Book Description
THE SELECTED POETRY OF ROBINSON JEFFERS The Selected Poetry of ROBINSON JEFFERS TO UNA JEFFERS CONTENTS FOREWORD page xiii FROM TAMAR AND OTHER POEMS TAMAR 3 DIVINELY SUPERFLUOUS BEAUTY 65 THE MAIDS THOUGHT 66 THE SONGS OF THE DEAD MEN TO THE THREE DANCERS 67 TO HIS FATHER Jl THE TRUCE AND THE PEACE 72 NATURAL MUSIC 77 POINT JOE 78 THE CYCLE 80 SALMON-FISHING 8 1 TO THE HOUSE 82 TO THE ROCK THAT WILL BE A CORNERSTONE OF THE HOUSE 83 TO THE STONE-CUTTERS 84 SUICIDES STONE 85 WISE MEN IN THEIR BAD HOURS 86 CONTINENTS END 87 FROM ROAN STALLION THE TOWER BEYOND TRAGEDY 89 ROAN STALLION 141 NIGHT 158 BIRDS l6l FOG 162 BOATS IN A FOG 163 GRANITE AND CYPRESS 164 PHENOMENA 165 PEOPLE AND A HERON 1 66 AUTUMN EVENING 167 Vll CONTENTS SHINE, PERISHING REPUBLIC P a g e THE TREASURE 169 JOY 170 WOODROW WILSON 1 7 1 SCIENCE 173 APOLOGY FOR BAD DREAMS 174 ANTE MORTEM 178 POST MORTEM 179 SUMMER HOLIDAY l8l CHAPTER XII FROM THE WOMEN AT POINT SUR 1 8 2 FROM CAWDOR TWO PASSAGES FROM CAWDOR THE OLD MANS DREAM AFTER HE DIED 183 THE CAGED EAGLETS DEATH DREAM 185 FAWNS FOSTER-MOTHER 1 88 A REDEEMER 189 AN ARTIST 192 SOLILOQUY 195 THE BIRD WITH THE DARK PLUMES 196 TOR HOUSE 197 HURT HAWKS 198 MEDITATION ON SAVIORS 2OO FROM DEAR JUDAS THE LOVING SHEPHERDESS 205 THE BROKEN BALANCE 258 BIRTH-DUES 262 EVENING EBB 263 HANDS 264 HOODED NIGHT 265 FROM THURSOS LANDING THURSOS LANDING 266 THE PLACE FOR NO STORY 358 viii CONTENTS FIRE ON THE HILLS page 359 NOVEMBER SURF 360 WINGED ROCK 361 THE BED BY THE WINDOW 362 NEW MEXICAN MOUNTAIN 363 SECOND-BEST 364 MARGRAVE 365 FROM GIVE YOUR HEART TO THE HA WKS GIVE YOUR HEART TO THE HAWKS 376 A LITTLE SCRAPING 457 INTELLECTUALS 458 TRIAD 459 STILL THE MIND SMILES 460 CRUMBS OR THE LOAF 461 DESCENT TO THE DEAD SHANE ONEILLS CAIRN 462 OSSIANS GRAVE 463 THE LOW SKY 466 THE BROADSTONE 467 THE GIANTS RING 468 IN THE HILL AT NEW GRANGE 469 ANTRIM 473 NO RESURRECTION 474 DELUSION OF SAINTS 475 IONA THE GRAVES OF THE KINGS 476 SHOOTING SEASON 477 GHOSTS IN ENGLAND 478 INSCRIPTION FOR A GRAVESTONE 480 SHAKESPEARES GRAVE 481 THE DEAD TO CLEMENCEAU NOVEMBER, 1929 482 SUBJECTED EARTH 483 NOTES TO DESCENT TO THE DEAD 484 AT THE FALL OF AN AGE 485 ix CONTENTS FROM SOLSTICE AT THE BIRTH OF AN AGE P g e 505 THE CRUEL FALCON 562 ROCK AND HAWK 563 LIFE FROM THE LIFELESS 564 REARMAMENT 565 WHAT ARE CITIES FOR 566 AVE CAESAR 567 SHINE, REPUBLIC 568 THE TRAP 569 PRAISE LIFE 570 DISTANT RAINFALL 571 GRAY WEATHER 572 LOVE THE WILD SWAN 573 SIGNPOST 574 WHERE I 575 RETURN 576 FLIGHT OF SWANS 577 FROM SUCH COUNSELS YOU GA VE TO ME STEELHEAD 578 THE COAST-ROAD 581 GOING TO HORSE FLATS 582 THE WIND-STRUCK MUSIC 585 GIVE YOUR WISH LIGHT 587 THE PURSE-SEINE 588 THE GREAT SUNSET 59 BLIND HORSES 592 THEBAID 593 THE ANSWER 594 NEW YEARS EVE 595 HOPE IS NOT FOR THE WISE 596 X CONTENTS NOVA page 597 ALL THE LITTLE HOOFPRINTS 599 SELF-CRITICISM IN FEBRUARY 6oi HELLENISTICS 6O2 OH, LOVELY ROCK 605 THE BEAKS OF EAGLES 607 NIGHT WITHOUT SLEEP 608 NEW POEMS AND FRAGMENTS DECAYING LAMBSKINS 6lO SHIVA 6ll NOW RETURNED HOME 6 1 2 THEORY OF TRUTH 615 INDEX OF POEMS 617 INDEX OF FIRST LINES 6lQ FOREWORD f HIS BOOK presents in one volume about half of my published work. In making the selection it was easy to eliminate the poems published in 1912 and 1916, which were only prepara tory exercises, to say the best for them and it was easy to omit a number of shorter poems from later volumes. After that the selection became more or less arbitrary. Several of the longer poems had to be omitted, for I have no desire to publish a collected works at this rime, but there appears little reason to choose among them. The Women at Point Sur seems to me in spite of grave faultsthe most inclusive, and poetically the most in tense, of any of my poems it is omitted from this selection because it is the least understood and least liked, and because it is the longest... ... Read more

