Product Description

Robinson Jeffers died in 1962 at the age of seventy-five, ending one of the most controversial poetic careers of this century.

The son of a theology professor at Western Seminary in Pittsburgh, Jeffers was taught Greek, Latin, and Hebrew as a boy, and spent three years in Germany and Switzerland before entering the University of Western Pennsylvania (now Pittsburgh) at fifteen. His education continued on the West Coast after his parents moved there, and he received a B.A. from Occidental College at eighteen. His interest in forestry, medicine, and general science led him to pursue his studies at the University of Southern California, and the University of Zurich.

The poems in this volume have been selected from his major works, among them Be Angry at the Sun; Hungerfield; The Double Axe; Roan Stallion; Tamar and Other Poems; as well as The Beginning and the End, which contains his last poems.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #365830 in Books
• Published on: 1965-08-12
• Released on: 1965-08-12
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 128 pages

Customer Reviews

The Poetry of the Earth
I was first introduced to the work of Robinson Jeffers in an essay by Edward Abbey in which he spoke about the stark unpretentious beauty of Jeffers' poem "Vulture" and from the moment I read it I have been a great fan ever since.

Selected Poems, by Robinson Jeffers includes a great sampling of poems that spans Jeffers entire career, while also including the long poem Roan Stallion, which gives the reader a feel for Jeffers more ambitious longer works such as Cawdor, Tamar and Dear Judas.
It seems that, while some bristle at what could be seen as Jeffers at times misanthropic themes, I believe it is precisely the stark objectivity in poems such as "Original Sin", "We are Those People" and "Vulture" that give his work such vitality and importance.
Thus, what some erroneously perceive as Jeffers' misanthropy, can be better understood as a poet's attempt to bring about the realization of a biocentric view of the universe, which attempts to express the real indifference of Nature. In doing so, Jeffers re-integrates humanity into the natural world, in which every living being is subject to the constant cycles of life, death and rebirth, which is the ultimate law of Nature.

Jeffers' work is not poetry merely for poetry's sake, which is all too often the case in the work produced today, it is Nature translated into the written word--a poetry of the Earth and a celebration of not only life, but also of the mountains, rivers, earth and sky, that provides shelter and nourishes us all.

Changes of heart
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.)

"COME JEFFERS"
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.