23 of 23 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
"COME JEFFERS", January 10, 2001
This review is from: Robinson Jeffers: Selected Poems (Paperback)
Robinson Jeffers is considered by many scholars to be one of the greatest 20th century American regional poets. Anytime superlatives are used to describe someone or something in this manner there is room for debate. I do not have the academic credentials to enter into any debate concerning the degree of Jeffers' greatness, but I do weigh in with those who highly praise his work. Though born in the Eastern portion of the United States, Jeffers settled in Carmel, California early in his life and spent his last 58 years there. The rugged California coast coupled with the Pacific Ocean provided much of the imagery in his poetry. Included here are several of these poems such as "Morro Bay," "The Purse Seine," and "The Place for No Story" to name a few.
The poems chosen for inclusion in SELECTED POEMS are spread across the last 40 years of his life, 1924 thru 1962, the last few published posthumously. In addition to covering the greater portion of his mature productive years, the poems selected offer a sampling of most of his styles and themes.
One of his earlier narrative poems, "Roan Stallion," has been chosen for inclusion. This powerful poem invokes myth-ritual, theology, racial memory, shock for shock's sake, and blood-lust to name but a few of its themes and undercurrents. "Roan Stallion" is meant to be read, not analyzed, but it, along with the "Tamara" narratives have been analyzed to death by multiple critics and students of Freud. Because his themes in poems such as this were uncomfortable for many people, his popularity as a poet has suffered.
In addition, and again unfortunately for his popularity, Jeffers was an outspoken isolationist during WW II, and wrote a number of poems with themes critical of U.S. involvement in the war. Among those included here are "We Are Those People," "So Many Blood Lakes," and "Calm and Full the Ocean."
Tor House, Jeffers' home in Carmel, and the adjacent Hawk Tower which he built with his own hands for his wife, Una, are open to the public on a limited basis. On two weekend afternoons most weeks, there are two or three docent led tours open to about ten people per tour (reservations a necessity), This book is carried on the tour by the docent, and at appropriate places in the house, garden, or tower, the tour stops and poems are read aloud by volunteers.
My favorite poem for reading on the tour is "The Bed By the Window."
It starts with:
. . . . ."I chose the bed downstairs by the window for a good
. . . . . . . .death bed
. . . . .When we built the house; it is ready waiting."
And concludes with:
. . . . ."When the patient daemon behind the screen of sea-rock
. . . . . . . .and sky
. . . . .Thumps with his staff and calls thrice 'Come Jeffers'"
Jeffers wrote this poem in 1932, kept the bed empty and waiting, and, some 30 years later, in 1962, when he knew he was dying, had himself moved into it and did die there. Reading that poem aloud, while standing beside the bed and looking out the window toward the sea was a one of a kind emotional experience for me. I'm glad that I volunteered to read this poem aloud on that occasion. SELECTED POEMS has had special meaning for me ever since.
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17 of 17 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Changes of heart, November 17, 2001
This review is from: Robinson Jeffers: Selected Poems (Paperback)
First, you have to understand that I am a confirmed lover of Jeffers' poetry. Then you can understand why I have fallen back in love with this volume and recommend it as a great introduction.
Although I had read a few of his poems in a college anthology, this volume introduced me to a more serious love of Jeffers back in the late '60s. I first saw it in the hip pocket of a young man with a backpack and ponytail when we met on a hiking trail in the Rockies. Like I suspect many others, that young man's enthusiasm got me to read Jeffers--from the same paperback--more seriously, and I became thoroughly infatuated with Jeffers long, mighty lines and stark but beautiful images.
When I paid more attention to Jeffers, however, I no longer liked this anthology. It seemed shallow; the selections far from those I would have made myself. (Of course, those selections changed every few weeks.) Had I written a review during those years, I would have lamented the lack of the volume that has since been made available by Tim Hunt's excellent volume of selected works, and recommended this only because no other introduction was available. I was, I guess, a Jeffers snob.
Now, however, I have a renewed appreciation for this volume. The essential poems are largely included, the shortest of Jeffers' long poems (the powerful and comparatively accessable "Roan Stallion") is included, and the size and price are unintimidating. I find myself happily purchasing copies to give as gifts to friends willing to gingerly give Jeffers a try, and it seldom fails to be appreciated at least somewhat. I own just about everything Jeffers wrote, yet this volume is still the one I take with me on airplanes. I am over my snob period, and love this volume again.
If you don't know Jeffers, I recommend this volume highly as a great way to learn about a poet once considered America's best ever. (If you do know Jeffers, you don't need this review.)
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17 of 17 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A great introduction to one of California's best poets., October 8, 1998
This review is from: Robinson Jeffers: Selected Poems (Paperback)
Jeffers was a child prodigy, a linguist,a conservationist, and interested in forestry, medicine and general science. He built his own poet's castle overlooking the ocean in Carmel, California. His poetry synthesizes his various interests, providing deep philosophical commentary on the nature of our lives. His "Apology for Bad Dreams" alone is worth the price of this volume, combining an exploration of the beauty of nature with humanity's inherent cruelty in gorgeously-written verse. The long (20+ page)"Roan Stallion" is a refreshing gem to read in our age of soundbites and performance bits. And of course anyone who loves the sea and descriptions of wildlife and natural settings will enjoy Jeffers' work. He depicts the same magnificent Big Sur landscape featured in some of the writings of John Steinbeck, Henry Miller and Jack Kerouac. Finally, he never insults the reader's intelligence, but assumes you are ready for sophisticated yet accessible verse at its finest.
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