Objectivism (poetry)
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The Objectivists were a loose-knit group of second-generation Modernist poets who emerged in the 1930s, members of a poetic movement within the broader movement of
literary Modernism Modernist literature originated in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, and is characterised by a self-conscious separation from traditional ways of writing in both poetry and prose fiction writing. Modernism experimented with literary form a ...
known as Objectivism. The group consisted primarily of
American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, p ...
nationals and was influenced by
Ezra Pound Ezra Weston Loomis Pound (30 October 1885 – 1 November 1972) was an List of poets from the United States, American poet and critic, a major figure in the early modernist poetry movement, and a Collaboration with Nazi Germany and Fascist Ita ...
and
William Carlos Williams William Carlos Williams (September 17, 1883 – March 4, 1963) was an American poet and physician closely associated with modernism and imagism. His '' Spring and All'' (1923) was written in the wake of T. S. Eliot's '' The Waste Land'' (1922). ...
, among other contemporaneous writers. The basic tenets of Objectivist poetics, as defined by
Louis Zukofsky Louis Zukofsky (January 23, 1904 – May 12, 1978) was an American poet. He was the primary instigator and theorist of the so-called "Objectivist" poets, a short lived collective of poets who after several decades of obscurity would reemerge a ...
, were to treat the poem as an object and to emphasize sincerity, intelligence, and the poet's ability to look clearly at the world. While the name of the movement is the same as that of
Ayn Rand Alice O'Connor (born Alisa Zinovyevna Rosenbaum; , 1905March 6, 1982), better known by her pen name Ayn Rand (), was a Russian-born American writer and philosopher. She is known for her fiction and for developing a philosophical system which s ...
's
school of philosophy A school is the educational institution (and, in the case of in-person learning, the Educational architecture, building) designed to provide learning environments for the teaching of students, usually under the direction of teachers. Most co ...
, the two movements are not affiliated. The core group consisted of the Americans Zukofsky, Williams,
Charles Reznikoff Charles Reznikoff (August 31, 1894 – January 22, 1976) was an American poet best known for his long work, ''Testimony: The United States (1885–1915), Recitative'' (1934–1979). The term Objectivist was coined for him. The multi-volume ''Te ...
,
George Oppen George Oppen (April 24, 1908 – July 7, 1984) was an American poet, best known as one of the members of the Objectivist group of poets. He abandoned poetry in the 1930s for political activism and moved to Mexico in 1950 to avoid the attentions o ...
and
Carl Rakosi Carl Rakosi (November 6, 1903 – June 25, 2004) was the last surviving member of the Objectivist poets, still publishing and performing poetry well into his 90s. Early life Rakosi was born in Berlin and lived there and in Hungary until 191 ...
, and the British poet
Basil Bunting Basil Cheesman Bunting (1 March 1900 – 17 April 1985) was a British modernist poet whose reputation was established with the publication of '' Briggflatts'' in 1966, generally regarded as one of the major achievements of the modernist traditi ...
. Later, another American poet,
Lorine Niedecker Lorine Faith Niedecker (English: pronounced Needecker; May 12, 1903 – December 31, 1970) was an American poet. Her poetry is known for its spareness, its focus on the natural landscapes of Wisconsin and the Upper Midwest (particularly waterscape ...
, became associated with the group. A number of other poets were included in early publications under the Objectivist rubric without actually sharing the attitudes and approaches to poetry of this core group. Although these poets generally suffered critical neglect, especially in their early careers, and a number of them abandoned the practice of writing and/or publishing poetry for a time, they were to prove highly influential for later generations of writers working in the tradition of
modernist poetry in English Modernist poetry in English started in the early years of the 20th century in literature, 20th century with the appearance of the Imagism, Imagists. Like other modernists, Imagist poets wrote in reaction to the perceived excesses of Victorian era ...
.


