In this Book
- The Collected Poems of Jean Toomer
- Book
- 2014
- Published by: The University of North Carolina Press
summary
This volume is the only collected edition of poems by Jean Toomer, the enigmatic American writer, Gurdjieffian guru, and Quaker convert who is perhaps best known for his 1923 lyrical narrative Cane. The fifty-five poems here -- most of them previously unpublished -- chart a fascinating evolution of artistic consciousness.
The book is divided into sections reflecting four distinct periods of creativity in Toomer's career. The Aesthetic period includes Imagist, Symbolist, and other experimental pieces, such as "Five Vignettes," while "Georgia Dusk" and the newly discovered poem "Tell Me" come from Toomer' s Ancestral Consciousness period in the early 1920s. "The Blue Meridian" and other Objective Consciousness poems reveal the influence of idealist philosopher Georges Gurdjieff. Among the works of this period the editor presents a group of local color poems picturing the landscape of the American Southwest, including "Imprint for Rio Grande." "It Is Everywhere," another newly discovered poem, celebrates America and democratic idealism. The Quaker religious philosophy of Toomer's final years is demonstrated in such Christian Existential works as "They Are Not Missed" and "To Gurdjieff Dying."
Robert Jones's clear and comprehensive introduction examines the major poems in this volume and serves as a guide through the stages of Toomer's evolution as an artist and thinker. The Collected Poems of Jean Toomer will prove essential to Toomer's admirers as well as to scholars and students of modern poetry, Afro-American literature, and American studies.
The book is divided into sections reflecting four distinct periods of creativity in Toomer's career. The Aesthetic period includes Imagist, Symbolist, and other experimental pieces, such as "Five Vignettes," while "Georgia Dusk" and the newly discovered poem "Tell Me" come from Toomer' s Ancestral Consciousness period in the early 1920s. "The Blue Meridian" and other Objective Consciousness poems reveal the influence of idealist philosopher Georges Gurdjieff. Among the works of this period the editor presents a group of local color poems picturing the landscape of the American Southwest, including "Imprint for Rio Grande." "It Is Everywhere," another newly discovered poem, celebrates America and democratic idealism. The Quaker religious philosophy of Toomer's final years is demonstrated in such Christian Existential works as "They Are Not Missed" and "To Gurdjieff Dying."
Robert Jones's clear and comprehensive introduction examines the major poems in this volume and serves as a guide through the stages of Toomer's evolution as an artist and thinker. The Collected Poems of Jean Toomer will prove essential to Toomer's admirers as well as to scholars and students of modern poetry, Afro-American literature, and American studies.
Table of Contents
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- Title Page, Copyright
- pp. 2-5
- Introduction
- pp. ix-xxxiv
- Editors' Note
- pp. xxxv-xxxvi
- The Aesthetic Period (1919–1921)
- Five Vignettes
- pp. 3-40
- Storm Ending
- pp. 4-41
- Her Lips Are Copper Wire
- pp. 6-43
- I See Her Lovely There
- pp. 7-44
- Evening Song
- pp. 8-45
- Sound Poem (I)
- pp. 15-52
- Sound Poem (II)
- pp. 16-53
- Banking Coal
- pp. 20-57
- The Ancestral Consciousness Period (1921–1923)
- November Cotton Flower
- pp. 24-61
- Cotton Song
- pp. 25-62
- Song of the Son
- pp. 26-63
- Georgia Dusk
- pp. 27-64
- Conversion
- pp. 29-66
- Portrait in Georgia
- pp. 30-67
- Harvest Song
- pp. 33-34
- The Objective Consciousness Period (1924–1939)
- The Lost Dancer
- pp. 39-76
- Honey of Being
- pp. 40-77
- Angelic Eve
- pp. 41-78
- White Arrow
- pp. 43-80
- Unsuspecting
- pp. 44-81
- The Gods Are Here
- pp. 45-82
- Upward Is This Actuality
- pp. 47-84
- As the Eagle Soars
- pp. 48-85
- Be with Me
- pp. 49-86
- The Blue Meridian
- pp. 50-75
- Living Earth
- pp. 77-114
- Words for a Hymn to the Sun
- pp. 78-115
- Imprint for Rio Grande
- pp. 81-82
- I Sit in My Room
- pp. 83-120
- Rolling, Rolling
- pp. 84-121
- It Is Everywhere
- pp. 85-88
- The Christian Existential Period (1940–1955)
- Vague Opening
- pp. 91-128
- Not for Me
- pp. 93-130
- Motion and Rest
- pp. 96-133
- Our Growing Day
- pp. 97-134
- Prayer (I)
- pp. 99-136
- One Within
- pp. 100-137
- The Promise
- pp. 101-138
- They Are Not Missed
- pp. 102-139
- To Gurdjieff Dying
- pp. 103-140
- See the Heart
- pp. 104-141
Additional Information
ISBN
9781469616421
Related ISBN(s)
9780807817735, 9780807842096, 9781469616414
MARC Record
OCLC
574268809
Pages
148
Launched on MUSE
2015-01-01
Language
English
Open Access
No