The prepositions you’re most likely to encounter after the title of a poem are “for” or “to” and sometimes “after”—“for my daughter”; “to Bobby”; “after Pound”; etc. They signify dedication, address, homage, imitation. In the recent poems of Fred Moten, we encounter “with,” a preposition that denotes accompaniment. The little difference makes a big difference, emphasizing collaboration over the economy of the gift, suggesting that the poet and his company are fellow travelers, in the same time zone, alongside each other in the present tense of composition. (Given Moten’s acclaimed critical work on jazz, the “with” is immediately evocative…
Sign in to access Harper’s Magazine
We've recently updated our website to make signing in easier and more secure
Sign in to Harper's
Hi there.
You have
1
free
article
this month.
Connect to your subscription or subscribe for full access
You've reached your free article limit for this
month.
Connect to your subscription or subscribe for full access
Thanks for being a subscriber!
Get Access to Print and Digital for
$23.99 per year.
Subscribe for Full Access
Subscribe for Full Access
