The Bridge: An Annotated Edition

Hart Crane’s modernist masterpiece The Bridge has steadily grown in stature since its 1930 publication. Once dismissed by influential critics as a noble failure, a view that hardened into conventional wisdom, it is now widely regarded as one of the major achievements of twentieth—century American poetry. The poem unites mythology and modernity to reckon with the promises, kept and broken, of American experience.

The Bridge is challenging in the best sense, exacting and ultimately rewarding....