Introduction: 'Unless there is/ a new mind there cannot be a new/ line':
the modernist inheritance; 1. 'Thinkers without final thoughts': the
continuity between Stevens and Ashbery; 2. 'We must, we must be moving on':
Ashbery's divergence from Steven's modernism; 3. 'Piercing glances into the
life of things': the continuity between Moore and Bishop; 4. 'Resolved,
dissolved ... in that watery, dazzling dialectic': Bishop's divergence from
Moore and modernism; 5. 'A small (or large) machine made of words': the
continuity between Williams and Creeley; 6. 'Let/ go, let go of it':
Creeley's divergence from Williams and modenrism; 7. 'Those who love
illusion/ And know it': the continuity between Auden and Merrill; 8. 'I
knew/ That life was fiction in disguise': Merrill's divergence from Auden
and modernism; Conclusion: 'The possibility of free declamation anchored/
To a dull refrain': the postmodernist estate; Notes; Index.