Roots

The period 1909 to 1913 saw the emergence of
Imagism Imagism was a movement in early-20th-century poetry that favored precision of imagery and clear, sharp language. It is considered to be the first organized modernist literary movement in the English language. Imagism has been termed "a successi ...
, the first consciously ''
avant garde In the arts and literature, the term ''avant-garde'' ( meaning or ) identifies an experimental genre or work of art, and the artist who created it, which usually is aesthetically innovative, whilst initially being ideologically unacceptable ...
'' movement in 20th century
English-language English is a West Germanic language that developed in early medieval England and has since become a English as a lingua franca, global lingua franca. The namesake of the language is the Angles (tribe), Angles, one of the Germanic peoples th ...
poetry.
Pound Pound or Pounds may refer to: Units * Pound (currency), various units of currency * Pound sterling, the official currency of the United Kingdom * Pound (mass), a unit of mass * Pound (force), a unit of force * Rail pound, in rail profile * A bas ...
, who was Imagism's prime mover, served as foreign editor of
Harriet Monroe Harriet Monroe (December 23, 1860 – September 26, 1936) was an American editor, scholar, literary critic, poet, and patron of the arts. She was the founding publisher and long-time editor of ''Poetry'' magazine, which she established in 1912 ...
's magazine ''
Poetry Poetry (from the Greek language, Greek word ''poiesis'', "making") is a form of literature, literary art that uses aesthetics, aesthetic and often rhythmic qualities of language to evoke meaning (linguistics), meanings in addition to, or in ...
''. In October 1912, he submitted three poems each by
H.D. Hilda Doolittle (September 10, 1886 – September 27, 1961) was an American modernist poet, novelist, and memoirist who wrote under the name H.D. throughout her life. Her career began in 1911 after she moved to London and co-founded th ...
and
Richard Aldington Richard Aldington (born Edward Godfree Aldington; 8 July 1892 – 27 July 1962) was an English writer and poet. He was an early associate of the Imagist movement. His 50-year writing career covered poetry, novels, criticism and biography. He ed ...
under the label ''Imagiste''. Aldington's poems were printed in the November issue, and H.D.'s appeared in the January 1913 issue. The March 1913 issue of ''Poetry'' also contained Pound's ''A Few Don'ts by an Imagiste'' and
F. S. Flint Frank Stuart Flint (19 December 1885 – 28 February 1960) was an English poet and translator who was a prominent member of the Imagist group. Ford Madox Ford called him "one of the greatest men and one of the beautiful spirits of the country". L ...
's essay ''Imagisme''. This publication history meant that this
London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...
-based movement had its first readership in the
United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...
. It also meant that Imagism was available as a model for American
Modernist Modernism was an early 20th-century movement in literature, visual arts, and music that emphasized experimentation, abstraction, and Subjectivity and objectivity (philosophy), subjective experience. Philosophy, politics, architecture, and soc ...
poets of the next generation. Zukofsky was one such poet. He published a poem in ''Poetry'' in 1924 and introduced himself to Pound in 1927, when he sent the older poet his "Poem beginning 'The,'". Pound published the poem in his magazine ''
The Exile ''The eXile'' was a Moscow-based English-language biweekly free tabloid newspaper, aimed at the city's expatriate community, which combined outrageous, sometimes satirical, content with investigative reporting. In October 2006, co-editor Jake ...
'', and a long correspondence and friendship between the two began. This relationship was strengthened by Zukofsky's 1929 essay on Pound's long work in progress ''
The Cantos ''The Cantos'' is a long modernist poem by Ezra Pound, written in 109 canonical sections in addition to a number of drafts and fragments added as a supplement at the request of the poem's American publisher, James Laughlin. Most of it was wr ...
''. Pound also provided an introduction to William Carlos Williams, a physician and poet who had been a classmate of Pound's while at the University of Pennsylvania and who lived in Rutherford,
New Jersey New Jersey is a U.S. state, state located in both the Mid-Atlantic States, Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern United States, Northeastern regions of the United States. Located at the geographic hub of the urban area, heavily urbanized Northeas ...
, not far from Zukofsky. Zukofsky and Williams quickly became close friends and were to be literary collaborators for the rest of Williams's life. Another of Zukofsky's literary mentors at this period was
Charles Reznikoff Charles Reznikoff (August 31, 1894 – January 22, 1976) was an American poet best known for his long work, ''Testimony: The United States (1885–1915), Recitative'' (1934–1979). The term Objectivist was coined for him. The multi-volume ''Te ...
