"The Maiden Czar" is the story of a man's initiation
into the mysteries of the feminine, it's fascinating to counterpoint a
man's point of view with a woman's. Bly is more mythological in his approach,
and Woodman more psychological.
Iron John -Robert Bly Books
A Little Book on the Human Shadow (with William Booth) Culled
from taped interviews and lectures of the 1970s by Bly archivist William
Booth, these meditations focus on what Bly calls "the long bag we
drag behind us," otherwise known to Jungian psychology as "the
shadow." Bly's vivid and colorful disquisition on the shadow is so
lucid that many consider this "little" book to be the ideal
introduction to its subject. Includes Bly's stunning essay "Wallace
Stevens and Dr. Jeckyll."
Talking All Morning
Bly's first collection of interviews (there are rumors of
a second in preparation), Talking All Morning covers the 70s and the late
60s. This time of creative and intellectual ferment for Bly is reflected
in these interviews' excitement over subjects ranging from recent discoveries
in brain physiology to political poetry to the ancient "Great Mother"
spirituality. This lively book bristles with insights into the restless
intelligence that has informed Bly's mature production of the 80s and
90s.
Robert Bly Books-Translations Poetry
Kabir: Ecstatic Poems
This revised edition adds ten new translations to Robert Bly’s seminal
translations of the 15th century Indian spiritual poet Kabir, and also
includes an illuminating essay on Kabir by the religious scholar John
Stratton Hawley. As Hayden Carruth wrote of the original edition, “Kabir’s
poems give off a marvelous radiant intensity that never fails. . . . they
have exactly the luminous depth that permits and invites many rereadings.”
The Roads Have Come to an End Now: Selected and Last Poems of
Rolf Jacobsen
This collection, including translations by Robert Bly, Roger
Greenwald and Robert Hedin, is the first in English to survey the whole
range of this modern Norwegian poet’s work. Bly says in his introduction,
“I love the radiance with which Rolf Jacobsen praises this complicated
creation.” Robert Hedin’s selections often focus on Jacobsen’s
fascination with astronomy and the stars. Roger Greenwald translates Jacobsen’s
final poems, which Bly calls “some of the finest poems of the late
century.” Together, the three translators perform the welcome service
of making this wonderful poet better known in the United States.
The Kabir Book
Bly's landmark "versions" (he worked from literal
translations) of the 15th century Sufi poet Kabir are some of the most
lively spiritual poems in contemporary American literature. "Irreverent
while being intensely religious, Kabir seems incredibly playful in his
taunting of the sacred dogmas of his time." Bly recited these poems
at almost every reading he gave during the Seventies, laying the groundwork
for his later translations of Rumi, Mirabai, Hafez, and Ghalib.
Lorca and Jiménez: Selected Poems
This Beacon Press volume brings together two of Spain's greatest poets
of the 20th century. Bly's renders Jiménez's mercurial genius with
an appropriately light touch. And he captures the ferocity of Lorca's
wild vision with particular power in poems about New York: "There
is a wire stretched from the Sphinx to the safety deposit box / that passes
through the heart of all poor children." These are some of Bly's
most powerful translations.
Times Alone: Selected Poems of Antonio Machado
“No poet has spoken better on behalf of the soul in the 20th century.
Bly's prose commentary on Machado's life and work is especially rich.”
Perhaps Spain's greatest after Lorca is the philosophical poet Antonio
Machado, who died a refugee in the Civil War. Almost anyone who has attended
one of Bly's readings knows Machado's poem, "The wind one brilliant
day," which concludes, "I said to my soul, / ‘What have
you done with the garden that was entrusted to you?'" No poet has
spoken better on behalf of the soul in the 20th century. Bly's prose commentary
on Machado's life and work is especially rich.
Selected Poems of Rainer Maria Rilke
The elusive Rilke is surely one of the most celebrated poetic voices of
the 20th century. Bly's selection includes Rilke's early lyrical poems,
his "seeing" poems written under the tutelage of Rodin, and
"Sonnets to Orpheus," which Bly considers Rilke's masterpiece.
Also included in its entirety is the haunting sequence, "The Voices,"
spoken by characters Rilke observed on the streets of Paris. Arguably
the finest Rilke selection available, Bly's translations and commentary
combine to give us the flavor of Rilke's "swiftly appearing, swiftly
disappearing, Hermes personality."
Prose
Hunger (Knut Hamsun) Like many young poets of his generation,
Robert Bly translated prose in order to supplement his income during his
struggling years. But Bly's brilliant translation of the Norwegian genius
Knut Hamsun's Hunger appeared in 1967 after Bly had established his reputation
as a poet. Hamsun's novel is one of the great portraits of the artist
living by his wits on the edge of society, and perhaps on the edge of
insanity. Isaac Bashevis Singer called Bly's translation "excellent,"
and it is.
Anthologies and Edited Books
The Soul Is Here for Its Own Joy: Sacred Poems from Many
Cultures The third in Bly's trilogy of large anthologies, this one focuses
on the sacred as human beings have praised it in poetry over the centuries.
It contains poets as diverse as Rumi and Hart Crane, Hadewijch of Antwerp
and Jane Kenyon, demonstrating the many ways poets have written about
(and often argued with) God. As with Rag and Bone, this book covers a
lot of ground; some of the sections are "Starting on the Path,"
"Dying to This World," and "Loving God Through Loving a
Woman or a Man." This volume is especially rich in Bly's own translations.
The Winged Life: The Poetic Voice of Henry David Thoreau This superb selection
juxtaposes Thoreau's poems with resonant entries from his prose work,
to reveal him "as the fully realized literary artist and complex
personality he was." Too often, says Bly, we think of Thoreau only
as the advocate of simple living who wrote Walden. Bly's selection from
Thoreau's poems, essays and journal entries wonderfully enlarges our picture
of Thoreau as wit, naturalist, and spiritual thinker. Bly's insightful
prose introductions nearly match Thoreau's in eloquence. A series of wood
engravings by Michael McCurdy make this one of Bly's most handsomely presented
books.
