Duncan, Robert

Bending the Bow

New York, NY, USA: New Directions, 1968. First Edition. Softcover. Signed by Robin Eichele. Robert Duncan (1919-1988), the great American poet & author of the Black Mountain School- San Francisco Renaissance-&-Beyond, is widely considered one of the finest poets America has ever produced. A distinctive voice in American poetry, Duncan’s idiosyncratic poetics drew on ancient-myth, esoteric-occultism, religion—including the theosophical tradition in which he was raised—and innovative writing practices such as projective verse, as pioneered by Charles Olson (1910-1970), and composition by field. With peerless erudition and a mind for the poetic that borders on a nigh-cathedral-like vastness, Duncan’s works have been, rightly, lauded for decades by critics and readers alike. Drawing on a wide-range of influences like Homer, Dante (1265-1321), and Hilda Doolittle, a.k.a H.D., (1886-1961) works like: Heavenly City Earthly City (1947), The Opening of the Field (1960), Roots and Branches (1964), A Book of Resemblances (1966), and, after a 15-year publishing hiatus, the influential volumes Ground Work I: Before the War (1984) and Ground Work II: In the Dark (1987). His Selected Poems (1993) was published posthumously, as was his volume of collected writings, and personal tribute to the work of H.D., The H.D. Book (2011) all of these works being endemic of Duncan’s prolific poetic mind and his mastery over the craft. Offered today is one of Duncan’s most beloved works, Bending The Bow (1968) with points in Bertholf, A29, c, pg. 91.. The following is from the back cover of this volume: “The chronological composition of Bending The Bow emphasizes Duncan’s belief that the significance of form is that of an event in process. Thus, the poems of the two open series belong ultimately to the configuration of a life in poetry in which there are forms moving within and interpenetrating forms. Versions of Verlaine’s Saint Graal and Parsifal and a translation of Gerard de Nerval’s Les Chimeres enter the picture; narrative bridges for the play Adams Way have their place in the process; and three major individual poems–”My Mother Would Be A Falconress,” “A Shrine to Ameinias,” and “Epilogos”--among others make for an interplay of frames of reference and meaning in which even such resounding blasts of outrage at the War in Viet-Nam as “Up Rising” and “The Soldiers” are not for the poet things in themselves but happenings in a poetry that involve all other parts of his experience.” Signed in thick black ink by former owner Robin Eichele at title page. From the collection of scholar, poet and our dear friend Robin Eichele (b. 1941), noted Mimeograph Revolutionary & co-founder of the Detroit Artists’ Workshop with the late, great John Sinclair (1941-2024). Softcover. First edition, first printing though not explicated as such, as per the practices of this legendary publisher at that time. Book is in very fine condition with slight wear to fine edges and minor smudging to front and back covers. Very Fine. [Item #6878]

Price: $80.00 save 15% $68.00