By Grand Central Station I Sat Down and Wept

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By Grand Central Station I Sat Down And Wept is a novel of prose poetry written by the Canadian author Elizabeth Smart and published in 1945. It is widely considered to be a classic of the genre. For instance, in her preface to the 1966 reissue of the book, Brigid Brophy describes it as one of the half dozen masterpieces of poetic prose in the world. It details the author's passionate affair with the British poet George Barker, and might be characterised as a hymn to love and its supremacy above all other emotions and worldly practicalities. The novel's title is a foretaste of Smart's poetic techniques: it uses metre (it's largely anapaestic), contains words denoting exalted or intensified states (grandeur, centrality, weeping), and alludes to a canonical work (Psalm 137) with metaphorical import for the novel's subject matter. The book has gained a cult following, and has been referenced many times by the British singer Morrissey.

External links

• Book review at The Literary Encyclopedia
• By Grand Central Station I Sat Down and Wept: The Novel as a Poem by Alice Van Wart, in Studies in Canadian Literature
• Elizabeth Smart: Manuscript Gallery at Literary Manuscripts Collection of Library and Archives Canada

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Last updated on Saturday November 17, 2007 at 23:30:11 PST (GMT -0800)
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