{"id":1256,"date":"2012-08-24T18:43:54","date_gmt":"2012-08-24T18:43:54","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/steelwagstaff.wordpress.com\/?p=1256"},"modified":"2012-08-24T18:43:54","modified_gmt":"2012-08-24T18:43:54","slug":"the-objectivists-carl-rakosi","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/steelwagstaff.info\/wordpress\/the-objectivists-carl-rakosi\/","title":{"rendered":"The Objectivists: Carl Rakosi"},"content":{"rendered":"

I’ve spent the last two weeks getting serious about my dissertation. It’s been two years now since I successfully completed my prelim exams, and I have almost nothing to show for that time, dissertation-wise. It’s tremendously embarrassing, and even a little painful. By getting serious, I mean that I’ve been diving into the primary sources for my dissertation project, the poetry of a cluster of really wonderful poets (and people) frequently referred to as “The Objectivists”: Charles Reznikoff, Louis Zukofsky, George Oppen, Carl Rakosi, Basil Bunting, and Lorine Niedecker. William Carlos Williams was associated with the Objectivists for a time, and many scholars refer to a period of his poetry as “Objectivist,” but he is not always\u00a0considered part\u00a0of the core group by literary historians.<\/p>\n

\"Carl
Carl Rakosi, reading his poetry for a 1971 radio broadcast produced by Charles Amirkhanian.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Reading their writing has energized me considerably, and motivated me to want to both write more of my own poetry and to get working on a dissertation that explores, elucidates, and even champions their impressive poetry. Over the next few weeks, I want to post little samples of the kind of poetry that each of the major Objectivists wrote, so that you too can grow to appreciate and love their work. If you love their poems, please buy the books that their work is contained in–all of the Objectivists except Carl Rakosi have beautiful editions of their collected work published in the past decade, so it is accessible, in print, and there for the enjoyment.<\/p>\n

To start, here’s a small taste of Carl Rakosi<\/a>, two poems about animals, and two other short lyrics:<\/p>\n

\u201cNo One Talks About This\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n

They go in different ways.
\nOne hog is stationed at the far end
\nof the pen to decoy the others,
\nthe hammer knocks the cow
\nto his knees,
\nthe sheep goes gentle
\nand unsuspecting.
\nThen the chain is locked
\naround the hind leg
\nand the floor descends
\nfrom under them.
\nHead down they hang.
\nThe great drum turns
\nthe helpless objects
\nand conveys them slowly
\nto the butcher waiting
\nat his station.
\nThe sheep is stabbed
\nbehind the ear.<\/p>\n

Gentle sheep, I am powerless
\nto mitigate your sorrow.
\nMen no longer weep
\nby the rivers of Babylon
\nbut I will speak for you.
\nIf I forget you, may my eyes
\nlose their Jerusalem.<\/p>\n

–from\u00a0Ere-Voice<\/em><\/a> (1967)<\/p>\n

\u201cPoem\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n

The ants came
\nto investigate
\nthe dead
\nbull snake,
\nnibbled
\nat the viscera
\nand hurried off
\nwith full mouths
\nwaving wild
\nantennae.<\/p>\n

Moths alighted,
\nbeetles swarmed,
\nflies buzzed
\nin the stomach.<\/p>\n

Three crows
\ntugged and tore
\nand flew off
\nto the oak tree
\nwith the skin.<\/p>\n

In every house
\nmen, women and children
\nwere chewing beef.<\/p>\n

Who was it said
\n\u201cThe wonder of the world<\/a>
\nis its comprehensibility\u201d<\/a>?<\/p>\n

\u201cStrictly Iowa\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n

They were married so long
\nthey were worn down
\nto the same element,
\ntwo factual blue eyes
\nand an open freckled face
\nneither liberal nor conservative
\nlike the Revolutionary farmer
\nand as sparing with an adjective
\nas a short-haired dog.<\/p>\n

\u201cGrace Note\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n

Since the world
\nhas been my tuning fork
\nI must have struck
\na note myself
\nfrom time to time
\nwhich pays my debt
\nwith honest affection
\nundivided between
\nhead and spring.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I’ve spent the last two weeks getting serious about my dissertation. It’s been two years now since I successfully completed my prelim exams, and I have almost nothing to show for that time, dissertation-wise. It’s tremendously embarrassing, and even a little painful. By getting serious, I mean that I’ve been diving into the primary sources […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2182,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_eb_attr":"","_coblocks_attr":"","_coblocks_dimensions":"","_coblocks_responsive_height":"","_coblocks_accordion_ie_support":"","_themeisle_gutenberg_block_has_review":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"\"The Objectivists: Carl Rakosi\" http:\/\/wp.me\/p1vqMH-kg","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[49,87],"tags":[146,178,6],"class_list":["post-1256","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-favorite-people","category-objectivists","tag-carl-rakosi","tag-objectivist","tag-poetry"],"featured_image_src":null,"author_info":{"display_name":"Steel Wagstaff","author_link":"https:\/\/steelwagstaff.info\/wordpress\/author\/steel\/"},"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","featured_image_src_square":null,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pd6z5D-kg","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":786,"url":"https:\/\/steelwagstaff.info\/wordpress\/at-long-last-7-2\/","url_meta":{"origin":1256,"position":0},"title":"At Long Last…","author":"Steel Wagstaff","date":"April 11, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"I have an approved dissertation proposal! 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