Customer Reviews (4)

Beware: This is the 1938 Random House Selected Jeffers
The 2007 Quinn Press "Selected Poetry of Robinson Jeffers" is NOT a new selection but a reproduction published by an on-demand printing company of the 1938 "Selected Poetry" that Random House originally published. That means it does not contain anything from the final 22 years of the poet's life -- nothing from "Be Angry at the Sun," "The Double Axe," "Hungerfield," "The Beginning and the End" or from his later uncollected poetry. If you want to buy the Random House 1938 selected, this new version by Quinn Press will do just fine, as long as you know what it is you're buying. It is valuable not just for the poems but for Jeffers' superb foreword in which he says, among many other things, that "I decided not to tell lies in verse. Not to feign any emotion that I did not feel." For a selection from the poet's complete work try the "Selected Poetry of Robinson Jeffers" edited by Tim Hunt and published by Stanford University Press in 2001. "Robinson Jeffers: Selected Poems" is a small but useful selection of the shorter poems published as a Vintage Book (Random House) in 1963. "Rock and Hawk" is a longer selection of Jeffers' shorter poems edited and with a superb introduction by Robert Hass. I recommend it highly. Another fine brief compilation is "Robinson Jeffers: Selected Poems" edited by Colin Falck for Carcanet Press in 1987. Tim Hunt has edited the first three volumes of Jeffers' "Collected Poetry" with the fourth volume slated for publication late in 2008.

timely
Jeffers would not be surprised by the timeliness of his poetry as issues of globalization, war, terror, environmental carelessness, and hubris once again flood our daily lives. His poetry resonates with a distaste for the very "inhumanities"--though he would consider them wholly human--that have brought us to this state of the world. The endless cycle which he mentions so many time is repeating itself once again, and his wisdoms and voice are gathered into a wonderful collection of his finest poetry.

One reading Jeffers in search of hope for humanity will be sorely disappointed, as his inhumanism is present on every page. It is not hopeless, however; the beauty of nature and the wild god of the world persist despite man's best efforts to tame and abolish them. Poems like "Vulture" are the only glimmer of hope that Jeffers has for mankind: recognize our place in the world and embrace it. That is the ultimate existence.

