Aerosols and Other Poems

These Poems—puffs of air, or “aerosols”—are auras, emanations of being, lingering, prolonging meaning. Following the title poem, they are arranged in sections, structured according to themes, inspirations, forms, or other markers. Among the underlying vectors are perception and imagination—how we see, feel, and picture things. The approach is, loosely, phenomenological. Hence the importance here of painting and of poetry itself. Vision as both tool and matter plays a major role. Vivid scenes, memories, daydreams, and concocted idylls arise from stores of sight, outer and inner. Such visions are essential for personal and collective health. — Catharine Savage Brosman, from “Introductory Note.”

Praise for Aerosols and Other Poems

“The foliage around us shakes, not with wind, /but being.” So writes Catharine Savage Brosman in her rich new book of poetry, Aerosols. Brosman is timeless in her sensibility. She conjures up the mystic ontology underlying space, time, and the memory of time. This nearly cosmic reach is intertwined with an unparalleled ability to be in the moment as an opening towards eternity, and all is conveyed with craftsmanship of the most impeccable character. As if this weren’t enough, she brings back the grand tradition of including exquisite translations from other poets—José-Maria de Heredia, Verlaine, Apollinaire. She is master of literary translation, as these poems live in English as they live in French, and resonate with the themes of Brosman’s original work. —Jonathan Chaves

Praise for Brosman’s Previous Poetry

“Catharine Brosman has produced one of the most remarkable bodies of work in contemporary poetry.” — Jesse Graves

“Her poems are illuminating.” — Marc Jolley

“For nearly half a century now, Catharine Savage Brosman has been one of this country’s finest poets, not just because of her mastery of language and form, but also because of the courage to remain true to her traditionalist aesthetic.” — Claude Wilkinson

“Catharine Savage Brosman, one of the greatest poets of our age, has recovered for contemporary poetry a concern for the essentially human and universal within a romantic poetry of reflection.” — James Matthew Wilson