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Sweet Machine
Mark Doty's last two award-winning collections of poetry, as well as his acclaimed memoir Heaven's Coast, used the devastation of AIDS as a lens through which to consider questions of loss, love and identity. The poems in Sweet Machine see the world from a new, hard-won A coming back to life, after so much death, a way of seeing the body's "sweet machine" not simply as a time bomb, but also as a vibrant, sensual, living thing. These poems are themselves "sweet machines"—lyrical, exuberant and joyous—and they mark yet another milestone in the extraordinary career of one of our most distinguished and accomplished poets.
128 pages, Paperback
First published March 1, 1998
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About the author
Mark Doty
89 books337 followersMark Doty is a poet, essayist, and memoirist. He is the author of ten books of poetry, including Deep Lane and Fire to Fire: New and Selected Poems, which won the National Book Award. He lives in New York, New York.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 31 reviews
May 21, 2017
Town so empty, off season,
you'd think that everybody'd died.
Certain types of images pervade Sweet Machine: animals, art, city streets in their parade of chaos. Published in 1998 in the immediate wake of the worst of the AIDS epidemic, this collection takes grief and rebirth as its main topics, and sometimes when you think you're getting one you're really getting the other, as in "Murano," which seems to extol glassmaking and Venice but eventually turns dark:
... Is this
what becomes of art,
the hard-won permanence
outside of time? A struck
match-head of a city,
ungodly lonely
in its patina of fumes
and ash? Gorgeous scrap heap
where no one lives,
or hardly anyone
On the other hand, in more than one poem Doty is visited by the dead in his dreams, and although these verses are infused with sadness, they ultimately seem to bring him a kind of peace:
Bless you. You came back, so I could see you
once more, plainly, so I could rest against you
without thinking this happiness lessened anything,
without thinking you were alive again.
Images of animals always reflect and magnify the larger world: a humpback whale who casually shrugs off the dire fate Doty predicts for him and instead becomes an emblem of joy; a bowl of small turtles for sale on Broadway that serve as a reminder that even a brief life can have meaning. Even a shelter full of dogs with an uncertain fate are a symbol of renewal:
No one's dog
is nothing but eagerness
tempered with caution,
though only a little.
We wanted to be born
once, don't we want
to be delivered again,
even knowing the nothing
love may come to?
O Lucky and Buddy and Red,
we put our tongues to the world.
I read Doty's most recent collection, Deep Lane, last year and thought its title was a reference to T.S. Eliot's "East Coker." Similarly, I thought the title of this collection, Sweet Machine, was a reference to Walt Whitman's Leaves of Grass. I was all set to make an analogy regarding these influences, about how the Eliot connection in Deep Lane is evident both in those poems' more formal structure and in their more inscrutable emotions, whereas the Whitman element in Sweet Machine is revealed in the raw emotion, vividness, and stubborn joy at being alive that's present in these more accessible poems. But it turns out I was wrong on both counts: Doty wasn't referring to "East Coker" in Deep Lane but to a road near his house, and apparently Leaves of Grass doesn't mention the "sweet machine" at all; I don't know why I thought it did. But I believe my larger point still stands! Sweet Machine is a book about how even amidst grief and sadness, hope and joy and the fullness of life can still be found: "Hey... Somebody's going to live through this. Suppose it's you?"
you'd think that everybody'd died.
Certain types of images pervade Sweet Machine: animals, art, city streets in their parade of chaos. Published in 1998 in the immediate wake of the worst of the AIDS epidemic, this collection takes grief and rebirth as its main topics, and sometimes when you think you're getting one you're really getting the other, as in "Murano," which seems to extol glassmaking and Venice but eventually turns dark:
... Is this
what becomes of art,
the hard-won permanence
outside of time? A struck
match-head of a city,
ungodly lonely
in its patina of fumes
and ash? Gorgeous scrap heap
where no one lives,
or hardly anyone
On the other hand, in more than one poem Doty is visited by the dead in his dreams, and although these verses are infused with sadness, they ultimately seem to bring him a kind of peace:
Bless you. You came back, so I could see you
once more, plainly, so I could rest against you
without thinking this happiness lessened anything,
without thinking you were alive again.