A Carmel Poet
Robinson Jeffers is most often considered a minor figure in thetwentieth century American literature canon.Countlessinstructors haven't even heard of him, but that is a shame.Some professors even skip the Jeffers section in American literature anthologies.With the publication of this long-awaited anthology (in paperback), there is plenty of evidence here to suggest that Jeffers is a major figure of influence.

Jeffers had a transcendental vision.He built a poet's niche in Carmel, where he commented on nature's cosmic cycles, its beauty and violence, which he saw as expressions of God's character.Jeffers was a poet of the Carmel landscape--weather worn granite, tumultous surf, birds of prey, twisted coastal cypress--he also approached descriptions of humanity's arrogance and weakness in light of its fascination with war, violence, and self-inscribed bloodshed.Jeffers espoused a poetic doctrine of Inhumanism, which was perhaps a reflection of his own personal misanthropy: humans are atoms to be split.

Some of my favorite poems are here: "Shine, Perishing Republic," "Boats in a Fog," "Carmel Point," "Divine Superfluous Beauty," "Tower Beyond Tragedy," "Bed by the Window," "Una," "The Deer Lay Down Their Bones," and even some of his last writing.I remember a certain Shakespeare class in which I read "Shine, Perishing Republic" on the day after the LA riots.

Robert Hass (UC Berkeley), C. Milosz (Emeritus, UC Berkeley), and William Everson have been poet champions of Jeffers' work.But one scholar, in particular, has dedicated his academic life to understanding that creative pulse, which inspired Jeffers to his pen.That notable scholar is Robert J. Brophy.

I highly recommend this anthology. I also recommend the scholarship of Robert Brophy.I can say with pleasure and esteem that I have benefited from his scholarship and literature courses at Cal State U., Long Beach.Bob Brophy introduced me to Jeffers (via a Jeffers course and a Tor House tour, 10/91); I have introduced Jeffers and his work to my own students, and I will forever be touched by his gentle, guiding hand.

The Inhumanist
Who was Robinson Jeffers? - A high priest of Nature? A proto-ecologist visionary? A lyric expounder of Fascism? An enemy of civilisation? An implacable misanthrope who spent his last years in his secluded lodging overlooking the Pacific, shunning what Edgar Allan Poe aptly referred to as "the tyranny of the human face"? His celebrations of war, his reverence for transhuman beauty, his dismissal of human egocentricity, and his pursuit of detachment and objectivity all suggest that he was either a befuddled hermit or an arch-hater of civilisation. Moreover, his fierce opposition to fanaticism and unfounded millennial hopes, his sanctification of greatness and his yearning to eradicate falsehoods and superstitions, - (such as human solipsism and anthropocentricsm) - and his registering of the urgings of religious awe tempt one to explain him away as a misanthrope. Both interpretations are wrong. Jeffers, a direct heir of the Transcendentalists Emerson, Thoreau and Whitman (he borrowed Whitman's long line, though failed to produce his sonic effects) stands as one of the finest poetic figures in neo-Romantic Modernism. His radical philosophy, which he called Inhumanism, is actually an attempt to totally think anew human conceptions regarding the nature and humanity, and is far too selective, complex, affirmative and far-reaching to be dismissed as simple misanthropy. It is for this reason that Jeffers's work has generated a vortex of academic dissent. The adage that "all great religions began as heresies" may receive sufficient demonstration in Jeffers' future critical reception. In this connection, it may be tempting to see Jeffers as another Prometheus, a seeker and bringer of Truth and Fire. His Inhumanism is a bold and powerful attempt to ennoble humanity through greater knowledge and self-scrutiny. ... Read more

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Customer Reviews (1)

Appropriate Title: Excellent Collection
This brief collection of poetry by the former Carmel, CA resident Robinson Jeffers contains some of his strongest lyrical work.Although suited for an introductory course on poetry, I'm not sure why the publishers (Stanford UP) would think that this volume ... is a better deal than the other recent Stanford UP volume, The Collected Poetry, which includes some of Jeffers's prose (Prefaces/Letters) and is more comprehensive ...

This is a slim volume--about the size of Hass's previous collection (Rock and Hawk, now out-of-print).But it is vastly superior in text and style to The Selected Poems (thin book, red and blue cover, ...).

