An Argument without End: Jack Spicer’s Serial Poem

The aim of this article is to offer a new way of reading Jack Spicer’s The Holy Grail, and, through it, his other books. Beginning with an introduction to Spicer’s serial poem and an examination of insights drawn from his critics, this investigation provides evidence that each serial poem is the repeated struggle between the poet and Spicer’s proposed “Outside” for command of the poem’s composition. This struggle, occurring in its instance and on the page, allows for a poem to speak of its own composition