Rel'is a de Es udios Noneame ica11o
s,
n.
º 6 (
1998
).
pp
. 1
33
-J
35
REVIEWS
Cha les Olson, Collec ed P ose,
Ed.
by
Donald Allen
and
Benjamin
F iedlande .
Be keley: U ni e si y
o
Cali o nia
P ess,
1997
JULJÁN
LóPEZ
MEDINA
Un
i
e
sidad de
Al
ican e
Once again, he Uni e si y
o
Cali o nia makes
access
ible
che
o he wise sca e ed
ma e ials
o
one
o
he mos impo an! c ea o s o mid-cen u y Ame ican e se.
l
he
i ies a e o be looked
a as
he decade hal amoun ed
oan
exp
losion
o
new al e na i es
in Ame ican poe y, he edi ing ask will be
o
ex eme
imponance
o
ou
knowledge
and e alua ion
o
hose yea s. Thanks o his P ess, indispu able oices like C ee ley,
o
now Olson, a e no
on
ly p esen h ough hei ema kable in luence on con empo a y
poe s and college syllabi, bu also h ou
gh
he con inuing dialogue hei cx s es ablish
wi h he con empo a y eadc .
Now, o he i s ime, Olson's c i i
ca
] oice is
al
hand, in all i s wide- anging
o enones, om hc mos in luen ial essays p in ed and commen ed again and again,
like he undamen al «P ojccli e Ve se,»
o
he illumina ing «Ca
ll
me IshmaeL» o
no es, in oduc ion o o he poe s' wo ks and
book
e iews. So ne unpublished w i ings
om Olson's a chi e ha e also been escued by Allen and F iedlandes, who es ic ed
chis no el y
o
he collec ion o ex s ha we e p epa ed o publica ion by Olson himscl ,
hough hey ne e ac ually ca ne ou in p in .Thus we ha e access o he unknown «M .
Mcye » «
The
Pos
O ice,» «G andPa GoodBye» (on
Pound
),
«D.H. Law en
ce
and
h
e
High Temp a ion
o
he Mind,» and «Cy Tombly.»
Th ee
o
he o mc ly unpublished ex s a e mainly au obiog aphical, pe sonal
no es s a ing
wi
h a ela i c, a iend o an anecdo e and de eloping so ne kind
o
b ic
abs ac c lec ion, deeply oo ed, ob iously, in subjec i i y. This is no , howe e ,
134
Juliá11
ú
i
pe~
Medina
exclusi e
o
he, so
o
speak, au obiog aphical w i ings.
When
he
assumes
an
a i ude
o
schola ship a
i s
bes , Olson is de cnding a ai ly pe
sona
l
iew.
no
ma e
how
widcly suppo ed. Fo him, as Edwa d Halsey Fos e accu a cly
poin e
d
ou
. he pe
so-
nal is «
hc
on
ly sou cc
o
cli
ab
le jud
ge
men »
(l
2). Besides,
h
e pe sonal, as Ols
on
hough
o
i , necessa ily includes he body. I s physics and
mo eme
n
a e essen ial
o
he hough and pc cep ions p oduccd h ough and wi h hem.
Tha
is
why
a «p ojec i e»
image, a «p ojcc i e» e se
ca
nn
o
be
a po ai
o
li c bu an
enac
m
en
pa allel o li e,
in
which mind ( «head, by way
o
he ea ,
o
he syllable») and b
ody
(
«hea
,
by
way
o
he b ea h, o
hc
li
ne
») a e
one
single ac . one mo emcn .
As
we
can
ead
in
«
Human
Uni e
s
e,»
1 included in his Coll
ec
1ed
P ose, « he e is only one hing
you
can do
abou
kine ic. c-cnacl i . Which is why he man said, he
who
possesses
hy hm
possesses
he
uni e se. And why a is lze only win lije has -i s only alid
mc aphysic
» (p. 1
62)
(my bold).
Fo ma
ny
ye
a s,
Obon's
inhc i ance was a an ga dc
(i
n
he
b oadc
sense
o
he
cnn). Duncan, C ccley, Le e o and nany o he s consid
e
him
an
inspi ing iend,
al nos a mas e . La e , Ba c Wa cn and o he Language Poe s ejcc ed su
ch
inhe i ance
s ongl
y.
al hough i s in luence,
on
e migh say. is p o eo by he a ack
i se
l and su i ed
i .
