Irby, Kenneth (Glover, Albert)

Antiphonal and Fall to Fall with: Ephemera

Boulder, CO: Kavyayantra Press, 1994. Limited First Edition. Sewn Binding. Inscribed, signed, placed & dated with drawing by Kenneth Irby to Albert Glover; & with hand-signed note. “The antiphonal protagonists take pause / pieces held in trust, lost, uncertain how, found or thought to find again at / the right angles of public places / into the great hidden pageant that is always going on outside the equally / uncertain conferences of elders, who scold or blame or praise / unpredictably / responsibility also to hold, and of another place, to touch our own still / carried possibility of youth to graduate with these / if he is mingled lure and love, footstep and delirium of love, track of / learning in its quest, and yet not all attraction instantly, following with / fingertips the key unlocking flattened blade palooka’d nose, and hair / all belted to the waist / she is of the other sight, wise distance, nail parings, threads of the pawns / drawn, what animal will be at the trysting place tonight, hair taken / and returned, permission and allowance, mater ludens, grave and / hilarious, eruptive and instructive-patient, heart incloudening / and there is an other older he sure counsellor, and an other younger she / sure lover, four crossings into the graduation / who is turned to on the high lawns and the hills above, white shirt open to / the breast, in each absence what history itself is longing for to demonstrate, / not with names and not with dates but these, our inter-interventions…”--Kenneth Irby. Kenneth Irby (1936-2015) was an American poet associated most with the Black Mountain poets, especially Robert Duncan (1919-1988), Robert Creeley (1926-2005), and Edward Dorn (1929-1999); his work has also been associated with the Language poets as well. His collections include The Oregon Trail (1964), Relation: Poems 1965–1966 (1970), Plank Turned to Marble (1979), A Set (1983), Ridge to Ridge: Poems 1990–2000 (2001), and The Intent On: Collected Poems, 1962–2006 (2009). Offered today is the 1994 collection of poetry, Antiphonal and Fall to Fall. A collection of highly experimental, abstract, poetic-vingettes Antiphonal and Fall to Fall is an Irby classic that not only is exemplary of his oeuvre, but also illustrates his associations with the Black Mountain & Language poets. An incredible, and increasingly scarce Irby collectible! From the collection of Albert Glover (1942-2026), the great American scholar, bibliographer, author & publisher who was the foremost living authority on literary giant Charles Olson (1910-1970) (our favorite Maximus Obscurantist), with whom we're honored to have been acquainted. Signed, Inscribed, dated & illustrated with mountains and a rising sun (see photos) by Kenneth Irby at second to last page in thick black ink to Al Glover: “This copy is for / Al Glover / in appreciation / of all his work / with the best wishes / of / Ken (Anarchy symbol) Irby / Lawrence, Jan 1996.” We have also found and retained between last two pages, a hand typed letter to Glover from Irby (see photos). Softcover in sewn bindings. Limited first edition, one of an edition of “200 (unnumbered) copies” as stated at inside front flap of back cover. In very fine condition with only slight wear to fine edges. Very Fine. [Item #9167]

Price: $125.00