, a
New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...
poet whose early work was also influenced by Imagism. By 1928, the young American poet
George Oppen George Oppen (April 24, 1908 – July 7, 1984) was an American poet, best known as one of the members of the Objectivist group of poets. He abandoned poetry in the 1930s for political activism and moved to Mexico in 1950 to avoid the attentions o ...
and his wife
Mary Oppen Mary Oppen (November 28, 1908 – May 14, 1990), was an American activist, artist, photographer, poet and writer. She published an autobiography, ''Meaning a Life'' (1978), and a book of verse, ''Poems and Transpositions'' (1980). Early life O ...
had become friendly with Zukofsky and Reznikoff. Another young American poet,
Carl Rakosi Carl Rakosi (November 6, 1903 – June 25, 2004) was the last surviving member of the Objectivist poets, still publishing and performing poetry well into his 90s. Early life Rakosi was born in Berlin and lived there and in Hungary until 191 ...
, started corresponding with Pound around this time, and the older poet again recommended him to Zukofsky. The final member of the core group, Basil Bunting, was an
English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Culture, language and peoples * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England * ''English'', an Amish ter ...
poet who came from a
Quaker Quakers are people who belong to the Religious Society of Friends, a historically Protestant Christian set of denominations. Members refer to each other as Friends after in the Bible, and originally, others referred to them as Quakers ...
background and who had been imprisoned as a
conscientious objector A conscientious objector is an "individual who has claimed the right to refuse to perform military service" on the grounds of freedom of conscience or religion. The term has also been extended to objecting to working for the military–indu ...
during
World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...
. In 1923, Bunting met Pound in
Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...
and the two men developed a close literary friendship, with Bunting living near Pound at
Rapallo Rapallo ( , , ) is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Metropolitan City of Genoa, in the Italy, Italian region of Liguria. As of 2017 it had 29,778 inhabitants. It lies on the Ligurian Sea coast, on the Tigullio Gulf, between Portofino and ...
from 1931 to 1933. In 1930, Bunting published his first collection of poetry, '' Redimiculum Matellarum'', and Pound introduced him to Zukofsky. The term 'Objectivist' developed because Harriet Monroe insisted on a group name for the February 1931 issue of ''Poetry: A Magazine of Verse'', which Monroe had allowed Zukofsky to guest edit, at Pound's urging. Zukofsky recounts the occasion with Monroe in ''Prepositions'': "Harriet Monroe at the time insisted, we'd better have a title for it, call it something. I said, I don't want to. She insisted; so, I said, alright, if I can define it in an essay, and I used two words, sincerity and objectification, and I was sorry immediately. But it's gone down into the history books; they forgot the founder, thank heavens, and kept the terms, and, of course, I said objectivist, and they said objectivism and that makes all the difference. Well, that was pretty bad, so then I spent the next thirty years trying to make it simple." It also seems that the core group did not see themselves as a coherent movement but rather as a group of individual poets with some shared approach to their art. As well as the matters covered in Zukofsky's essays, the elements of this approach included: a respect for Imagist achievement in the areas of ''
vers libre Free verse is an open form of poetry which does not use a prescribed or regular meter or rhyme and tends to follow the rhythm of natural or irregular speech. Free verse encompasses a large range of poetic form, and the distinction between free v ...
'' and highly concentrated language and imagery; a rejection of the Imagists' interest in
classicism Classicism, in the arts, refers generally to a high regard for a classical period, classical antiquity in the Western tradition, as setting standards for taste which the classicists seek to emulate. In its purest form, classicism is an aesthe ...
and
mythology Myth is a genre of folklore consisting primarily of narratives that play a fundamental role in a society. For scholars, this is very different from the vernacular usage of the term "myth" that refers to a belief that is not true. Instead, the ...
; for Reznikoff, Zukofsky, Rakosi and Oppen, a shared
Jewish Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...
heritage (which, for all but Oppen included an early childhood in which English was not their first language); generally left-wing, and, in the cases of Zukofsky, Rakosi, and Oppen at least,
Marxist Marxism is a political philosophy and method of socioeconomic analysis. It uses a dialectical and materialist interpretation of historical development, better known as historical materialism, to analyse class relations, social conflic ...
politics.


