The Inner Trees

CONTENTS Preface (Thomas Rain Crowe)………………. "LOOKING FOR DRAGONSMOKE Contents I Dragonsmoke“Robert Bly has become, over his several lifetimes of ink and words, a force of geological genius, transforming the landscape of poetry and culture in ways that set him beside the Old Masters and anonymous teachers whose praises his lines so often sing. This book carries its own lantern of bioluminescence, an alchemical music and knowledge, and Bly’s ferocious thirst, needed now more than ever.” - Jane Hirshfield Six Disciplines That Intensify Poetry Looking for Dragonsmoke II The Imperfect Is Our Paradise The Work of Jane Hirshfield Wallace Stevens and Dr. Jekyll My Doubts About Whitman Upward into the Depths Rilke and the Holy James Wright’s Clarity and Extravagance A Few Notes on Antonio Machado
William Stafford and the Golden Thread Some Rumors About Kabir The Surprises in Ghalib III Opinions and Judgments A Wrong Turning in American Poetry When Literary Life Was Still Piled Up in a Few Places The Eight Stages of Translation IV Thoreau and Wildness Thoreau and Wildness Introduction vi Butterfly and Flowers I. II. III. IV. Blossoms fade in withered red and apricots are tiny 1 I recall our first meeting by the peacock screen 3 Petals flutter down without wind 5 The face of spring glows after rain 7 V. Lights flooded Hangzhou on the Fifteenth Night 9 The Water Song Roll up brocade curtains at sunset 11 When did the bright moon come into being 13 Murmurs ripple between boy and girl 15 Southern Countryside Frost is on the ground and the river has shrunk 17 My gaze darkens the cup that sends off spring 19 I looked back at the jumbled ridges 21 A jade goblet captures late afternoon landscape 23 Calming the Wind and Waves Ignore the sounds piercing trees and beating leaves 25 I envy a certain man refined as carved jade 27 The Court Fills With Fragrance After thirty-three years 29 Fame fits in a snail's horn 31 “Return to where I belong” 33 Sand of the Washing Stream Crimson warmth of sunset lured fish to the surface 35 The stream bathes orchid sprouts down the mountain 37 They rouged in a whirl to go governor watching 39 Ten thousand acres of wintry waves erased my memory 41 Soft grass and flat sedge freshen after rain 43 Date blossoms rain onto my clothes 45 The wind flies fast clouds low over the water 47 From the River City Ten years one alive one dead we share no light 49 Afraid of being seen beneath my darkened eyebrows 51 Inflicted with endless pining I drift to the edge of the sky 53 I saw it all and woke from the drunken dream 55 The rain clears by the Phoenix Mountain 57 VI. An old man lets loose some youthful wildness 59 The Song of the Cave Celestial Skin of ice and bones of jade 61 Eight Toned Ganzhou Passionate wind sweeps tides in for a thousand miles 63 Divination A broken moon catches on a leafless phoenix tree 65 Touching Up Crimson Lips Red apricot blossoms flaunt sweet scent 67 Lord Ruan’s Return First cicadas drone in leafy locusts and tall willows 69 A Young Man’s Journey Last year I saw you off 71 The Joy of Returning to Court I dreamed I was in a little boat floating on Thunder Lake 73 To the Bridegroom A fledging swallow flies into the mansion 75 Trimmed Magnolia A pair of dragons rise face to face 77 The Celestial by the River We’ve rekindled the hearth three times since parting 79 Two handmaidens rode off on fine horses 81 Sobered and got drunk again at East Hill 83 The River Turns Red Rivers Yangtze and Han dash from the west 85 Southern Song Courtesans’ eyebrows mirror shades of distant mountains 87 Carrying wine dashed through mountain rain 89 Nian Nu’s Charm The vast river rushes eastward 91 Spring in Qin Garden An oil lamp’s blue flame haunts a lone lodge 93 Celestials on the Bridge of Magpies