Almost Paradise: New and Selected Poems and Translations [Paperback]

Sam Hamill (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 12, 2005

Sam Hamill is that rare figure whose life is continually in dialogue with the rich and diverse tradition of poetry, whether that dialogue takes the form of translating the work of a poet long dead, writing a poem in celebration of the work of a contemporary poet, or musing on what it means to be a poet himself. A true poet's poet—and also the founding editor of Copper Canyon Press, one of the most influential publishers of poetry today—Hamill has been part of America's poetry scene for decades and has won numerous prizes and awards for his work. This collection presents the best of Hamill's work from his thirteen books of original poetry and from his numerous critically acclaimed works of translation, as well as a number of new, previously unpublished poems.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Coming on the heels of the Poets Against the War anthology and Web site effort, and of Hamill's stepping-down as the founding editor of Copper Canyon press, this valedictory volume feels perfectly timed. It includes work from 13 collections, as well as new poems, and a variety of translations from Chinese and Japanese classics. Hamill is at his best working in a minimal style inflected by his reading: "Each act of affection a lesson:/ I fail, but with each lesson, learn.// Like studying/ under Te-Shan:// Thirty blows if I can't answer;/ thirty blows if I can." The translations, which open the book, include work from Lao Tzu, Chuang Tzu and Wang Wei, as well as Issa, Ryokan and Basho. One of them, a short verse by Saigyo (1118–1190), sums up the book as a whole: "The mind is all sky/ the heart utterly empty,/ and the perfect moon/ is completely transparent/ entering western mountains." (Mar.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Review

"The goal of Hamill's poetry is a transparency of word and continuum, of subject and setting forth, an immediacy and clarity of line like that of fine calligraphy or of classical Zen brush painting. His poetry has only now begun to be accorded the attention it deserves."—W. S. Merwin

"No one—I mean no one ever—has done the momentous work of presenting poetry better than Sam Hamill. His editing and publishing, his criticism and translations, his own very strong and beautiful poems have been making a difference in American culture for many years. What a wealth of accomplishment! This book, this selection of his poems and translations is no less than essential."—Hayden Carruth

"Sam Hamill is one of the most disturbing poets of our time. In Almost Paradise he finds his voice both in his own strong work and his intensely powerful translations. I've followed Hamill's work closely now for a couple of decades and my admiration continues to increase."—Jim Harrison

"Exquisite renderings of the paradoxes that encircle us."—Terry Tempest Williams

"Sam Hamill's Almost Paradise is the accounting of a life of extraordinary breadth and passion. Hamill's work—clear and resonant, muscularly and musically felt—is the speaking of a poet of a specific and precise place, whose place is also the world. The poems emerging from his life in the Pacific Northwest bring the reader news from a world you can see, hear, eat, be rained on or warmed by. Poems conversing with other writers traverse as native ground the terrain of ancient Greece, Japan, China, and also the entire liberated and engaged line of American poetics. Hamill is a writer unabashedly taking his place within the community of literature and the community of all sentient beings—his fidelity is to the magnificent truth of existence, and to its commensurate singing."—Jane Hirshfield

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 224 pages
• Publisher: Shambhala (April 12, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1590301846
• ISBN-13: 978-1590301845
• Product Dimensions: 5.9 x 0.8 x 8.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #609,326 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Needful Poems and Necessary Translations, October 12, 2009

By 

William B. Jones - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Almost Paradise: New and Selected Poems and Translations (Paperback)

Sam Hamill's work as a writer has arced from translator of (mostly Asian) classics to his own poetry and essays to editing and publishing poetry of others to birthing Poets Against the War. In "Almost Paradise," selections from his translations comprise the first third of the compilation, and his own poetry constitutes the remainder. The former are necessary for anyone drawn to the poetry of Hamill's ancient "Travelling Companions," as he calls them -- Lao Tzu, Sappho, Basho and others; the latter are more needful, as they inform the reader of Hamill's own engagement with poets and publishing, systems of belief and their consequences, friendship, marital love, governments and the betrayals of war.

As such "Almost Paradise" is a split-level collection. One may take the first section as a sampler of translation from a writer of highest standing, if gathered with less didactic intent than his co-authored volume, "The Poetry of Zen," or represented elsewhere intact in his beautifully rendered "Tao te Ching." The second section reveals, in his own, often longer-form poems, the wrestlings, frustrations and determinations of a poet vowed to be about peace, until all may experience paradise together. [It is also interesting to read Hamill alongside his late conversation partner and fellow poet committed to peace, Denise Levertov, as they reference each other in their respective writings.]