Synopses & Reviews
My Wife's Painting
Woods. November's bare light has arrived.
Where, sheltered by poplars, a low pond lies.
The sun abandons the sky, speaking through cold
leaves.
This Tang painting is called "The Six Philosophers."
Five Chinamen talk in the open-walled house,
Exchanging poems. Only one is outdoors, looking over
The cliff, being approached from below by rolling
mists.
3
A deer comes down the bare slope toward me,
Sees me, turns away, back up the hill
Into the lone trees.
It is a doe out in the cold and air alone.
It is the woman turned away from the philosopher's
house.
4
It's an old, long story. After Heraclitus dies,
The males sink down to a-pathy,
To not-suffering.
When you shout at them, they don't reply.
They turn their face toward the crib wall, and die.
5
My wife showed me yesterday her new
Painting. One bird of hers, a lively one,
Had come.
It was a large bird with big feet,
And stubby wings, arrows lightly stuck in the arms.
Synopsis
Robert Bly has had many roles in his illustrious career. He is a chronicler and mentor of young poets, many of whom he presented in his series of edited booksThe Fifties, The Sixties, and The Seventies. He was a leader of the antiwar movement, founded the mens movement virtually by himself, and published the bestseller Iron John. All through these activities, he has continued to deepen his own poetry, a vigorous voice in a period of more academic wordsmiths. Now, in Eating the Honey of Words, he presents the best poems he has written in the last ten years, as well as some favorites from his earlier books such as Silence in the Snowy Fields, The Man in the Black Coat Turns, and Loving a Woman in Two Worlds. Joining these timeless classics are marvelous new poems from the last two years.
This book is a chance to reread, in a fresh setting, many of Blys most famous early poems, and in some instances to see how the old poems have changed over the years. In this new selection, which includes a number of poems from past decades never published before, one can see more clearly than ever the powerful undercurrents that carry this poetry from one book on to the next.
It is a brilliant collection that confirms Robert Bly's role as one of Americas preeminent poets writing today.
Synopsis
"Bly's imaginative prose poems radiate witty delight." --Library Journal
A brilliant collection spanning half a century, from one of America's most prominent and powerful poets
Robert Bly has had many roles in his illustrious career. He is a chronicler and mentor of young poets, was a leader of the antiwar movement, founded the men's movement, and wrote the bestselling book Iron John, which brought the men's movement to the attention of the world. Throughout these activities, Bly has continued to deepen his own poetry, a vigorous voice in a period of more academic wordsmiths. Here he presents his favorite poems of the last decades-timeless classics from Silence in the Snowy Fields, The Man in the Black Coat Turns, and Loving a Woman in Two Worlds. A complete section of marvelous new poems rounds out this collection, which offers a chance to reread, in a fresh setting, a lifetime of work dedicated to fresh perspectives.
Synopsis
A Brilliant Collection Spanning Half A Century, From One Of America's Most Prominent And Powerful Poets
Robert Bly has had many roles in his illustrious career. He is a chronicler and mentor of young poets, was a leader of the antiwar movement, founded the men's movement, and wrote the bestselling book Iron John, which brought the men's movement to the attention of the world. Throughout these activities, Bly has continued to deepen his own poetry, a vigorous voice in a period of more academic wordsmiths. Here he presents his favorite poems of the last decades-timeless classics from Silence in the Snowy Fields, The Man in the Black Coat Turns, and Loving a Woman in Two Worlds. A complete section of marelous new poems rounds out this collection, which offers a chance to reread, in a fresh setting, a lifetime of work dedicated to fresh perspectives. It is a brilliant collection that confirms Bly's role as one of America's preeminent poets writing today.
About the Author
Robert Bly's recent books of poetry include two books of ghazals, My Sentence Was a Thousand Years of Joy and The Night Abraham Called to the Stars. He has published his selected translations in The Winged Energy of Delight and has received many literary prizes, including the National Book Award. His prose works include The Sibling Society, The Maiden King (with Marion Woodman), and Iron John. His recent work The Insanity of Empire is a collection of poems against the war in Iraq.