Images of animals always reflect and magnify the larger world: a humpback whale who casually shrugs off the dire fate Doty predicts for him and instead becomes an emblem of joy; a bowl of small turtles for sale on Broadway that serve as a reminder that even a brief life can have meaning. Even a shelter full of dogs with an uncertain fate are a symbol of renewal:
No one's dog
is nothing but eagerness
tempered with caution,
though only a little.
We wanted to be born
once, don't we want
to be delivered again,
even knowing the nothing
love may come to?
O Lucky and Buddy and Red,
we put our tongues to the world.
I read Doty's most recent collection, Deep Lane, last year and thought its title was a reference to T.S. Eliot's "East Coker." Similarly, I thought the title of this collection, Sweet Machine, was a reference to Walt Whitman's Leaves of Grass. I was all set to make an analogy regarding these influences, about how the Eliot connection in Deep Lane is evident both in those poems' more formal structure and in their more inscrutable emotions, whereas the Whitman element in Sweet Machine is revealed in the raw emotion, vividness, and stubborn joy at being alive that's present in these more accessible poems. But it turns out I was wrong on both counts: Doty wasn't referring to "East Coker" in Deep Lane but to a road near his house, and apparently Leaves of Grass doesn't mention the "sweet machine" at all; I don't know why I thought it did. But I believe my larger point still stands! Sweet Machine is a book about how even amidst grief and sadness, hope and joy and the fullness of life can still be found: "Hey... Somebody's going to live through this. Suppose it's you?"
June 17, 2007
Doty's poems are like a kind of experience of luxury in its deepest sense -- the imagery lush, the spirituality expansive, the poems long and full. This book woke me up to the generous nature of the universe that surrounds us in all its details.
May 14, 2008
(one of my favourites)
CONCERNING SOME RECENT CRITICISM OF HIS WORK
-Glaze and shimmer
luster and gleam;
can't he think of anything
but all that sheen?
-No such thing,
the queen said,
as too many sequins.
CONCERNING SOME RECENT CRITICISM OF HIS WORK
-Glaze and shimmer
luster and gleam;
can't he think of anything
but all that sheen?
-No such thing,
the queen said,
as too many sequins.
December 12, 2020
Not as strong as Atlantis for a number of reasons: some of his poems that use New York City as a setting don't transcend the typical, beaten-dead-horse New York City mythologizing the average American has either become inured to or nauseated by; he includes two pieces addressing the same criticism of his work that also lack a certain significance, or merited intention, compared to other poems in the collection; there's more deviation from his usual style here that results in varying degrees of success.
But it's not a Mark Doty collection without at least a half dozen knockout poems that soar and sing at once. My personal favorites are "Lilies in New York," "Fog Suite," "White Pouring," "Lilacs in NYC," and "Visitation." "Golden Retrievals" is a successful straying - pun intended - from his usual themes into a cute, silly ode to dogs; "Emerald," "Murano," and "The Embrace" all have their moments, as do most of Doty's poems. Still a worthwhile collection for the first six mentioned above, but start with Atlantis.
But it's not a Mark Doty collection without at least a half dozen knockout poems that soar and sing at once. My personal favorites are "Lilies in New York," "Fog Suite," "White Pouring," "Lilacs in NYC," and "Visitation." "Golden Retrievals" is a successful straying - pun intended - from his usual themes into a cute, silly ode to dogs; "Emerald," "Murano," and "The Embrace" all have their moments, as do most of Doty's poems. Still a worthwhile collection for the first six mentioned above, but start with Atlantis.
June 9, 2025
one of my favorite poetry collections I've read in a long time.
