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LEAPING POETRY AN IDEA WITH POEMS AND TRANSLATIONS

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'In ancient times, in the "time of inspiration", the poet flew from one world to another, "riding on dragons".... They dragged behind them long tails of dragonsmoke.... This dragonsmoke means that a leap has taken place in the poem. In many ancient works of art we notice a long floating leap at the center of a work. That leap can be described as a leap from the conscious to the unconscious and back again, a leap from the known part of the mind to the unknown part and back to the known.'

So begins one of the most fascinating books I have read in the past several years. Robert Bly gives us his wonderful idea about "leaping", surreal poetry and pays homage to the modern masters of this method, largely Spanish poets such as Neruda, Lorca and Vallejo. Involved in this idea are the concepts of Wild Association and the presence of three brains involved in a complex relationship within the human mind.

After this book, you will never look at art, any art, the same way again.

In brief Bly states that "a poet who is leaping makes a jump from an object soaked in unconscious substance to an object or idea soaked in conscious psychic substance." He argues that ancient poets leaped naturally; however, over the centuries formulas and rules killed the "leap." Now, however, certain poets are reviving the "leap."

Through the presentation of his thesis, Bly uses several rhetorical devices to define his concept. He compares and contrasts. For instance, he points out the difference of the Spanish poets and the French surrealists and finds the Spanish writers more satisfying. He provides examples of Leaping poets: he discusses Blake, Wallace Stevens, Neruda, Vallejo, and Rilke. He illustrates "leaping" through poems that he has translated and he explicates the jumps.

In summary, Robert Bly's "Leaping Poetry" is important for several reasons: (1) he creates an evocative and simple image (leaping) for a concept that poets of a certain ilk have been trying to explain for centuries; (2) he examines and meditates on the concept with plenty of examples from poets like Lorca, Neruda, Rilke, Vallejo; (3) he shows the similarities of leaping poetry to Lorca's concept of duende; (4) he finds a physiological source of leaping by discussing the work of Paul Maclean; and (5) he presents us with some fine translations of poets from around the world.

I'm taking a class on Deep Image poetry, and let me tell you, I had a hard time differentiating between deep image and surrealism. I consider myself to be a surrealist so it was hard to bridge the small gap, but Bly did a wonderful job of walking me through what deep image is in this work of art.

Leaping Poetry, a staple item on my bookshelf, has been recently reissued by author and poet Robert Bly. I was hoping for some new ideas rather than a simple reprinting of the original text, but am still happy to have this edition as my original copy is so worn and battered from use that I can now relegate it to the archived section of my shelves. This book is of the "small but mighty" category. The ideas about associative thinking are so refreshing, and the connections Bly makes to Lorca and the "duende" are so helpful-- reminders to live as close to death in our writing as we can get without actually dying. When we get into the "zone" with our associations, and get out of the way of them, we achieve what Bly wants for us as poets, and what he wants for himself as a reader of poems. I suggest that this book will be a perfect gift for anyone who is SERIOUS about poetry and wants to leap up off the floor of unremarkable writing onto the heights of perilous writing. Go ahead, you know you want this book. You know you want all your poet friends to have it too.

About a third of this book is a personal essay in which Bly blames the sad state of English poetry on Christianity, Western civilization, men, the intellect, and his contemporary and past poets and translators. However, because he doesn't bother to provide context for his adversarial views, I found much of this book utterly useless. Perhaps if I had been a studied poet in the 70s I would understand. Alas.

Further, Blake only explains what "leaping" poetry is in fairly abstract terms. If you don't immediately get it, you're in for a second struggle. But it's not all bad. Deep in the book, Bly makes a brilliant and useful assertion that partially redeems this book. He says that a poem can generate emotional power by forging connections between seemingly unrelated concepts. And that the further apart the concepts start, and the quicker the connections are made, the more vibrant the poem. That's a cool concept and worthy of a better treatment.

Where this book actually shines is in the inclusion of poetry by the likes of Neruda, Lorca and Vallejo. Some of the very abstract poems are nearly incomprehensible to the mind, but that's the point. These poems are best understood by the subconscious. To read these poems, you must let the intellect take a breather, or at least a cautious back seat. You must give the words permission to float as you read. Eventually, they form their own associations, both with the words present in the poem, and in deeper, somewhat hidden places in your heart. The result can be just as rewarding as any modern descriptive/narrative poetry. If only Bly had just said so, rather than obfuscating everything.

An enchanting little book well worth its weight in shipping costs. It's always good to read a poet's translation, and few people out there today read or write poetry as well as Bly. Getting to watch Bly collaborate with poets like Lorca through translation is a truly rare experience. While the true joy of the book is in Bly's translations and selections of poetry, his scattered arguments for what he calls 'leaping poetry' are no less insightful and are a testament to the power of poetic argument. A wonderful and worthwhile read for any modern poetry lovers. Some knowledge of Spanish would greatly enhance the reading--and any poet hounds with such knowledge MUST buy this--but it is not required.