Early publications

The first appearance of the group was in a special issue of ''
Poetry Poetry (from the Greek language, Greek word ''poiesis'', "making") is a form of literature, literary art that uses aesthetics, aesthetic and often rhythmic qualities of language to evoke meaning (linguistics), meanings in addition to, or in ...
'' magazine i
February 1931
this was arranged for by Pound and edited by Zukofsky (Vol. 37, No. 5). In addition to poems by Rakosi, Zukofsky, Reznikoff, George Oppen, Basil Bunting and William Carlos Williams, Zukofsky included work by a number of poets who would have little or no further association with the group: Howard Weeks,
Robert McAlmon Robert Menzies McAlmon (also used Robert M. McAlmon, as his signature name, March 9, 1895 – February 2, 1956) was an American writer, poet, and publisher. In the 1920s, he founded in Paris the publishing house, ''Contact Editions'', where he ...
, Joyce Hopkins, Norman Macleod,
Kenneth Rexroth Kenneth Charles Marion Rexroth (December 22, 1905 – June 6, 1982) was an American poet, translator, and critical essayist. He is regarded as a central figure in the San Francisco Renaissance, and paved the groundwork for the movement. Althoug ...
, S. Theodore Hecht, Harry Roskolenkier, Henry Zolinsky,
Whittaker Chambers Whittaker Chambers (born Jay Vivian Chambers; April 1, 1901 – July 9, 1961) was an American writer and intelligence agent. After early years as a Communist Party member (1925) and Soviet spy (1932–1938), he defected from the Soviet u ...
, Jesse Lowenthal, Emanuel Carnevali (as translator of
Arthur Rimbaud Jean Nicolas Arthur Rimbaud (, ; ; 20 October 1854 – 10 November 1891) was a French poet known for his transgressive and surreal themes and for his influence on modern literature and arts, prefiguring surrealism. Born in Charleville, he s ...
),
John Wheelwright John Wheelwright (c. 1592–1679) was a Puritan clergyman in England and America, noted for being banished from the Massachusetts Bay Colony during the Antinomian Controversy, and for subsequently establishing the town of Exeter, New Hamps ...
, Richard Johns and Martha Champion. An appendix (''Symposium'') featured texts by
Parker Tyler Harrison Parker Tyler (March 6, 1904 – July 24, 1974), was an American author, poet, and film critic. Career Tyler co-authored ''The Young and Evil'', in 1933 with writer Charles Henri Ford. The work was one of the first openly gay America ...
and
Charles Henri Ford Charles Henri Ford (February 10, 1908 – September 27, 2002) was an American poet, novelist, diarist, filmmaker, photographer, and collage artist. He published more than a dozen collections of poetry, exhibited his artwork in Europe and the Uni ...
, with a ''note'' by Zukofsky, a text by
Samuel Putnam Samuel Putnam (October 10, 1892 – January 15, 1950) was an American translator and scholar of Romance languages. He authored ''Paris Was Our Mistress'', a memoir on writers and artists associated with the American ex-patriate community in Paris ...
and Zukofsky's translation of a short essay on the poetry of
André Salmon André Salmon (4 October 1881, Paris – 12 March 1969, Sanary-sur-Mer) was a French poet, art critic and writer. He was one of the early defenders of Cubism, with Guillaume Apollinaire and Maurice Raynal. Biography André Salmon was born i ...
by his friend
René Taupin René Taupin (; 1905 – 13 February 1981) was a French translator, critic, and academic who lived most of his life in the United States and is best known for heading the Romance Languages department at Hunter College. Life Taupin moved to the Uni ...
. The issue also contained Zukofsky's essays ''Program: 'Objectivists' 1931'' and ''Sincerity and Objectification: With Special Reference to the Work of Charles Reznikoff'', a reworking of a study of Reznikoff's work originally written some time earlier. In this second essay, Zukofsky expands on the basic tenets of Objectivist
poetics Poetics is the study or theory of poetry, specifically the study or theory of device, structure, form, type, and effect with regards to poetry, though usage of the term can also refer to literature broadly. Poetics is distinguished from hermeneu ...
, stating that in sincerity "Writing occurs which is the detail, not mirage, of seeing, of thinking with the things as they exist, and of directing them along a line of melody", and that objectification relates to "the appearance of the art form as an object." This position echoes Pound's 1918 dictum (in an essay, "A Retrospective", in which he is looking back at Imagism) "I believe in technique as the test of a man's sincerity".