I highly recommend this text.It contains the "Best Of" Jeffers's poetic gems, such as "Shine, Perishing Republic," (apropos for our current times), and "For Una," to name a couple.

Jeffers was an amazing American poet.For once I disagree with Vendler's estimation of his poetic merits and craft.I would recommend Jeffers to a reader in the same spirit that Hass, C. Milosz, Wm. Everson, and Bukowski recommended that we listen to his prophetic voice.Jeffers's work embodies the Carmel landscape and cosmic essence of Northern California.Yet his voice is universal and resounds with tragic wisdom.

I also recommend Hass, Milosz, Everson, H. Miller, and the academic treatments of Jeffers's work by Robert Brophy. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

Ars Oratoria
Let there be no mistaking that I believe that any undertaking to expose Jeffers's poetry to a larger audience, albeit mostly unappreciative, is a good thing. That said, I don't think Haas is/was the proper guide to lead this excursion. First off, he is an apologist for the mainstream critics (Vendler, Rexroth, Yvor Winters) who constantly harp on the fact that Jeffers was too steadfast, didactic and violent in his efforts. Unlike his contemporaries of the time, Pound and Eliot, Jeffers remained enmeshed in the natural (although politically charged) realm while they toiled away in the urban malaise. Jeffers is accused of everything from being a Fascist to a misanthropic beast living in savage recluse in his unhuman retreat. But nothing is ever taken to heart concerning Eliot or Pound's anti-semitism or their turning into obscure (The Cantos)and banal(That god-awful book about cats by Eliot) poetasters in their twilight periods. Jeffers remained powerful, humane and consistent with the healing values of his Inhumanist credo. Haas is no mirror to these effects and he states this fact by repudiating his middle period as blase for the whole canon and especially powerful first volumes(I'm negating "Californians" and "Flagons & Apples" as a general rule.). To measure Jeffers by "Roan Stallion" and "Tamar" and the early lyrics is to always place him at a disadvantage concerning his later works. Those afforementioned and immortal works are beyond the modern scope because they transcend modernism by being timeless (that which the critics would call relics) and untraceable to a time period. To me it is short-sightedness which accosts a writer for being thorough in representing his philosophy in meticulous and reasserting terms. You have to consider his entire body of work as a whole and in doing so any objective enthusiast of poetry cannot contest Jeffers's stature as a literary and poetic giant. In my estimation he has no contemporaries.

That said, I cannot contest the selection of the poetry, considering the fact that Haas as an editor is/was expected to showcase a variety of the short poems from all stages of the poet's career. There are obvious subjective tastes in choosing favorites so I won't criticize that aspect. That and the book is a beautiful collector's piece and will leave new readers of Jeffers wanting more and more of his work and that can never be a bad thing. A bit pricey due to its rarity and incomplete in that his short "lyrics" are numerous, but a must-have for enthusiasts.

An excellent collection of shorter works
This is an excellent way to begin reading Jeffers. Contains the poem "Self-Criticism in February", a great self-explication of his own struggles with poetry.

This is a satisfying introduction to the poetry of Jeffers.
The poem "Tor House" epitomizes Robinson Jeffers' poetry. The introduction of the book gives an idea of the personalities of Una and Robinson Jeffers. This book contains the poem "The Roan Stallion" that began Jeffers' fame ... Read more

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Universal Voices... No Time Limited.
It was after I got out of the Army... after Vietnam had found its surreal closure.I was living in Pacific Grove and wondering just what madness the nation might have gotten itself involved in next.
By happenchance, or serendipity I came into possession of "The Double Axe" by Robinson Jeffers.Here was a man, a great mind, that went to his grave an "isolationist", much like the wild, untamed country he lived in.He dared to speak out about the insanity of WWII and the horrendous loss of life.
His poems were haunting, but not like Wilfred Owen or Sasson.They spoke of lives being tossed away for nothing, wasted for a cause not worthy of their measure.Yes... they quietly slid these works into a corner of the literary world and tried to forget them.
Now I am no longer young... now another war whips up in my face and forces me to again think of wasted lives.It's easier this time, but the voice of "The Double Axe" and Jeffers' words ring true to me.
No... Jeffers isn't the easiest poet to figure out... his style can get wordy, clumpy.Let us make no mistake about this,though... conscience speaks loudly, and now is the time to again renew the conscience of Robinson Jeffers.

