| lighttower |
11-22-2014 04:59 PM |
I looked up the author of the book that Josh said he had just read. I hadn't heard of him. Not really into poetry, I must admit.
Some background on the book
The Wild God of the World: An Anthology of Robinson Jeffers
Robinson Jeffers (1887-1962) is not only the greatest poet that the American West has produced but also a major poet of the twentieth century in the tradition of American prophetic poetry. This anthology serves as an introduction to Jeffers's work for the general reader and for students in courses on American poetry.
Jeffers composed each volume of his verse around one or two long narrative or dramatic poems. The Wild God of the World follows this practice: in it, Cawdor, one of Jeffers's most powerful narratives, is surrounded by a representative selection of shorter poems.
At the end of the book, the editor has provided revealing statements about Jeffers's poetry and poetics, and about his philosophy of nature and human nature.
Review
"For too many decades Jeffers has been the forgotten giant of American poetry. The Wild God of the World gathers his best and most central work. For those who would discover Jeffers, the intense beauty of his poems of the California coast; the reach of his meditations on history, science, and God; and the lyricism of his personal poems, this is the place to start—and a place to return again and again." —Tim Hunt, Washington State University
"Of all the poets of his generation, [Robinson Jeffers] made our relation to this earth and sea and sky and wheeling seasons and the evolutionary processes that made trees and salmon runs and hunting hawks, his subject. As that relation grows more troubled, his words become more necessary. To have this beautifully edited and freshly seen anthology is a gift."
—Robert Hass,University of California, Berkeley
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