Some example poems

As an example, Zukofsky cites the following short section from ''A Group of Verse'', a long poem sequence that was Reznikoff's contribution to the issue: :Among the heaps of brick and plaster lies :a girder, still itself among the rubbish. In which the girder among the rubbish represents –for Zukofsky– the poem as object, sincere in itself. Oppen continued to refer to these lines as a poetic touchstone as late as 1976, though he would often misremember them as "a girder, still itself among the ''rubble''." Oppen's own contribution was a poem titled "1930s", later collected (without the title) as the opening section of Oppen's first collection called ''Discrete Series'', a book-length poem sequence.
:The knowledge not of sorrow, you were ::saying, but of boredom :Is — aside from reading speaking ::smoking — :Of what, Maude Blessingbourne it was, ::wished to know when, having risen, :“approached the window as if to see ::what really was going on”; :And saw rain falling, in the distance ::more slowly, :The road clear from her past the window- ::glass — :Of the world, weather-swept, with which ::one shares the century.
Of his own poetry, Zukofsky chose to include "A" — Seventh Movement, the first part of a six-page section from what was to become an 800-page poem. This extract takes as its subject a set of roadworks in the street outside his New York home:
:Horses: who will do it? out of manes? Words :Will do it, out of manes, out of airs, but :They have no manes, so there are no airs, birds :Of words, from me to them no singing gut. :For they have no eyes, for their legs are wood, :For their stomachs are logs with print on them; :Blood red, red lamps hang from necks or where could :Be necks, two legs stand A, four together M. :"Street Closed" is what print says on their stomachs; :That cuts out everybody but the diggers; :You're cut out, and she's cut out, and the jiggers :Are cut out. No! we can't have such nor bucks ::As won't, tho they're not here, pass thru a hoop ::Strayed on a manhole — me? Am on a stoop. extract from "A"-''7'' by Louis Zukofsky


Language and poetry

Another aspect of Objectivist
poetics Poetics is the study or theory of poetry, specifically the study or theory of device, structure, form, type, and effect with regards to poetry, though usage of the term can also refer to literature broadly. Poetics is distinguished from hermeneu ...
that is not explicitly addressed in these essays is an interest in exploiting the resonances of small, everyday words. As Zukofsky was to write some time later (in 1946), "a case can be made for the poet giving some of his life to the use of the words ''the'' and ''a'': both of which are weighted with as much epos and historical destiny as one man can perhaps resolve. Those who do not believe this are too sure that the little words mean nothing among so many other words." This concern is also reflected in Oppen's statement "if we still possessed the word 'is', there would be no need to write poems".


Reaction

Reaction to the issue was not uniformly welcoming, and the March 1931 issue of the magazine contained a hostile response by the editor herself under the title "The Arrogance of Youth". Monroe was particularly angered by Zukofsky's rejection of
Edwin Arlington Robinson Edwin Arlington Robinson (December 22, 1869 – April 6, 1935) was an American poet and playwright. Robinson won the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry on three occasions and was nominated for the Nobel Prize in Literature four times. Early life Robins ...
,
Robert Frost Robert Lee Frost (March26, 1874January29, 1963) was an American poet. Known for his realistic depictions of rural life and his command of American Colloquialism, colloquial speech, Frost frequently wrote about settings from rural life in New E ...
,
Edgar Lee Masters Edgar Lee Masters (August 23, 1868 – March 5, 1950) was an American attorney, poet, biographer, and dramatist. He is the author of '' Spoon River Anthology'', ''The New Star Chamber and Other Essays'', ''Songs and Satires'', ''The Great V ...
, and
Edna St. Vincent Millay Edna St. Vincent Millay (February 22, 1892 – October 19, 1950) was an American lyric poetry, lyrical poet and playwright. Millay was a renowned social figure and noted Feminism, feminist in New York City during the Roaring Twenties and beyond. ...
, all of whom were regular contributors to the magazine. However, not all reactions were so unfavorable; Niedecker read the issue at her local public library in
Fort Atkinson, Wisconsin Fort Atkinson is a city in Jefferson County, Wisconsin, United States. It lies along the Rock River (Illinois), Rock River a few miles upstream from Lake Koshkonong. The population was 12,579 at the 2020 census. Fort Atkinson is the largest city ...
, and wrote to Zukofsky shortly thereafter, beginning a friendship and frequent literary correspondence that would last until her death 40 years later. The ''Poetry'' issue was followed in 1932 by the Zukofsky-edited ''An 'Objectivist' Anthology''. This anthology featured far fewer contributors: Basil Bunting,
Mary Butts Mary Franeis Butts, (13 December 1890 – 5 March 1937) also Mary Rodker by marriage, was an English modernist writer. Her work found recognition in literary magazines such as '' The Bookman'' and ''The Little Review'', as well as from fellow mo ...
, Frances Fletcher, Robert McAlmon, George Oppen, Ezra Pound, Carl Rakosi, Kenneth Rexroth, Charles Reznikoff, William Carlos Williams, Louis Zukofsky and Forest Anderson,
T. S. Eliot Thomas Stearns Eliot (26 September 18884 January 1965) was a poet, essayist and playwright.Bush, Ronald. "T. S. Eliot's Life and Career", in John A Garraty and Mark C. Carnes (eds), ''American National Biography''. New York: Oxford University ...
, R. B. N. Warriston and Jerry Reisman. The anthology served to highlight the differences between these poets as much as their shared attitudes to writing. Much of the difference stemmed from Zukofsky's insistence on form over content, which conflicted with many of the other poets' concern with the real world. As Rakosi would later write: "if Reznikoff was an Objectivist, Zukofsky is not and never was one." ''An Objectivist Anthology'' was published by ''To, Publishers,'' a small press organized by Zukofsky, Reznikoff and George and Mary Oppen, and funded from Oppen's small private income. Zukofsky acted as general editor from New York City, for which he drew a small monthly salary, and the Oppen's arranged for the books' typesetting and printing from
Le Beausset Le Beausset (; ) is a commune in the Var department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region in southeastern France. Population See also *Communes of the Var department The following is a list of the 153 Communes of France, communes of t ...
, a small village in the south of
France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...
where the were living. The press also published ''A Novelette and Other Prose'' (1932) by Williams and ''Prolegomena 1'' (1932) by Ezra Pound. This was a reprint of two of Pound's prose books, ''How to Read'' and ''
The Spirit of Romance ''The Spirit of Romance'' is a 1910 book of literary criticism by the poet Ezra Pound. It is based on lectures he delivered at the Regent Street Polytechnic in London between 1908 and 1909 and deals with a variety of European literatures. As wit ...
'', bound in one volume. While the press had ambitious plans, planning to print Williams' uncollected prose, Pound's complete critical works, Bunting's translation of Italian poet
Federigo Tozzi Federigo Tozzi (born 1 January 1883 in Siena; died 21 March 1920 in Rome) was an Italian writer. Biography He was the son of an innkeeper. Tozzi failed to complete his secondary education, and read his way into Italian literature in Siena public ...
, Zukofsky's ''55 Poems'', and at least one book by Reznikoff, the press ran into several problems, and folded late in 1932 before any more volumes appeared. The returned to the United States in 1932 and, together with Zukofsky, Williams, and Reznikoff, went on to form the Objectivist Press to publish more books of Objectivist work. The first titles to appear were Williams' ''Collected Poems 1921–31'' (1934), with an introduction by Wallace Stevens, Oppen's ''Discrete Series,'' with an introduction by Ezra Pound, followed by Reznikoff's ''Jerusalem the Golden,'' (1934, poetry), his ''Testimony,'' (1934, prose), with an introduction by
Kenneth Burke Kenneth Duva Burke (May 5, 1897 – November 19, 1993) was an American literary theorist, as well as poet, essayist, and novelist, who wrote on 20th-century philosophy, aesthetics, criticism, and rhetorical theory. As a literary theorist, Burke ...
and his ''In Memoriam: 1933'' (1934, poetry). Reznikoff's ''Separate Way'' (1936) was the last publication of The Objectivist Press, not counting Zukofsky's ''A Test of Poetry'' (1948), which was published under its imprint twelve years later.


