''Meditations in an Emergency'' is a book of poetry by American poet

Frank O'Hara Francis Russell "Frank" O'Hara (March 27, 1926 – July 25, 1966) was an American writer, poet, and art critic. A curator at the Museum of Modern Art, O'Hara became prominent in New York City's art world. O'Hara is regarded as a leading figure i ...

, first published by Grove Press in

1957 1957 ( MCMLVII) was a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar, the 1957th year of the Common Era (CE) and ''Anno Domini'' (AD) designations, the 957th year of the 2nd millennium, the 57th year of the 20th century, and the 8th y ...

. Its title poem was first printed in the November 1954 issue of '' Poetry: A Magazine of Verse''. The name of the book is purported to derive from English poet John Donne's prose work, ''

Devotions upon Emergent Occasions ''Devotions Upon Emergent Occasions, and severall steps in my Sicknes'' is a prose work by the English metaphysical poet and cleric in the Church of England John Donne, published in 1624. It covers death, rebirth and the Elizabethan concept o ...

'', stemming from a joke between O'Hara and other members of the renowned

New York School of poets The New York School was an informal group of American poets, painters, dancers, and musicians active in the 1950s and 1960s in New York City. They often drew inspiration from surrealism and the contemporary avant-garde art movements, in partic ...

. Critics have noted the influence of

impressionism Impressionism was a 19th-century art movement characterized by relatively small, thin, yet visible brush strokes, open Composition (visual arts), composition, emphasis on accurate depiction of light in its changing qualities (often accentuating ...

and

abstract expressionism Abstract expressionism is a post–World War II art movement in American painting, developed in New York City in the 1940s. It was the first specifically American movement to achieve international influence and put New York at the center of the ...

in the collection, with most of the poems detailing the theme of identity and everyday life in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

. The book is dedicated to

painter Painting is the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a solid surface (called the "matrix" or "support"). The medium is commonly applied to the base with a brush, but other implements, such as knives, sponges, and ai ...

Jane Freilicher.

Poems

* To the Harbormaster * Poem: "The eager note on my door..." * To the Film industry in Crisis * Poem: "At night Chinamen jump" * Blocks * Les Etiquette jaunes * Aus einem April * River * Poem: "There I could never be a boy" * On Rachmaninoff's Birthday * The Hunter * For Grace, After a Party * On Looking at "La Grande Jatte," the Czar Wept Anew * Romanze, or The Music Students * The Three-Penny Opera * A Terrestrial Cuckoo * Jane Awake * A Mexican Guitar * Chez Jane * Two Variations * Ode * Invincibility * Poem in January * Meditations in an Emergency * For James Dean * Sleeping on the Wing * Radio * On Seeing Larry Rivers' "Washington Crossing the Delaware" at the Museum of Modern Art * For Janice and Kenneth to Voyage * Mayakovsky

Mentions in popular culture

The book, and references to it, are seen on several occasions in Season 2 of the

AMC AMC may refer to: Film and television * AMC Theatres, an American movie theater chain * AMC Networks, an American entertainment company ** AMC (TV channel) ** AMC+, streaming service ** AMC Networks International, an entertainment company *** AM ...

television drama '' Mad Men'': * In season 2, episode 1, "For Those Who Think Young", the book is read by an unknown character in a bar and later by the protagonist, Don Draper. At the end of the episode, a passage from the fourth section of the poem "Mayakovsky" (alluding to Vladimir Mayakovsky, a prominent poet and playwright of the

Russian Futurist Russian Futurism is the broad term for a movement of Russian poets and artists who adopted the principles of Filippo Marinetti's "Manifesto of Futurism," which espoused the rejection of the past, and a celebration of speed, machinery, violence, ...

movement) is recited.AMC Television. Episode Guide: Mad Men - Season 2, Episode 1: "For Those Who Think Young". Retrieved on 2013-06-06 from http://www.amctv.com/shows/mad-men/episodes/season-2/for-those-who-think-young. * In episode 12, "The Mountain King", Draper, visiting California on business, visits

Anna Draper This is a list of fictional characters in the television series ''Mad Men'', all of whom have appeared in multiple episodes. Overview ;Cast notes: * Maxwell Huckabee and Aaron Hart have split the role of Bobby Draper in the first season, whil ...

and finds the book he sent on her bookshelf. * Episode 13, set against the backdrop of the

Cuban Missile Crisis The Cuban Missile Crisis, also known as the October Crisis (of 1962) ( es, Crisis de Octubre) in Cuba, the Caribbean Crisis () in Russia, or the Missile Scare, was a 35-day (16 October – 20 November 1962) confrontation between the United S ...

, is titled "Meditations in an Emergency". Additionally, in Sally Rooney's book

Normal People ''Normal People'' is a 2018 novel by the Irish author Sally Rooney. ''Normal People'' is Rooney's second novel, published after ''Conversations with Friends'' (2017). It was first published by Faber & Faber on 30 August 2018. The book became a b ...

and its 2020 BBC Three-

Hulu Hulu () is an American subscription streaming service majority-owned by The Walt Disney Company, with Comcast's NBCUniversal holding a minority stake. It was launched on October 29, 2007 and it offers a library of films and television serie ...

TV adaptation An adaptation is a transfer of a work of art from one style, culture or medium to another. Some common examples are: * Film adaptation, a story from another work, adapted into a film (it may be a novel, non-fiction like journalism, autobiography, ...

, Connell gives this poetry collection to Marianne on her birthday.

References

1957 poetry books American poetry collections New York School poets Grove Press books {{poetry-collection-stub