March 7, 2008
In the final poem of Sweet Machine, Mark Doty describes grief as “a dim,/salt suspension in which [he’s] moved” through in the years following his lover’s death from AIDS (115). This collection is an exploration of what is meaningful after a prolonged period of suffocating grief. Many poems (“Favrile,” “Lilies in New York,” “Fog Suite,” “Dickeyville Grotto”) are permutations of ars poetica, in which Doty explores if the creation of art is truly a worthy representation of life, and therefore significant enough to spend our precious time on. The aforementioned and exemplary “Fog Suite” (21-25) is a beautiful extended metaphor poem in which the fog symbol continually morphs, representing the blank spaces between people, between life and death, between words and their intended meaning, and finally between reality and fantasy. All of these dichotomies are played with throughout this fine volume of work that continues to solidify why Mr. Doty is one of my favorite poets to read and learn from.
Read
October 4, 2019Poems of abundant imagery and questions. Highlights for me were Visitation, about a whale entering the harbour (What did you think, that joy / was some slight thing?") and the questions in Messiah:
" Aren't we enlarged
by the scale of what we're able
to desire? Everything,
the choir insists,
might flame;
inside these wrappings
burns another, brighter life,
quickened, now,
by song: hear how
it cascades, in overlapping,
lapidary waves of praise? Still time.
Still time to change."
" Aren't we enlarged
by the scale of what we're able
to desire? Everything,
the choir insists,
might flame;
inside these wrappings
burns another, brighter life,
quickened, now,
by song: hear how
it cascades, in overlapping,
lapidary waves of praise? Still time.
Still time to change."
April 14, 2009
I've never been a huge fan of contemporary poetry. It's a tricky media that can easily be abused, but Doty's writing is some of the most beautiful I have ever encountered. He tells stunning stories about his life, his partner, his partner's AIDS related death, his dog. It's so human and simple. He's one of the very few authors to ever make me cry with his writing. Every writer should be reading his work.
January 10, 2018
Wonderful and haunting a perfect October read.
March 22, 2020
I've been meaning to read Mark Doty's poetry ever since a fellow poet recommended his work to me last year. SWEET MACHINE was my serendipitous first choice (I found it at a Cape Cod bookstore that my friend also recommended), a collection that celebrates life in all its luminous glory after loss and grief. Many of the poems are long and dense with detail, but that attention to detail is what makes Doty's work so special. It doesn't matter if the topic is a once-in-a-lifetime find at an imported clothing store, lilacs growing in New York City, or a surprise humpback whale sighting at the harbor. Each poem is like a painting, with Doty's perceptiveness and lyrical language acting as the brushstrokes and the ebullient, grateful tone creating the vibrant colors. With SWEET MACHINES, Doty reminds us that beauty and joy can be found anywhere - and can make the simplest pleasures seem like luxuries.
August 6, 2024
I could yearn eternally for the mastery necessary to write as lyrically as Mark Doty. Sweet Machine is a careful work of craftsmanship stashing polished gems of humanity, grief, and insight. I will continue poring over every line, and I'm positive I will only ever find more to cherish with each expedition.
July 19, 2018
I loved so much of this book.
February 17, 2020
So so so beautiful. Never cried at a collection of poetry before
March 9, 2022
Best poetry collection ever
August 4, 2024
4.5 stars. i loved this so much.
May 11, 2025
viewing this book as a personal revival after experiencing unimaginable devastation due to the AIDS crisis makes it all the more moving. one of my new favorite books.
September 9, 2015
Doty's poetics remind me a bit of Rilke's early work: the idea of taking an object, a person, or an event and using it as the hub of the wheel from which all the ideas ribbon out and whirl around. It's very pretty to watch them swirl, it's true, but I somehow didn't have an emotional entry point into most of these poems. The exceptions were "Messiah (Christmas Portions)" and "Mercy on Broadway." I think the difference here, for me, is that the central event is one moment in time, frozen, instead of a physical person or object. The magic of a moment -- a choral concert, say, or stopping to look at a bowl of turtles while out for a walk -- is more interesting to me than the magic of an object, so I found myself going back to those two again and again for rereading. Doty is highly skilled, and writes lovely poetry, to be sure, but I love him best when he reaches up, and hits, incandescent.
