Towers of Myth And Stone

Yeats's Influence on Robinson Jeffers

Fiction & Literature, Literary Theory & Criticism, American
Cover of the book Towers of Myth And Stone by Deborah Fleming, University of South Carolina Press
View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart
Author: Deborah Fleming ISBN: 9781611175486
Publisher: University of South Carolina Press Publication: September 15, 2015
Imprint: University of South Carolina Press Language: English
Author: Deborah Fleming
ISBN: 9781611175486
Publisher: University of South Carolina Press
Publication: September 15, 2015
Imprint: University of South Carolina Press
Language: English

In this critical study of the influence of W. B. Yeats (1865–1939) on the poetry and drama of Robinson Jeffers (1887–1962), Deborah Fleming examines similarities in imagery, landscape, belief in eternal recurrence, use of myth, distrust of rationalism, and dedication to tradition. Although Yeats’s and Jeffers’s styles differed widely, Towers of Myth and Stone examines how the two men shared a vision of modernity, rejected contemporary values in favor of traditions (some of their own making), and created poetry that sought to change those values. Jeffers’s well-known opposition to modernist poetry forced him for decades to the margins of critical appraisal, where he was seen as an eccentric without aesthetic content. Yet both Yeats and Jeffers formulated social and poetic philosophies that continue to find relevance in critical and cultural theory. Engaging Yeats’s work enabled Jeffers to develop a related, though distinct, sense of what themes and subject matter were best suited for poetic endeavor. His connection to Yeats helps to explain the nature of Jeffers’s poetry even as it helps to clarify Yeats’s influence on those who followed him. Moreover, Fleming argues, Jeffers’s interest in Yeats suggests that critics misunderstand Jeffers if they take his rejection of modernism (as exemplified by Wallace Stevens, William Carlos Williams, and Ezra Pound) as a rejection of contemporary poetry or the process by which modern poetry came into being.

View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart

In this critical study of the influence of W. B. Yeats (1865–1939) on the poetry and drama of Robinson Jeffers (1887–1962), Deborah Fleming examines similarities in imagery, landscape, belief in eternal recurrence, use of myth, distrust of rationalism, and dedication to tradition. Although Yeats’s and Jeffers’s styles differed widely, Towers of Myth and Stone examines how the two men shared a vision of modernity, rejected contemporary values in favor of traditions (some of their own making), and created poetry that sought to change those values. Jeffers’s well-known opposition to modernist poetry forced him for decades to the margins of critical appraisal, where he was seen as an eccentric without aesthetic content. Yet both Yeats and Jeffers formulated social and poetic philosophies that continue to find relevance in critical and cultural theory. Engaging Yeats’s work enabled Jeffers to develop a related, though distinct, sense of what themes and subject matter were best suited for poetic endeavor. His connection to Yeats helps to explain the nature of Jeffers’s poetry even as it helps to clarify Yeats’s influence on those who followed him. Moreover, Fleming argues, Jeffers’s interest in Yeats suggests that critics misunderstand Jeffers if they take his rejection of modernism (as exemplified by Wallace Stevens, William Carlos Williams, and Ezra Pound) as a rejection of contemporary poetry or the process by which modern poetry came into being.

More books from University of South Carolina Press

Cover of the book Breast or Bottle? by Deborah Fleming
Cover of the book Exploring the Southern Appalachian Grassy Balds by Deborah Fleming
Cover of the book Fate Moreland's Widow by Deborah Fleming
Cover of the book Ota Benga under My Mother's Roof by Deborah Fleming
Cover of the book South Carolina Fire-Eater by Deborah Fleming
Cover of the book Deadly Censorship by Deborah Fleming
Cover of the book Burke in the Archives by Deborah Fleming
Cover of the book Understanding Norman Mailer by Deborah Fleming
Cover of the book Understanding Francisco Goldman by Deborah Fleming
Cover of the book Maternal Metaphors of Power in African American Women's Literature by Deborah Fleming
Cover of the book Early Southern Sports and Sportsmen, 1830-1910 by Deborah Fleming
Cover of the book I Belong to South Carolina by Deborah Fleming
Cover of the book The Cow-Hunter by Deborah Fleming
Cover of the book Understanding John Guare by Deborah Fleming
Cover of the book The Ex-suicide by Deborah Fleming
We use our own "cookies" and third party cookies to improve services and to see statistical information. By using this website, you agree to our Privacy Policy