The Bridge (poem)

First edition (publ. Black Sun Press)

The Bridge, first published in 1930 by the Black Sun Press, is Hart Crane's first, and only, attempt at a long poem. (Its primary status as either an epic or a series of lyrical poems remains contested; recent criticism tends to read it as a hybrid, perhaps indicative of a new genre, the "modernist epic."[1])

The Bridge was inspired by New York City's "poetry landmark",[2] the Brooklyn Bridge. Crane lived for some time at 110 Columbia Heights in Brooklyn, where he had an excellent view of the bridge; only after The Bridge was finished did Crane learn that one of its key builders, Washington Roebling, had once lived at the same address.[3]

The first edition of the book features photographs by Crane's friend the photographer Walker Evans.

  1. ^ Gabriel, Daniel (2007). Hart Crane and the Modernist Epic. ISBN 978-1-4039-7445-7.
  2. ^ "Poetry Landmark: The Brooklyn Bridge in New York City". Academy of American Poets.
  3. ^ Mariani, Paul (1999). The Broken Tower: A Life of Hart Crane. ISBN 0-393-32041-3.