Selected Poems: Robinson Jeffers - Softcover

Jeffers, Robinson

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0856357081 ISBN 13: 9780856357084

Publisher: Carcanet Press Ltd, 1996

Synopsis

Once the subject of a literary cult, American poet Robinson Jeffers (1887-1962) was later rejected by liberal taste and by the academic establishment. But in the last decade he has found a new audience. His indictments of the modern world are increasingly pertinent; the passion behind his writing, his subtle and strong rhythms and his clearsightedness set him in a class of his own. Colin Falck suggests that the neglect of Jeffers 'may be a measure of the spiritual void at the heart of our culture, and a confirmation of some of his direst insights.' Jeffers's work has an energy and a spiritual intensity which are increasingly rare in poetry. Colin Falck draws mainly from Jeffers's shorter poems for this centenary edition, but also includes an extract from the celebrated translation of Euripides's 'Medea'.

About this title

About the Author:

The son of a theology professor at Western Seminary in Pittsburgh, Robinson 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. He began writing poetry exclusively after moving to Carmel, California.
His first volume of verse, Flagons and Apples, was published in 1912, but it was his 1924 volume Tamar and Other Poems that first brought him attention. His poetry often features and celebrates nature and is imbued by a personal philosophy he called "inhumanism." Although he gained popularity in the 1920s and 30s and was even featured on the cover of Time in 1932, he lost popularity in the late 1940s for what was deemed "unpatriotic" verse. He died in 1962 at the age of seventy-five, ending one of the most controversial poetic careers of the century.

From the Back Cover:

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.

About this edition

• Publisher: Carcanet Press Ltd
• Publication date: 1996
• ISBN 10: 0856357081
• ISBN 13: 9780856357084
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 128