Lisa Ampleman Romances: Poems

"Lisa Ampleman's Romances mixes the contemporary and the historical as it speaks back to the literary tradition of courtly love, in which a supposedly weak male poet addresses a cruel beloved who allegedly has all the power, even though that woman is silent. Instead, Ampleman's poems allow readers to hear from female troubadours, as well as Petrarch's Laura and Dante's wife. The collection also gives voice to Italian Renaissance poet Gaspara Stampa, mentioned in Rilke's Duino Elegies, through a series ofadaptations of her poems. In a sonnet sequence dedicated to Courtney Love, Ampleman shows the 1990s grunge rocker as subject, object, performer, and mother. Drawing on literary traditions from the medieval to the contemporary, Romances surveys a range ofromantic engagements: courtly and commonplace, sentimental and prosaic, toxic and mutual"--
In this subtle and candid collection, Lisa Ampleman mixes contemporary elements and historical materials as she speaks back to the literary tradition of courtly love. Instead of bachelor knights bemoaning their allegedly cruel beloveds, Romances emphasizes the voices of female troubadours, along with those of historical figures such as Dante’s wife, Petrarch’s Laura, and Anne Boleyn. Ampleman also incorporates the work of the Italian Renaissance poet Gaspara Stampa, mentioned in Rilke’s Duino Elegies, through a series of adaptations of her verse. Elsewhere, a contemporary sonnet sequence dedicated to Courtney Love shows the 1990s grunge rocker as subject, object, performer, and mother. As her poems reflect on popular romantic ideas about the past, the means by which elegies romanticize the dead, or the conventional romance of a happy marriage, Ampleman addresses a range of romantic entanglements: courtly and commonplace, sentimental and prosaic, toxic and mutual.