Book Reviews: Charles Olson, "Collected Prose"

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 So ne unpublished w i ings om Olson's a chi e ha e also been escued by Allen and F iedlandes, who es ic ed chis no el y o he collec ion o ex s ha we e p epa ed o publica ion by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«G andPa GoodBye» (on Pound ), «D.H. Law en ce and h e High Temp a ion o he Mind,» and «Cy Tombly.» Th ee o he o mc ly unpublished ex s a e mainly au obiog aphical, pe sonal no es s a ing wi h a ela i c, a iend o an anecdo e and de eloping so ne kind o b ic abs ac c lec ion, deeply oo ed,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.