working downward to a
simple root.” But he plays such ideas against each other with verve
and subtlety. The sequence on Walter Benjamin manages to invent his last
days while remaining true to the spirit of this fiercely investigative
philosopher.

Anthropy would be a strong collection under any circumstances; as a
first book, it announces Ray Hsu as a writer whose potential is already
manifest. Readers will be watching to see what he does next.