Arkangel
... Read more

Book 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. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (9)

Best introductory volume on Jeffers unique poetry and views
Jeffers was a phenomenon. You will love it or hate it. Depends on your world view. It has a spiritual basis but is not religious. It is pantheistic; can you stand it?

It's not about consumerism, or the present moment. It's about time and the river (with apologies to Thomas Wolfe). His shorter poems are sometimes breathtaking in their beauty; his epics may please those who read romance novels.

Warning: you may be changed beyond redemption by reading this.

A fabulous little book
Recently while planning a trip to California, my mother came across a historic home tour of Tor House, the home of poet Robinson Jeffers.I love poetry so I read one of his poems posted on a web site, but it didn't appeal to me.However the house did.I met my family in Ca. and at the end of our vacation we toured Tor House.On the tour was an English professor who told us he taught poetry and spent a good deal of time discussing Jeffers' poems in his classes.Also, the docent's account of Jeffers' life was so intriguing.I realized I had given up on him too soon.My favorite story was that Jeffers apprenticed himself to the stonemason who built the original house so that he could build a tower for his wife Una, the love of his life.They lived simply and fairly happily with their twin sons.He was an incredible lover of nature and animals, and chose the hawk as his symbol.Their house is covered with hawks and unicorns (Una's symbol.)It is so interesting that a man who wrote so passionately against violence identified himself with the traditional symbol of war, the hawk, but this creature meant something completely different to him.Power and freedom.

I picked up this book in the gift shop.Opening it in the middle, I read "Contemplation of the Sword."The poem's dark, austere honesty is balanced by the seductive imagery, sinuous phrases and dramatic punctuation.It's obvious he hated violence and detested the anger that rose in him for hating violence.He loved his wife and children fiercely and wanted to keep them safe.He's a very passionate, emotional man and that comes through vividly in his poems.I love that his work is still relevant today.The emotions that he felt are emotions that I feel.These beautiful poems are works that will compellingly push the reader to think about the world, our place in it and our responsibility for it.The poetry is so rich, ripe and fluid that I hunger for more.Fortunately, the Stanford University Press has compiled a massive five volume set of Jeffers' poems.The bounty is abundant.

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. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Some of the most powerful poetry you can find.
There are five volumes in the Jeffers Collected Poetry edition and there's also a new Selected Poetry single volume edition.Whether you want all of Jeffers' poetry or a sample of it, give yourself a treat and buy one of the books.Volumes 1, 2 and 3 are poetry while volume 4 is prose and unpublish poetry.Volume 5 is the detective story that tells how the edition's editor compiled the first four volumes.Volume 5 is a must read for anyone who wants to know the publishing process and should be read by lit teachers and students and emerging poets. The Selected Poetry contains some of the best of Jeffers so if you want a sample that ranges throughout his career, buy that volume.

Jeffers should be read by those who like poetry based on rhythm and pacing and those who want to experience the strong masculine voice of the poet.

third volume of poetry; covering WWII to death in 1962
If you take the time to read this, I am preaching to the believers.Nevertheless, I believe it is wonderful to finally have ALL of the maturepoetry of America's most powerful user of the English language in poetry,bar none.While this volume, overall, lacks the sustained force ofVolume 1, where you can view the ascendancy of his poetic voice and power,and Volume 2, where you can experience a sustained force of language thelikes of which it has not been my privelege to read elsewhere in fortyyears as a bibliophile, it is good to view the total experience of Jeffers'work, to see that even in his 70's he was a force to be reckoned with. Doyourself a favor and read all three volumes. ... Read more