Aftermath of Objectivism

In 1935, the joined the
Communist Party of America The Communist Party USA (CPUSA), officially the Communist Party of the United States of America, also referred to as the American Communist Party mainly during the 20th century, is a communist party in the United States. It was established ...
, and George abandoned poetry in favor of political activism. In 1950, the couple moved to
Mexico Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...
to escape the strongly anti-Communist political atmosphere of the times. It would be 1958 before Oppen wrote any further poetry. The returned to New York in 1960, and George went on to publish six books of poetry between 1962 and 1978, by which time he was finding it increasingly difficult to write—he had
Alzheimer's disease Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a neurodegenerative disease and the cause of 60–70% of cases of dementia. The most common early symptom is difficulty in remembering recent events. As the disease advances, symptoms can include problems wit ...
. He won the
Pulitzer Prize The Pulitzer Prizes () are 23 annual awards given by Columbia University in New York City for achievements in the United States in "journalism, arts and letters". They were established in 1917 by the will of Joseph Pulitzer, who had made his fo ...
in 1969 for ''Of Being Numerous''. Mary Oppen published an account of their life, including a close-up view of the Objectivist period, in her 1978
memoir A memoir (; , ) is any nonfiction narrative writing based on the author's personal memories. The assertions made in the work are thus understood to be factual. While memoir has historically been defined as a subcategory of biography or autob ...
''Meaning a Life''. George Oppen died in 1984, and Mary died in 1990. After publishing his 1941 ''Selected Poems'', Carl Rakosi also abandoned poetry, dedicating himself to a career as a social worker. Shortly after turning 21, Rakosi had legally changed his name to Callman Rawley under which name he served as the head of the Minneapolis Jewish Children's and Family Service from 1945 until his retirement in 1968. An unexpected letter received from the English poet
Andrew Crozier Andrew Thomas Knights Crozier (26 July 1943 – 3 April 2008) was a poet associated with the British Poetry Revival. Life Crozier was educated at Dulwich College, and later Christ's College, Cambridge. His 1976 book ''Pleats'' won the Alice Hu ...
in 1965 about his early poetry encouraged Rakosi to start writing and publishing poetry again. A collection, ''Amulet'', was published by
New Directions Publishers New Directions Publishing Corp. is an independent book publishing company that was founded in 1936 by James Laughlin (1914–1997) and incorporated in 1964. Its offices are located at 80 Eighth Avenue in New York City. History New Directions ...
in 1967, and a number of other volumes were to appear over the following 46 years. These included his ''Collected Poems'' in 1986. Rakosi died in 2004, aged 100. After ''Redimiculum Matellarum'', Bunting's next book publication was ''Poems: 1950''. After a lively decade spent largely working in Iran for the
British foreign service His Majesty's Diplomatic Service (HMDS) is the diplomatic service of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, dealing with foreign affairs and representing British interests overseas, as opposed to the Civil Service, which deals ...
and The Times of London, Bunting returned to live in his native
Northumbria Northumbria () was an early medieval Heptarchy, kingdom in what is now Northern England and Scottish Lowlands, South Scotland. The name derives from the Old English meaning "the people or province north of the Humber", as opposed to the Sout ...
after his expulsion from Iran in 1952 by
Mossadeq Mohammad Mosaddegh (, ; 16 June 1882 – 5 March 1967) was an Iranian politician, author, and lawyer who served as the 30th Prime Minister of Iran from 1951 to 1953, elected by the 16th Majlis. He was a member of the Iranian parliament from 1 ...
, and the 1960s were to prove to be a very productive decade for him. Publications from this time include possibly his best-known work, the long poem ''
Briggflatts ''Briggflatts'' is a long poem by Basil Bunting published in 1966. The work is subtitled "An Autobiography". The title "Briggflatts" comes from the name of Brigflatts Meeting House (spelled with one "g" in Quaker circles), a Quaker Friends me ...
'' (1966), described by critic
Cyril Connolly Cyril Vernon Connolly CBE (10 September 1903 – 26 November 1974) was an English literary critic and writer. He was the editor of the influential literary magazine ''Horizon (British magazine), Horizon'' (1940–49) and wrote ''Enemies of Pro ...
as "the finest long poem to have been published in England since
T. S. Eliot Thomas Stearns Eliot (26 September 18884 January 1965) was a poet, essayist and playwright.Bush, Ronald. "T. S. Eliot's Life and Career", in John A Garraty and Mark C. Carnes (eds), ''American National Biography''. New York: Oxford University ...
's ''
Four Quartets ''Four Quartets'' is a set of four poems written by T. S. Eliot that were published over a six-year period. The first poem, ''Burnt Norton'', was published with a collection of his early works (1936's ''Collected Poems 1909–1935''). After a fe ...
''", and '' Collected Poems'' (1968, revised editions 1978 and 1985). An ''Uncollected Poems'' appeared in 1991 and his ''Complete Poems'' in 2000. In 1933, Niedecker visited Zukofsky in New York, where she and Zukofsky were rumored to have had a brief affair. She soon returned to her home in rural Wisconsin, a landscape that was to influence much of her later writing. Her first book, ''New Goose'', was published by the James A. Decker Press in 1946. As was the case for many of the other Objectivists, a combination of critical neglect and personal circumstances meant that this early publication was followed by a longish period of poetic silence during which she was unable to find a publisher for her work. Although she continued writing for much of the intervening period, her next book, ''My Friend Tree'', did not appear until 1961. She published relatively frequently after that, and her ''Collected Works'' appeared in 2002. In 1941, Reznikoff published a collection of poems called ''Going To and Fro and Walking Up and Down''. After that, although he continued to write and to publish in periodicals, his poetry had no further book publication until the 1959 ''Inscriptions: 1944–1956''. In 1962, New Directions published a selection of poems called ''By the Waters of Manhattan''. Three years later, they brought out '' Testimony: The United States, 1885–1890: Recitative'', the first installment of a long work based on court records covering the period 1855 to 1915. The book was a commercial and critical flop, and New Directions dropped him. In the 1970s,
Black Sparrow Press Black Sparrow Press is a New England based independent book publisher, known for literary fiction and poetry. History Black Sparrow was founded in Los Angeles, California, in 1966 by John Martin in order to publish the works of Charles Bukowski ...
started publishing Reznikoff, bringing out the complete ''Testimony'' as well as a similar work, ''Holocaust'', based on courtroom accounts of
Nazi concentration camps From 1933 to 1945, Nazi Germany operated more than a thousand concentration camps (), including subcamp (SS), subcamps on its own territory and in parts of German-occupied Europe. The first camps were established in March 1933 immediately af ...
. In the years after Reznikoff's death in 1976, Black Sparrow brought all his major works back into print. Zukofsky had begun work on a long poem in 24 parts called ''A'' in 1927. The first seven "movements" of this work appeared in the ''Objectivist Anthology'', having previously appeared in magazines. These early sections show the influence of ''
The Cantos ''The Cantos'' is a long modernist poem by Ezra Pound, written in 109 canonical sections in addition to a number of drafts and fragments added as a supplement at the request of the poem's American publisher, James Laughlin. Most of it was wr ...
'', though Zukofsky was to further develop his own style and voice as ''A'' progressed. The 1930s also saw him continue his involvement in Marxist politics, an interest that went back to his college friendship with Whittaker Chambers. Although he would continue to write short poems and prose works, notably the 1963 ''Bottom: On Shakespeare'', the completion of ''A'' was to be the major concern of the remainder of Zukofsky's writing life. As the poem progressed, formal considerations tended to be foregrounded more and more, with Zukofsky applying a wide range of devices and approaches, from the
sonnet A sonnet is a fixed poetic form with a structure traditionally consisting of fourteen lines adhering to a set Rhyme scheme, rhyming scheme. The term derives from the Italian word ''sonetto'' (, from the Latin word ''sonus'', ). Originating in ...
to
aleatory Aleatoricism (or aleatorism) is a term for musical compositions and other forms of art resulting from "actions made by chance". The term was first used "in the context of electro-acoustics and information theory" to describe "a course of sound ...
or random composition. The final complete edition was going to press as the poet lay on his deathbed in 1978. His final written work was the index to this volume.