To Olson. e se was a
b ea
h uni . o m was
de e
mi
ncd by
o
closely
ela ed o he
body, as much as con
en
was
ela cd o he
mo
mcn
and ac
o
pe
ce
p ion
. Ali
o
he
se
me
an
a decisi e p esence
o
he indi idual w i ing
hc
p
oem
, which
was
o be epudia ed
by he Language
Poc s'
belie
in
he dic a o ship
o Language
i sel . a
om
subjec i i
y.
Ols
on
's ideas, a he
same
i
me. disdain
clo
seness a
nd
complc en
ess
in
h
e a o m.
As
a ansc ip ion
o
an ac ,
o
a mo cmen , any poin
o
depa u c
o
a i al is a bi a y
anda
empo a y in c up ion o wha should go on. since
one
pe cep ion leads o an
o he
wi h no possiblc b eak in c
on
inui y.
As
such, la e
ende
n
cies
in
Ame ica
n poe y
n
.:
u ning o adi ional pa e ns and o o nalis al i udes dis ega d «P ojec i ism» oo.
Ne e hclcss, in p esen -d
ay
poe s (somc
o
hem
pa
o
he
La
ngu
agc
g oup a a
ce ain poin
o
he
i
ca ce ) such as Alice
No
lc
y.
Cla k Coolidgc. Na haniel Makey
and especially
Susan
Howe, Olson's heo i
cs
a e
s ill in luen ial and p o idc a g ound
in which o oo n
cw
p og essi e poelics.
Fo
Ma k
Do
y
, his in lue
nce
o
Olson's ideas
happens
o
be
i onic, because Olson's «p incipies,
in
h
ei
agueness, p o ided e ile
g ound upon which y
oun
ge
po
e s migh
co
ns uc hei own aes he ic» ( 141).
l
migh
be
ha hei agueness, which could be unde s ood as opposi ion o
h
e nea , clea ly-
de incd p incipies
o
logic
(we
canno o
ge
he impac
o
Heisenbe g's uncc ain y
1.
This exl,
ap
a
om being he
ma
in piecc in hc s
ec
on
d bo
ok
o Ols
on
's
P ose. Human
U
11
i e se
1111 l
O he Essays ( 1965),
was
well known
o
a
li
poc s and
sc
hola s
o
Am
e ican poe ics
duc o i s inclusion in
T/1e
Po
e ics
o
he New Ame ica
11
Poelly,
G o e
P ess.
19
79. undoub edly
h
e
mo
s inlluen ial an
ho
logy o he
sec
ond h
al
o
hc
ce
n u y. edi cd also
by
Donald Allen. in
ha case
o
ge
he wi h W. Tallman.
Cha les
O/so11.
Collcc cd P osc
p incipie in Olson's cosmology).
is
p ecisely hc eason
why
hey p o ide such a c ile
g ound o younge poe
s.
This Colle ed
P o. °e
ep escn s he
op
po uni y
o
handling in
jus
onc
o
lume
hc mos impo an! pa (only he ip
o
hc i
cebe
g.
as
F iedlande says)
o
Olson's
inmcnse p oduc ion. Thc hones and passiona e
in oduc
ion by Robe C eelcy and
almos ninc y pages
o
edi o s' no es comple e hc book. indeb ed. no doub . o Gco gc
Bu e ick's
so
i
ng ami a
nangcmen
o
Olson's papc s,
om
1972, when he Uni e si y
o
Connec icu pu chased
h
em, o 1986.
The
quan i y
and
na u e
o
hc
e
e en ce bo
oks
one
wo
uld necd o se abou he ask o eading wi hou he no es (ne c cnough wi h
Olson) makes
h
em
a necessa y aid o hc ex s. Wi h
hose
no es. and wi h a sound
compila ion
~md
o de ing
o
hc ex s, Ali en and F icdlande con ibu c o he knowlcd
gc
and app ecia i
on
o
h
e his o y o poe y and poe ics in he second pa
o
his cen u y.
and. wha is maybe c en mo e impo an!. o hc
con inuing
dialcc ics (whe c Black
Moun ain poe s s ill ha e much o say). con o c sy,
and
c ca i e cne gy
o
poe y
am
i
poc ics oday.
REFERENCES
E. HALSEY
FOSTER
,
U11de s a11di11g
he Block M mn ain
Po
e1s.
Co
lumbia: Sou h
Ca olina Uni e si y P ess. 1995.
MARK DOTY. «Thc Fo bidd
en
Plane
o
Cha ac e :
Th
e Rc ol
u i
on
o
he l 950's» in
A P ojile
i 'T1
e11li
e lz
Ce
11 wy
Ame ica11
Poe y. ed. by Jack Myc s and Da id
Wojahn. Sou he n Illinois
Uni ~ si y
P ess. 1991.