Excerpt Tuesday – Science – Jeffers

Science_JeffersI am indebted to Mr. John Sapiro for introducing me to the poet Robinson Jeffers – and to this poem in particular (read the whole short poem here). Mr. Jeffers spent most of his life in Carmel, CA, a town I have been to many times (a partly related factoid is that Carmel has always been run, more or less, by artists and actors – Clint Eastwood was recently the mayor). Jeffers built his home and a four story tower next to it by hand out of stone. These buildings are now available for tours and have promptly gone on my “must see” list. Mr. Jeffers is one of the few poets to have been on the cover of Time magazine – but his staunch and open opposition to WWII led to much of his legacy having been forgotten. Collage and composition by me.

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  1. Pingback: Excerpt Tuesday – Science – Jeffers | Illustrated Poetry

    1. Thank you! That would be such a high honor – as a scientist trying to be an artist (or vice versa, depending on the day you ask me) – I’d be beside myself with joy!

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  3. Thank you for this. Went and read that poem by Jeffers. Wow… That’s like if those Boston street signs were actually set there by aliens, and they make a pattern, and it directs you to beatific findings with regularity.

    Michael

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    1. My pleasure – I am so glad you enjoyed it. Jeffers had such a fascinating and complex artistic perspective – he coined the term “inhumanism” and explored it in his poetry. It was the concept that the universe was indifferent to man and we should also cultivate indifference rather than passionate emotions (like hate, anger, etc). I’d never heard of him or the poem until Mr. Sapiro introduced it to me and so it was interesting to read about his rise and fall as a popular poet.

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