Vox Populi
A curated webspace for Poetry, Politics, and Nature with over 20,000 daily subscribers and over 8,000 archived posts.
Robinson Jeffers: Love the Wild Swan
“I hate my verses, every line, every word.
Oh pale and brittle pencils ever to try
One grass-blade’s curve, or the throat of one bird
That clings to twig, ruffled against white sky.
Oh cracked and twilight mirrors ever to catch
One color, one glinting flash, of the splendor of things.
Unlucky hunter, Oh bullets of wax,
The lion beauty, the wild-swan wings, the storm of the wings.”
–This wild swan of a world is no hunter’s game.
Better bullets than yours would miss the white breast
Better mirrors than yours would crack in the flame.
Does it matter whether you hate your . . . self? At least
Love your eyes that can see, your mind that can
Hear the music, the thunder of the wings. Love the wild swan.
~~~~
Source: Selected Poetry of Robinson Jeffers- Random House – 1938
Robinson Jeffers (1887 – 1962) was an American poet known for his work about the central California coast. He is considered an icon of the environmental movement. Influential and controversial, Jeffers believed that transcending conflict required human concerns to be de-emphasized in favor of the boundless whole. This led him to oppose U.S. participation in World War II, a stance that was controversial after the U.S. entered the war.
Discover more from Vox Populi
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
Yes, love your mind and your senses that can perceive and cherish.
Thanks for giving us Jeffers today.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thanks, Luray. Jeffers is a hit with our readers. Yay!
>
LikeLiked by 1 person
I think the quotes at the beginning are just a typo. So lush! “Oh cracked and twilight mirrors ever to catch / One color, one glinting flash, of the splendor of things.”
LikeLiked by 2 people
Wonderful poem! Jeffers is too little read and is so right for now. And I too am with Sean Sexton–this beautiful sonnet!
LikeLiked by 2 people
I’m with Sean as well.
>
LikeLiked by 2 people
“At least
Love your eyes that can see, your mind that can
Hear the music, the thunder of the wings.”
Yes.
LikeLiked by 3 people
I am with all of you in loving this sonnet! Question: is this a conversation he’s having with himself? Meaning, why the quotes? (I hope this is not total ignorance on my part…!)
LikeLiked by 3 people
I hadn’t noticed the quotation marks. Hmmm. Interesting.
LikeLiked by 2 people
It’s a good question, Meg. I’m not sure whether he’s arguing with himself or with someone else. I assumed he was talking to himself, but I may be wrong.
>
LikeLiked by 2 people
Yes, the quotes are not a typo–they are in the original. So I agree, he must be speaking to himself (maybe a younger self)!
LikeLike
Many poets feel their poems have failed in some way. The feeling of inadequacy may keep us from writing or it may compel us to practice and improve. The choice is ours.
>
LikeLike
My high school English teacher (the sixties!) had this Latin phrase on the board: “Turbare et erudire.” She said poetry was a lot of things, but most important is that it should “Disturb and educate.” We read Chaucer, of course, but also Robinson Jeffers, Allen Ginsberg, W. S. Merwin, et al. She had many of us disturbed, but we learned. What a great teacher.
LikeLiked by 4 people
We owe a lot to our teachers.
>
LikeLiked by 2 people
Whether Jeffers hated his verses or not, (I’m not sure he really did), they were forerunners of the ecopoetry of today. I open my selected poems of his, and immediately fall upon these three lines: The old gray sea-going gulls are gathered together, the northwest wind/ wakening/ Their wings to the wild spirals of the wind-dance.
For him birds are the “wild god[s] of the world.”
from his poem Birds
LikeLiked by 4 people
Thank you for this, Jim. I love Jeffers. Not only was he a great poet, but he was a brave man who held to his principles when opposition to war was considered treason.
>
LikeLiked by 1 person
I agree with Sean — hyperbolically so… Millay, Shakespeare, Jeffers — what riches!
LikeLiked by 2 people
Thanks, Laure-Anne. I love Sean’s hyberbole.
>
LikeLiked by 2 people
Oh God! Somebody kill me. Such a beautiful sonnet—I think I should give everything away and lead a life of poverty the rest of my days, espousing the virtues of this beautiful poem.
LikeLiked by 5 people
You are a master of hyperbole, Sean. Thank you!
>
LikeLiked by 4 people
In fact today’s entire “Swan Medley” in the poem Gallery (Good old Bill’s and lovely Edna’s) leave me only what’s left of today and a whole Sunday to get over before I face another Monday.
LikeLiked by 4 people