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James Karman's Robinson Jeffers, Poet of California
While building his home on rugged Carmel Point, by himself Robinson Jeffers rolled granite boulders, sometimes in excess of four hundred pounds, to the construction site.The home eventually named the "TorHouse" towers intact to this day, which is appropriate considering thegradual re-emergence of Jeffers' popularity in recent years. Perhapsas much or more than any other poet, a critical biography is needed tofully appreciate Jeffers' poetry because it is so closely tied to how helived his life-why he chose to roll those granite boulders and thenapprentice himself to the stonemason who set them.In fact, in RobinsonJeffers Poet of California, James Karman concentrates on the constructionof the Tor House as a major turning point in Jeffers' career.Jeffer'swife, Una, wrote a letter describing the power of the experience:"As hehelped the mason...he realized some kinship with the granite and became awareof strengths in himself unknown before(48)." Karman effectivelyconcentrates on this link between poet and his life throughout thiscritical biography.Jeffers does not reveal himself in the intenselypersonal manner of a "confessional" poet, for instance.Writing along withsuch major figures as T.S. Eliot and addressing the cruelty of moderncivilization in the wake of the first World War, the de-personalizingeffects of societal convention were under intense scrutiny.As Karmannotes, though, while Eliot wrote poems with mythology primarily foundthrough reading, thus allowing himself the advantage of critiquing societyin terminology and myth his often elite audience was already familiar with,Jeffers by contrast "found what he was looking for primarily through animmediate experience of nature (68)." This is the admirable risk ofJeffers' poetry.Line after line, it refers to the power of experiencebeyond the exclusive mental and physical boundaries of modern human life. Yet, poetry based on life beyond modernity is on a collision course withcritical canons that have a strong penchant for intellectualism.Perhapslines such as "Humanity is the mould to break away from" found in RoanStallion, explain as much as anything else the abrupt rise and fall ofJeffers' popularity. Tamar and Other Poems was first printed byJeffers at his own expense.Nothing came from the effort and four hundredand fifty volumes were shipped back to Carmel and stored in the attic ofthe Tor House.A poem of Jeffers was later selected as the title piece ofan anthology put out by the Book Club of California.Thankful for theselection, Jeffers sent two of its editors, James Rorty and GeorgeSterling, copies of Tamar and Other Poems.A series of glowing reviewsfollowed, and as Karman puts it, "Suddenly, Jeffers was famous (73)." But with the publication of The Women at Point Sur in 1927, just twoyears after the steady praise for Tamar and Other Poems, Jeffers was"denounced by even his more ardent admirers (120)."More than the commentson stylistic inadequacies, what seems more damaging in the long run are thereferences to "the sickness" of Jeffer's world.I must say, as a readerexposed to a good chunk of Jeffers' poetry by way of Karman's generouscitations, I got frustrated with some of the work myself.It seems that atsome points, Jeffers is too ready to indict humanity, justifiably on manycounts, but at the expense of offering a vision that goes beyond articulatecondemnation.I longed to see Jeffers' call "to love beyond humanity" tothen return to love the potential of that animal."Not to be deluded bydreams," as Jeffers says in "The Answer," but also not to negate thesignificance of dreaming all together.I anticipate other readers beingsimilarly frustrated on these grounds.A poet such as Gary Snyder, whoacknowledges the realities facing human existence but comes away with amuch more hopeful conclusion, may seem a more attractive extension ofJeffers' honesty.Another strength of Karman's review is that hedoesn't contrive a defense for Jeffers.This may seem an obvious qualityof any good critical biography, but one can understand the temptation toprotect work suffering from as much unjustified obscurity as that ofJeffers'.Karman knows Jeffers wouldn't want to be protected.No otherpoet has ever slammed humans so hard into their own insignificance. Andwith Robinson Jeffers Poet of California, to his credit James Karman letsyou feel "the blow."The fact that Jeffers still found it meaningful towrite from even his most grim state of revelation is one of the mostpositive acts in American poetry to date.Regardless of whether or not hewas consciously able to gain comfort from his affirmation of life, Jefferswas both bashing dreams while also quietly clearing the way for new ones. ... Read more

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Beauty in Prose and Imagery
This book is the consummate bonding of two of California's great artists.The words of Jeffers and the photographs of Baer blend to form a book of unparralled beauty...this book gives the Big Sur in California a grace and elegance beyond description..Mr. Baer's photographs are infused with a quiet intensity....one can spend hours enjoying his vision...adding the words of Robinson Jeffers is pure brilliance; particularly since these two men were part of what defined the West Coast art movement in the 50's.Strongly recommend this book to anyone who loves the Big Sur, brilliant b&w photography and the poetry and prose of Jeffers. ... Read more