The prince on Gou Mountain 95 A Dream Song Pass the word to East Hill 97 Water Dragon Chant They are flowers yet unlike any 99 Gazing Southward of the Yangtze Spring is not yet over 101 West River Moon I pass by Pingshan Hall for the third time 103 Do not sigh over the desolate prairie 105 A small rain patters on the balcony 107 An open field shimmers with shallow waves 109 Journey Through Incense A crystal night untouched by dust 111 Arm in arm we roamed the riverside village 113 I ride a leaf of a boat 115 The Sun Pass Dusk clouds vanish as a crystal chill blooms 117 Eternal Happiness Moonlight frosts the night 119 Zhao Jun’s Regret Someone channeled Huan Yi in three flute rounds 121 Partridge Sky The forest ends the mountain gleams bamboos hide walls 123 The Fisherman 125 Chinese Names 127 " “Surrealist Manifesto (1924)” …………………... “The Panama Canal 1914”………………………. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From Jean Sans Terre (1936-1939)—American Edition: 1958 (Misc. translators) “Jean Sans Terre Defined by Yvan Goll”………………………………………………. “Identity of Jean Sans Terre” (Galway Kinnell)……………………………………….. “Jean Sans Terre Weds the Moon” (Yvan Goll)………………………………………… “Jean Sans Terre on the Bridge” (Kenneth Rexroth)…………………………………… “John With No Moon” (W.S.Merwin)…………………………………………………. “Jean Sans Terre the Assassin” (Kenneth Patchen)…………………………………….. “Jean Sans Terre Purchases Manhattan” (Clark Mills)…………………………………. “Jean Sans Terre Discovers the West Pole” (William Carlos Williams)……………….. “Jean Sans Terre at the Final Port” (William Carlos Williams)………………………… From Fruit From Saturn—Hemispheres Press, 1946 “Atom Elegy” ………………………………………… From The Myth of the Pierced Rock –Le Mythe de la Roche Percee, 1947--(translations by Frank Jones, 1975) Preface…………………… ………………………… “II, III, XIV, XV” …………………………………. From Lackawanna Elegy (1947)—Sumac Press Edition, 1970 (translations by Galway Kinnell) “Lackawanna Elegy”………………………………….. “Show Boat”………………………………………….. “Bridges”……………………………………………… “Lackawanna Mannahatta’……………………………. “Wings of Water”…………………………………….. “Fish of Wandering”…………………………………. “Brooklyn Waterfront”………………………………. “Balconies Suspended Over Lackawanna”………….. “Lackawanna Elegy”………………………………….. From 10,000 Dawns (Dix Milles Aubes, 1951) – (translations by Thomas Rain Crowe), White Pine Press, 2005 --Crowe Introduction……………………………….. “Your hair sets fire”………………………………… “Of all the trees in the forest”………………………. “I want to be that birch tree………………………… “Your eyes are everywhere”………………………... “I have grown old”…………………………………. “In 100 years”……………………………………… “I wear you like a tattoo”………………………….. “This is the season of jealousy”……………………. “O I want to complain”……………………………... “We will always be alone”…………………………. “You are elusive”…………………………………… “10,000 Dawns”…………………………………… From Dreamweed (Traumkraut) - Limes Verlag, 1951- Black Lawrence Press, 2012 (translations by Nan Watkins) “Alasam” …………………………………………… “This Holy Body” …………………………………. “Rosedom” …………………………………………. “Job III” ……………………………………………. “South” …………………………………………….. “In Fields of Camphor” …………………………….. “The Sun Cantata” ………………………………….. “To Claire-Liliane”…………………………………... “To Claire”…………………………………………... “The Fear Dancer” ………………………………….. “The Rain Palace” …………………………………… From Yvan Goll: Poems--Kayak Books, Inc, 1968 (Misc. translators) “Ode to Autumn” (Robert Bly)……………………………………. “The Inner Trees” (Robert Bly)……………………………………. “The Hut of Cinders” (George Hitchcock)………………………… “I Loved You in Every Blackbird” (George Hitchcock)………….. “Do Not Call Death” (Paul Zweig)………………………………… “Why Should Summer Come Back” (Paul Zweig)……………….. “Blood Rose” (Paul Zweig)……………………………………….. “The Night Is Our Dress” (Paul Zweig)…………………………… “Elegy for Poor Me” (George Hitchcock)…………………………. About the Editor……………………………………………………88