Reviews
"an intelligent and subtle reading of four of the great odes which foregrounds critical commentary in its extended ruminations on the texts" - Criticism
--Criticism
"Scholarship needs periodic reconsiderations of the critical traditions surrounding great poems; O'Rourke meets the challenge of saying something original about works that have been discussed endlessly in recent decades while showing clearly the strengths and weaknesses of the contributions that major schools of criticism have made to the discussion."
--Choice
"The real strength of the book is not finally in its revelations of critical limitations, or in its ultimate conclusions concerning the poems -- but rather in its attention to the subtle ways Keats' language operates (especially sonically), and in its finely-tuned attention to the mercurial Keatsian persona. In these emphases I found this study original, engaging, and critically valuable." -- The Wordsworth Circle
--The Wordsworth Circle
"One of the most valuable contributions of his study. . . is his breathtaking and original attention to the quality of sound in the poems. . . . O'Rourke both hears and analyzes the aural richness of the verse, probing its implications while still allowing it to continue to challenge and delight readers."-- New Books in Nineteenth-Century Studies
--New Books in Nineteenth-Century Studies
"Provides a needed response to New Historicism's insistence that Romantic poetry is invariably escapist." --European Romantic Review
--European Romantic Review