May 19, 2014
I feel utterly unqualified to review a book of poems. I read them too fast, I rarely stop and savour them. I mean to, but then I speed up, and catch myself, and have to go back. It's not that I don't like poetry - I do. It's just that I'm not good at reading it.
But I enjoyed this, although I didn't love it. There are a couple of poems that will stick with me for a while. Maybe that's all you can ask.
It was particularly poignant reading the collection, because I'd previously (years ago) read the poet's memoir of the time he spent taking care of his lover, while his lover died of AIDS. This collection was published two years after that memoir, and the same images haunt the pages.
What would I have made of the collection without that context? I'm not sure.
But I enjoyed this, although I didn't love it. There are a couple of poems that will stick with me for a while. Maybe that's all you can ask.
It was particularly poignant reading the collection, because I'd previously (years ago) read the poet's memoir of the time he spent taking care of his lover, while his lover died of AIDS. This collection was published two years after that memoir, and the same images haunt the pages.
What would I have made of the collection without that context? I'm not sure.
January 7, 2009
I will swear by Atlantis and My Alexandria. And I mean in that if offered a choice between these books, I would not want to besmirch the reputation of either by bearing false witness to it. Likewise, the love poems at the end of this book deserve every loving praise--I would join whole choirs to sing to them. I wish I had connected with the other sections.
December 10, 2019
Not sure what to write since most of it went above my head.
I guess I prefer my poetry more narrative & less descriptive.
Some poems & lines I really enjoyed though (the kimonos...). Some were quite fun (his answers to his detractors -no such thing as too many sequins... though I kind of see the point of his detractors). The title poem will stick with me I think.
I guess I prefer my poetry more narrative & less descriptive.
Some poems & lines I really enjoyed though (the kimonos...). Some were quite fun (his answers to his detractors -no such thing as too many sequins... though I kind of see the point of his detractors). The title poem will stick with me I think.
October 9, 2007
I love Mark Doty. I love the way he describes things. I love his glimmery, dazzly way of describing things. How he takes the ordinary and makes it memorable and magical. If you ever get the chance to hear him read his poems, go hear him. He brings them to life.
January 22, 2008
I just couldn't do most of the this book. I bought it years ago at a clearance place for cheap and kept putting off reading it. While there were 3 poems that spoke to me in this book, most of it was to "element"al and earthy for me.
November 29, 2008
showcases what Doty brilliant mastery of modern lyricism - his ability to address those big, classical questions in the now. what is beauty? what is art? what is love? what is grief? what is the self? Doty tackles them all and more with compact, deft wit.
August 16, 2007
I have no words.
"Golden Retrievals" is one of the most beautiful poems about dogs, about living in the moment...
Mark Doty has become my favorite contemporary poet.
"Golden Retrievals" is one of the most beautiful poems about dogs, about living in the moment...
Mark Doty has become my favorite contemporary poet.
July 16, 2008
always loved Doty's work, yes, it's all a question of surface and shimmer, but a surface that does not distinguish from what's beneath, ultimately collapsing the distance between them.
March 10, 2011
This was one of the 1999 RUSA Notable Books winners. For the complete list, go to http://www.ala.org/ala/mgrps/divs/rus...
December 15, 2012
I was lucky enough to meet the author and hear him recite. My favorite poem of his is "Charlie Howard's Descent". His poetry is rich with imagery and storytelling.
June 19, 2013
Amazing sounds and words, Doty creates images with his writing that makes you smile or reflect. I really enjoyed the last two poem in this collection: "Mercy on Broadway" and "Visitation"
April 29, 2014
Doty's poetry is descriptive and stunning. Inside his descriptions he interweaves metaphor that we can relate to.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 31 reviews