Legacy

The early critical reception of the Objectivists was generally hostile, particularly in reviews by
Morris Schappes Morris U. Schappes (pronounced ''SHAP-pess'', born Moishe Shapshilevich; May 3, 1907 – June 3, 2004) was an American educator, writer, radical political activist, historian, and magazine editor, best remembered for a 1941 perjury conviction obta ...
and
Yvor Winters Arthur Yvor Winters (October 17, 1900 – January 25, 1968) was an American poet and literary critic. Life Winters was born in Chicago, Illinois and lived there until 1919 except for brief stays in Seattle and Pasadena, where his grandparents ...
, as well as Harriet Monroe's already-mentioned unfavorable reaction to the ''Poetry'' special issue. However, they did have an immediate impact, especially on the work of their two Imagist mentors, Williams and Pound. Williams and Zukofsky were to maintain a lifelong personal and creative relationship which was to prove important for both men. For Zukofsky, the example of Williams helped to keep him focused on external realities and things. For Williams, Zukofsky served as a reminder of the importance of form. As Mark Scroggins writes, "from Zukofsky, Williams learned to shape his often amorphous verse into more sharply chiselled measures." Pound, too, was influenced by the Objectivist sense of form, their focus on everyday vocabulary, and their interests in politics, economics and specifically American subject matter. The critic
Hugh Kenner William Hugh Kenner (January 7, 1923 – November 24, 2003) was a Canadian literary scholar, critic and professor. His studies on Modernist literature often analyzed the work of James Joyce, Ezra Pound, and Samuel Beckett. His major study of ...
has argued that these influences helped shape the sections of ''The Cantos'' published during the 1930s, writing "Pound was reading them, and they him". The poets of the
Beat Generation The Beat Generation was a literary subculture movement started by a group of authors whose work explored and influenced American culture and politics in the post-World War II era. The bulk of their work was published and popularized by members o ...
, a group of American
bohemian Bohemian or Bohemians may refer to: *Anything of or relating to Bohemia Culture and arts * Bohemianism, an unconventional lifestyle, originally practised by 19th–20th century European and American artists and writers. * Bohemian style, a ...
writers to emerge at the end of the 1940s that included
Allen Ginsberg Irwin Allen Ginsberg (; June 3, 1926 – April 5, 1997) was an American poet and writer. As a student at Columbia University in the 1940s, he began friendships with Lucien Carr, William S. Burroughs and Jack Kerouac, forming the core of th ...
,
Gary Snyder Gary Snyder (born May 8, 1930) is an American poet, essayist, lecturer, and environmental activist. His early poetry has been associated with the Beat Generation and the San Francisco Renaissance and he has been described as the "poet laureate ...
and
Jack Kerouac Jean-Louis Lebris de Kérouac (; March 12, 1922 – October 21, 1969), known as Jack Kerouac, was an American novelist and poet who, alongside William S. Burroughs and Allen Ginsberg, was a pioneer of the Beat Generation. Of French-Canadian ...
, owed much to Pound and Williams, and were led, through them, to the Objectivists. In the 1950s and 1960s, Zukofsky was sought out by younger poets including Paul Blackburn,
Jerome Rothenberg Jerome Rothenberg (December 11, 1931 – April 21, 2024) was an American poet, translator and anthologist, noted for his work in the fields of ethnopoetics and performance poetry. Rothenberg co-founded the method of ethnopoetics with Dennis T ...
, Jonathan Williams,
Denise Levertov Priscilla Denise Levertov (24 October 1923 – 20 December 1997) was a British-born naturalised American poet. She was heavily influenced by the Black Mountain poets and by the political context of the Vietnam War, which she explored in her p ...
,
Gilbert Sorrentino Gilbert Sorrentino (April 27, 1929 – May 18, 2006) was an American novelist, short story writer, poet, literary critic, professor, and editor. In over twenty-five works of fiction and poetry, Sorrentino explored the comic and formal possibili ...
and
Allen Ginsberg Irwin Allen Ginsberg (; June 3, 1926 – April 5, 1997) was an American poet and writer. As a student at Columbia University in the 1940s, he began friendships with Lucien Carr, William S. Burroughs and Jack Kerouac, forming the core of th ...
. His work was also well known to the
Black Mountain poets The Black Mountain poets, also called projectivist poets, were a group of mid-20th-century American ''avant-garde'' or postmodern poets based at Black Mountain College in North Carolina. Historical background and definition Although it lasted ...
, especially
Robert Creeley Robert White Creeley (May 21, 1926 – March 30, 2005) was an American poet and author of more than 60 books. He is associated with the Black Mountain poets, although his verse aesthetic diverged from that school. Creeley was close with Charle ...
and
Cid Corman Cid (Sidney) Corman (June 29, 1924 – March 12, 2004) was an American poet, translator and editor, most notably of '' Origin'', who was a key figure in the history of American poetry in the second half of the 20th century. Life Corman was bo ...
, whose ''Origin'' magazine and press were to serve as valuable publishing outlets for the older poet. Zukofsky's formal procedures, especially his interest in aleatory writing, were a key influence on
Jackson Mac Low Jackson Mac Low (September 12, 1922 – December 8, 2004) was an American poet, performance artist, composer and playwright, known to most readers of poetry as a practitioner of systematic chance operations and other non-intentional compos ...
and
John Cage John Milton Cage Jr. (September 5, 1912 – August 12, 1992) was an American composer and music theorist. A pioneer of indeterminacy in music, electroacoustic music, and Extended technique, non-standard use of musical instruments, Cage was one ...
, amongst others, and through them on the
Language School A language school is a school where one studies a foreign language. Classes at a language school are usually geared towards, for example, communicative competence in a foreign language. Language learning in such schools typically supplements fo ...
, an ''avant garde'' group of poets who started publishing in the 1970s and who included Bruce Andrews,
Charles Bernstein Charles Bernstein may refer to: * Charles Bernstein (composer) (born 1943), American composer of film and television scores * Charles Bernstein (poet) (born 1950), American poet, essayist, editor, and literary scholar {{hndis, Bernstein, Cha ...
,
Ron Silliman Ron Silliman (born August 5, 1946) is an American poet. He has written and edited over 30 books, and has had his poetry and criticism translated into 12 languages. He is often associated with language poetry. Between 1979 and 2004, Silliman w ...
,
Lyn Hejinian Lyn Hejinian ( ; May 17, 1941 – February 24, 2024) was an American poet, essayist, translator, and publisher. She is often associated with the Language poets and is known for her landmark work ''My Life'' (Sun & Moon (publisher), Sun & Moon, 198 ...
,
Bob Perelman Bob Perelman (born December 2, 1947) is an American poet, critic, editor, and teacher. He was an early exponent of the Language poets, an avant-garde movement, originating in the 1970s. He has helped shape a "formally adventurous, politically e ...
, Michael Palmer,
