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The Complete Poems of Kenneth Rexroth

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Kenneth Rexroth was one of the most significant and influential American poets of the last half of the 20th century. This long overdue volume collects all his published poetry, as well as a wealth of previously uncollected material. Rexroth's erudition is remarkable, and his strongly syllabic verse is sometimes subtle, sometimes didactic, but always richly musical and intellectually sophisticated. His long poems, particularly "The Phoenix and the Tortoise" and "The Dragon and the Unicorn" are especially recommended, as are the "translations" he wrote in the guise of a Japanese woman poet, "The Love Poems of Marichiko."

Rexroth has for too long been overshadowed by his brief association with the Beats. Hopefully, this collection will demonstrate the lasting contribution he made to American literature.

Now with any luck Sam Hamill and Company at Copper Canyon will see fit to publish a collected translations, and perhaps a collected prose...

Aftering having read the majority of this volume, I am immeasurably impressed. Kenneth Rexroth is the real deal and encompasses a vast array of human life including nature, mysticism, mathematics, science, social issues, history, various cultures and an incredible lyricism that weaves it all together. I find something lacking in most of the authors that I read, included many revered to be among the best, though I can't seem to get enough of Rexroth, especially the longer poems that unfold like great narratives bringing in abstraction to his poetic technique. It is evident that he does not use words to impress, but is incredibly well-studied and compassionate enough to have purpose in all that he wrote. This is what poety is all about. The entire thing reverberates with power and beauty from the early poems that he composed, to the bulk written at the height of his power, to the more reflective ones at the end of his career. The introduction by Sam Hamill is of short length and is excellent as well.

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This collection of Rexroth's complete poetry is long overdue. Maybe this volume will force academia to revisit his work and finally place him among the greatest American poets of the last century, which is precisely where he belongs. His poetry is learned and has a deceptive simplicity. With the exception of his early cubist work, his poetry is remarkable for its clarity. He wrote some of the finest nature and love poetry of his generation. The beauty of Rexroth's poetry is that the reader gets to experience what it is like to engage with life fully. Buy a copy for yourself as well as one for a friend. You will not regret it.

"The Complete Poems of Kenneth Rexroth" is an audacious achievement by Editor Sam Hamill, Bradford Morrow and Copper Canyon Press. From Sam Hamhill's Introduction we journey backward to 1948 when McCarthy witch hunts were imminent, Atom Bombs were the American threat and Existentialists Andre Breton and Jean-Paul Sarte and Camus questioned their philosophies. Ezra Pound was incarcerated at the Elizabeth's Hospital for the insane. Meanwhile, in San Francisco, 43 year old Kenneth Rexroth's voice was emerging as he penned the "Dragon and the Unicorn" poem and finalized the book "The Signature of All Things." He helped promote poets like FerlinghettiA Coney Island of the Mind: Poems and found the Poetry Center at San Francisco State University, he testified in court and confounded the prosecution of Ginsberg's Howl.

Through Rexroth we see a complex lens of world cultures. He translated poems by Neruda, Lorca, Chinese poetry and Japanese classics. Read "Between Two Wars," The Phoenix and the Tortoise," the classic "Thou Shall Not Kill-- a memorial for Dylan Thomas The Collected Poems of Dylan Thomas: The Original Edition."

And all the birds of the deep sea rise up/Over the luxury liners and scream/"You Killed him! You killed him!/In your God damned Brookes Brothers suit/You son of a bitch.

Sure, Kenneth Rexroth did not care to be labeled "Father of the Beats," but we as readers know otherwise.