On Earth: Last Poems and an Essay

Robert Creeley

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On Earth

Last Poems and an Essay

Robert Creeley

Language: English

Published/Copyright: 2006

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About this book

Robert Creeley, one of the most significant American poets of the twentieth century, helped define an emerging counter-tradition to the prevailing literary establishment—a postwar poetry originating with Ezra Pound, William Carlos Williams, and Louis Zukofsky and expanding through the lives and works of Charles Olson, Robert Duncan, Allen Ginsberg, Denise Levertov, and others. When Robert Creeley died in March 2005, he was working on what was to be his final book of poetry. In addition to more than thirty new poems, many touching on the twin themes of memory and presence, this moving collection includes the text of the last paper Creeley gave—an essay exploring the late verse of Walt Whitman. Together, the essay and the poems are a retrospective on aging and the resilience of memory that includes tender elegies to old friends, the settling of old scores, and reflective poems on mortality and its influence on his craft. On Earth reminds us what has made Robert Creeley one of the most important and affectionately regarded poets of our time.

Author / Editor information

Contributor: Robert Creeley Robert Creeley (1926-2005) has published more than sixty books of poetry, prose, essays, interviews and in the United States and abroad, including If I Were Writing This, Selected Poems 1945-1990, The Collected Poems of Robert Creeley, 1945-1975, and The Island. His many honors include the Lannan Lifetime Achievement Award, the Frost Medal, the Shelley Memorial Award, and the Bollingen Prize in Poetry. He was a member of the American Academy of Arts and Letters and Distinguished Professor in the Graduate Program in Literary Arts at Brown University.

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Frontmatter
i

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Contents
ix

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Poems
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When I think
3

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“To think . . . ”
5

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Old Song
6

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For Ric, who Loved this World
7

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Oh, do you remember . . .
8

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Paul
10

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Mediterranean I
12

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Mediterranean II
13

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War
14

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Talking
15

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Bye and Bye
16

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For John Wieners
17

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After School
20

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Help!
21

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Shimmer
25

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Sad Walk
28

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Caves
29

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Absence
38

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The Ball
39

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Which Way
40

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On Earth
41

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Saying Something
42

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The Red Flower
43

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The Puzzle
45

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A Full Cup
47

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Old Story
49

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Later (Wrightsville Beach)
50

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Dover Beach (Again)
51

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Echo
52

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Wish
53

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Here
54

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To My/ Little: / Pen’s Valentine
55

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Valentine for You
56

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Essay
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Reflections on Whitman in Age
59

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Acknowledgments
87

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Publishing information

Pages and Images/Illustrations in book

eBook published on:

February 15, 2023

eBook ISBN:

9780520932937

Pages and Images/Illustrations in book

Main content:

100

https://doi.org/10.1525/9780520932937

eBook ISBN: 9780520932937

Keywords for this book

postwar poetry; poet; poetry collection; american poet; poetics; literature; presence; aging; old age; life stages; mortality; creative writing; creativity; craft; elegy; friendship; modernist poetry; modernism; grudges; revenge; relationships; counterculture; memory; contemporary poetry; poetry; literary criticism; american poetry

On Earth

Overview

About this book

Author / Editor information

Topics

Table of contents

Frontmatter

Contents

When I think

“To think . . . ”

Old Song

For Ric, who Loved this World

Oh, do you remember . . .

Paul

Mediterranean I

Mediterranean II

War

Talking

Bye and Bye

For John Wieners

After School

Help!

Shimmer

Sad Walk

Caves

Absence

The Ball

Which Way

On Earth

Saying Something

The Red Flower

The Puzzle

A Full Cup

Old Story

Later (Wrightsville Beach)

Dover Beach (Again)

Echo

Wish

Here

To My/ Little: / Pen’s Valentine

Valentine for You

Reflections on Whitman in Age

Acknowledgments

Bibliographic data