Of Indigo and Saffron : New and Selected Poems

This essential collection of Michael McClure's poetry contains the most original, radical, and visionary work of a major poet who has been garnering acclaim and generating controversy for more than fifty years. Ranging from __A Fist Full,__ published in 1957, through __Swirls in Asphalt,__ a new poem sequence, __Of Indigo and Saffron i__s both an excellent introduction to this unique American voice and an impressive selection from McClure's landmark volumes for those already familiar with his boldly inventive work. One of the five poets who heralded the Beat movement in the 1955 Six Gallery reading in San Francisco, McClure reveals in his poetry a close kinship to Romanticism, Modernism, Surrealism, and Japanese haiku. These poems—grounded in imagination and a profound regard for the natural world—chart a poetic landscape of utter originality. "This essential collection of Michael McClure's poetry contains the most original, radical, and visionary work of a major poet who has been garnering acclaim and generating controversy for more than fifty years. Ranging from A Fist Full, published in 1957, through Swirls in Asphalt, a new poem sequence, Of Indigo and Saffron is both an excellent introduction to this unique American voice and an impressive selection from McClure's landmark volumes for those already familiar with his boldly inventive work. One of the five poets who heralded the Beat movement in the 1955 Six Gallery reading in San Francisco, McClure reveals in his poetry a close kinship to Romanticism, Modernism, Surrealism, and Japanese haiku. These poems--grounded in imagination and a profound regard for the natural world--chart a poetic landscape of utter originality."--Publisher's description This essential collection of Michael McClure's poetry contains the most original, radical, and visionary work of a major poet who has been garnering acclaim and generating controversy for more than fifty years. Ranging from A Fist Full, published in 1957, through Swirls in Asphalt, a new poem sequence, Of Indigo and Saffron is both an excellent introduction to this unique American voice and an impressive selection from McClure's landmark volumes for those already familiar with his boldly inventive work. One of the five poets who heralded the Beat movement in the 1955 Six Gallery reading in San Francisco, McClure reveals in his poetry a close kinship to Romanticism, Modernism, Surrealism, and Japanese haiku. These poems—grounded in imagination and a profound regard for the natural world—chart a poetic landscape of utter originality. This essential collection of Michael McClure's poetry contains the most original, radical, and visionary work of a major poet who has been garnering acclaim and generating controversy for more than fifty years. Ranging from A Fist Full, published in 1957, through Swirls in Asphalt, a new poem sequence, Of Indigo and Saffron i s both an excellent introduction to this unique American voice and an impressive selection from McClure's landmark volumes for those already familiar with his boldly inventive work. One of the five poets who heralded the Beat movement in the 1955 Six Gallery reading in San Francisco, McClure reveals in his poetry a close kinship to Romanticism, Modernism, Surrealism, and Japanese haiku. These poems—grounded in imagination and a profound regard for the natural world—chart a poetic landscape of utter originality. Contents Preface Introduction: The instant is the giant lamp we throw / our shadows by From Hymns to St. Geryon, 1959 From A Fist Full, 1956–1957 From Dark Brown, 1961 From The New Book/A Book of Torture, 1961 From Little Odes, 1961 From Ghost Tantras, 1964 From Star, 1970 From Hail Thee Who Play, 1974 From September Blackberries, 1974 From Jaguar Skies, 1975 From Fragments of Perseus, 1983 From Rebel Lions, 1984 From Simple Eyes & Other Poems, 1993 stanzas From Dolphin Skull, 1995 From Rain Mirror, 1999 From Plum Stones: Cartoons of No Heaven, 2002 Credits Index of Titles and First Lines McClure has not departed from his center-justified, breath-based lines in a career that has spanned more than half a century. One of the readers at Allen Ginsberg's famed 1955 reading of Howl at San Francisco's Six Gallery, McClure, unlike Ginsberg, remains closely associated with that city, and with the varieties of 20th-century Zen and other Eastern religious practice that have emerged from it.--Publishers Weekly A collection of Michael McClure's poetry that contains the radical, visionary work of a major poet who has been garnering acclaim and generating controversy for more than fifty years.