Rae Armantrout Rae Armantrout (born April 13, 1947) is an American poet generally associated with the Language poets. She has published more than two dozen books, including both poetry and prose. Armantrout was awarded the 2009 National Book Critics Circle Aw ...
,
Carla Harryman Carla Harryman (born January 11, 1952) is an American poet, essayist, and playwright often associated with the Language poets. She teaches Creative Writing at Eastern Michigan University and serves on the MFA faculty of the Milton Avery School of ...
,
Barrett Watten Barrett Watten (born October 3, 1948) is an American poet, editor, and educator associated with the Language poets. He is a professor of English at Wayne State University in Detroit, Detroit, Michigan, where he teaches modernism and cultural stu ...
,
Clark Coolidge Clark Coolidge (born February 26, 1939) is an American poet. Background As a teenager, Coolidge attended Classical High School in Providence, Rhode Island. Coolidge briefly attended Brown University, where his father founded and taught in the musi ...
,
Hannah Weiner Hannah Adelle Weiner (née Finegold) (November 4, 1928 – September 11, 1997) was an American poet who is often grouped with the ''Language poets'' because of the prominent place she assumed in the poetics of that group. Early life and writing ...
,
Susan Howe Susan Howe (born June 10, 1937) is an American poet, scholar, essayist, and critic, who has been closely associated with the Language poets, among other poetry movements.
,
Tina Darragh Tina Darragh (born 1950) is an American poet who was one of the original members of the Language group of poets. Biography Darragh was born in Pittsburgh and grew up in the south suburb of McDonald, Pennsylvania. She began writing in 1968 and st ...
and
Fanny Howe Fanny Howe (born October 15, 1940, in Buffalo, New York) is an American poet, novelist, and short story writer. She was raised in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Howe has written more than 20 books of poetry and prose. Her major works include poetry ...
. Oppen and Reznikoff influenced subsequent generations of poets, most notably,
Theodore Enslin Theodore Vernon Enslin (March 25, 1925 – November 21, 2011) was an American poet associated with Cid Corman's ''Origin'' and press. He is widely regarded as one of the most musical of American avant-garde poets. Enslin was born in Chester, Penn ...
, Harvey Shapiro, Michael Heller,
Norman Finkelstein Norman Gary Finkelstein ( ; born December 8, 1953) is an American political scientist and activist. His primary fields of research are the politics of the Holocaust and the Israeli–Palestinian conflict. Finkelstein was born in New York Cit ...
,
Rachel Blau DuPlessis Rachel Blau DuPlessis (born December 14, 1941) is an American poet and essayist, known as a feminist critic and scholar with a special interest in modernist and contemporary poetry. Her work has been widely anthologized. Early life DuPlessis w ...
, John Taggart, and Armand Schwerner to name a few. Their poetry continues the Objectivist obsession with language, ethics, and world and often addresses modern, urban, Jewish life, both secular and religious. DuPlessis, on first glance, seems an exception to this list. Her poetry seems not to immediately possess the so-called themes of an Objectivist aesthetic as practiced in the work of a Reznikoff, a Niedecker or an Oppen. As a young woman and university student, DuPlessis began a lifelong correspondence with Oppen and was deeply influenced by Oppen's integrity, sincerity, and courage. Though establishing herself as a poet with tendencies and obsessions at some remove from an Objectivist
ethos ''Ethos'' is a Greek word meaning 'character' that is used to describe the guiding beliefs or ideals that characterize a community, nation, or ideology; and the balance between caution and passion. The Greeks also used this word to refer to the ...
(or so it may be argued at a first reading) DuPlessis has played a crucial role in the dissemination and survival of Objectivist poetry and poetics well into the 21st century. The life of a man such as Oppen made a lasting impression on DuPlessis. DuPlessis gained Oppen's trust as well and she was given the opportunity of editing Oppen's ''Selected Letters'', which were published posthumously. Bunting's physical presence in Newcastle in the 1960s, together with his close relationships with a number of younger poets (including
Tom Pickard Tom Pickard (born 1946, Newcastle upon Tyne, England) is a poet, and documentary film maker who was an important initiator of the movement known as the British Poetry Revival. Biography Born Thomas McKenna, he was raised by his mother's maternal a ...
, Thomas A. Clark,
Richard Caddel Richard Caddel (13 July 1949 – 1 April 2003) was a poet, publisher and editor who was a key figure in the British Poetry Revival. Biography Caddel was born in Bedford and grew up in Gillingham, Kent. He studied music at the University of Newca ...
and
Barry MacSweeney Barry MacSweeney (17 July 1948 – 9 May 2000) was an English poet and journalist. His organizing work contributed to the British Poetry Revival. Life and work 1960s Barry MacSweeney was born in Newcastle upon Tyne. He left school aged 16, and ...
), meant that he was a major father figure for the poets of the
British Poetry Revival The British Poetry Revival is the general name now given to a loose list of poetry groups and movements, movement in the United Kingdom that took place in the late 1960s and 1970s. The term was a neologism first used in 1964, postulating a New Br ...
. This younger generation were also drawn to the works of the other Objectivists, and their writings began to be more widely known in Britain. For example, it was a letter from the Revival poet
Andrew Crozier Andrew Thomas Knights Crozier (26 July 1943 – 3 April 2008) was a poet associated with the British Poetry Revival. Life Crozier was educated at Dulwich College, and later Christ's College, Cambridge. His 1976 book ''Pleats'' won the Alice Hu ...
which prompted Rakosi's return to poetry. Amidst the continuous reappraisals, critical and otherwise, of the legacy and literary formation of the Objectivists, a well known mapping of the territory continues to be one put forth by poet
Ron Silliman Ron Silliman (born August 5, 1946) is an American poet. He has written and edited over 30 books, and has had his poetry and criticism translated into 12 languages. He is often associated with language poetry. Between 1979 and 2004, Silliman w ...
: "three-phase Objectivism". Though unclear, precisely, who coined the phrase, this rubric offers a useful way of dealing with the intercession of the Objectivist poets into our consciousness. Writes Silliman:


Notes


References


Print

* DuPlessis, Rachel Blau & Peter Quartermain (eds) ''The Objectivist Nexus: Essays in Cultural Poetics'', (Tuscaloosa: University of Alabama Press, 1999). * Kenner, Hugh, ''The Pound Era'' (Faber and Faber, 1975 edition). * McAllister, Andrew (ed) ''The Objectivists: An Anthology'' (Bloodaxe Books, 1996). . * Perloff, Marjorie, "Barbed-Wire Entanglements": The "New American Poetry," 1930–1932" in ''Modernism/modernity'' - Volume 2, Number 1, January 1995, pp. 145–175. *Scroggins, Mark. ''The Poem of a Life: A Biography of Louis Zukofsky'', Shoemaker & Hoard, 2007.


Online


Andrew Crozier: On Carl Rakosi's Life and Career
Captured October 13, 2005.

Captured October 13, 2005.

Captured October 13, 2005.

Captured October 10, 2005.

Captured October 27, 2005.

Captured November 14, 2005.


External links


Four poems by Basil Bunting
Captured November 23, 2005.

Captured November 23, 2005.

Captured November 23, 2005.

Captured November 23, 2005.

Captured November 23, 2005. {{Schools of poetry *