Songs of Unreason

by Jim Harrison

Poetry Foundation Bestseller List

Los Angeles Times Book Prize finalist

Michigan Notable Book

High Plains Book Award finalist

Balcones Prize finalist

“A beautifully mysterious inquiry... Here Harrison—forthright, testy, funny, and profoundly discerning—a gruff romantic and a sage realist, tells tales about himself, from his dangerous obsession with Federico García Lorca to how he touched a bear’s head, reflects on his dance with the trickster age, and shares magnetizing visions of dogs, horses, birds, and rivers. Oscillating between drenching experience and intellectual musings, Harrison celebrates movement as the pulse of life, and art, which ‘scrubs the soul fresh.’” —Booklist
“Harrison has written a nearly pitch-perfect book of poems, shining with the elemental force of Neruda's Odes or Matisse's paper cutouts....In Songs of Unreason,, his finest book of verse, Harrison has stripped his voice to the bare essentials--to what must be said, and only what must be said." —The Wichita Eagle


“Songs of Unreason, Harrison’s latest collection of poetry, is a wonderful defense of the possibilities of living.… His are hard won lines, but never bitter, just broken in and thankful for the chance to have seen it all.” —The Industrial Worker Book Review


“Unlike many contemporary poets, Harrison is philosophical, but his philosophy is nature-based and idiosyncratic: ‘Much that you see/ isn’t with your eyes./ Throughout the body are eyes.’… As in all good poetry, Harrison’s lines linger to be ruminated upon a third or fourth time, with each new reading revealing more substance and raising more questions.” —Library Journal


“It wouldn’t be a Harrison collection without the poet, novelist, and food critic’s reverence for rivers, dogs, and women…his poems stun us simply, with the richness of the clarity, detail, and the immediacy of Harrison’s voice.” —Publishers Weekly


Jim Harrison's compelling and provocative Songs of Unreason explores what it means to inhabit the world in atavistic, primitive, and totemistic ways. "This can be disturbing to the learned," Harrison admits. Using interconnected suites, brief lyrics, and rollicking narratives, Harrison's passions and concerns—creeks, thickets, time's effervescence, familial love—emerge by turns painful and celebratory, localized and exiled.

Genres: Poetry, Literature, Fiction

120 pages, Hardcover

First published October 11, 2011

About the author

Jim Harrison was born in Grayling, Michigan, to Winfield Sprague Harrison, a county agricultural agent, and Norma Olivia (Wahlgren) Harrison, both avid readers. He married Linda King in 1959 with whom he has two daughters.

Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name. See this thread for more information.

His awards include National Academy of Arts grants (1967, 68, 69), a Guggenheim Fellowship (1969-70), the Spirit of the West Award from the Mountain & Plains Booksellers Association, and election to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences (2007).

Much of Harrison's writing depicts sparsely populated regions of North America with many stories set in places such as Nebraska's Sand Hills, Michigan's Upper Peninsula, Montana's mountains, and along the Arizona-Mexico border.

Reviews

[Ken · Rating 4 out of 5]

The best a multiple-book author can ask is that a reader, upon finishing one of his books, says, "Yep. I've got to get me another one of his books." Or at least it's the best he can ask if he's still alive (Harrison died in 2016).

In one sense, Harrison is quaint. That is, a lot of his poems prove rich in imagery rooted in nature (which is somewhat out of style in poetry circles nowadays). The guy loved the outdoors, particularly birds, followed by fish. Coming as it did five years before his death, the book also features musings on life itself: the past, the present, the looming specter of death. In fact, the final work in the book directly addressed imminent demise.

Death Again
Jim Harrison

Let's not get romantic or dismal about death.
Indeed it's our most unique act along with birth.
We must think of it as cooking breakfast,
it's that ordinary. Break two eggs into a bowl
or break a bowl into two eggs. Slip into a coffin
after the fluids have been drained, or better yet,
slide into the fire. Of course it's a little hard
to accept your last kiss, your last drink,
your last meal about which the condemned
can be quite particular as if there could be
a cheeseburger sent by God. A few lovers
sweep by the inner eye, but it's mostly a placid
lake at dawn, mist rising, a solitary loon
call, and staring into the still, opaque water.
We'll know as children again all that we are
destined to know, that the water is cold
and deep, and the sun penetrates only so far.


The poem features Harrisonesque traits: almost folksy and conversational, simple images (the lake at dawn, which turns the poem), and a beautiful finish. In fact, surveying a lot of his final lines can be edifying:

"I am liberated back into the fragility of childhood." (from "Reality")

"Of late I see waking as another chance at spring." (from "Spring")

"In this world of dreams don't let the clock cut up your life in pieces." (from "Rumination")

"Words are moving water -- muddy, clear, or both." (from "A Puzzle")

[Jane · Rating 5 out of 5]

Jim Harrison's poems are as free swinging as a wild river, and as rich in visible and under-surface life. They sweep things up and let go of them at the same time. You throw in your attention, and you never know what will rise to meet it. Almost every poem startles, enlarges, loops into some bedrock issue and carves its own path. These poems' sense of well-tempered experience and their tenderness are both immense. Meanwhile, on the left hand pages of the book, which hold the "Suite of Unreason," strewn mica shards glitter, making their own inexplicable contrapuntal sense.

[Gerry LaFemina · Rating 4 out of 5]

Harrison is a beautiful poet, and this is a complicated book--featuring lovely lyric-meditations on the right-hand pages, and a long poem in broken stanzas on the left-hand page. It's an interesting read, challenging, and ultimately lovely.

[Mary · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very deep and profound writing. Ravishingly poignant...diligently grave...
I felt these poems down to my bones and beyond. This book is pure genius.

[Tim Weed · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another one down from the great poet-novelist. For a poetry book whose main subject is death and mortality, this is a surprisingly joyful and life-affirming read. Though it shouldn't be surprising I suppose, given that this is Jim Harrison. Working my way through the poetry of one of my favorite fiction writers. On to the next one!

[Mike Dennisuk · Rating 5 out of 5]

Jim Harrison’s poetry is haunting and beautiful. This collection is a magical gift to all of us. Previously, I have never read much poetry but Harrison’s work speaks to me.

[False · Rating 4 out of 5]

I find Harrison's later poems more layered and nuance that those of 40 years ago. The usual Harrison themes: nature, birds, trees, creeks, rocks, lost friends, Michigan, New Mexico, and the death of his father and sister in a car accident when he was young. He has written many poems on the death of family members, but especially his father and sister.

Sister

I wanted to play a song for you
on our old $28 phonograph
from 1954, but the needle is missing
and they no longer make the needles.
It is the work of man to make a voice
a needle. You were buried at nineteen
in the wood with Daddy. I've spent a lifetime
trying to learn the language of the dead.
The musical chatter of the tiny yellow finches
in the front yard comes closest. It's midnight
and I'm giving my nightly rub to the dog's
tummy, something she truly depends on.
Maybe you drifted upwards as an ancient
bird hoping to nest on the moon.

[Erin · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was an interesting book for me. I loved the beauty of the words and the flow of these words at the surface, but on many of the poems I felt that the meaning was just outside of my grasp. Or I would understand parts but not others. I’m still learning about poetry though, so maybe the meanings of his words will click if I read the later down the line.

[James Goertel · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book only pales in comparison to the previous two collections of Harrison's - Saving Daylight and In Search of Small Gods - otherwise, 5 STARS compared with anything else in this genre. Harrison is a national treasure.

[Michael Shea · Rating 5 out of 5]

The guy usually just craps roses.. Herein. he craps 'em, eats 'em and then craps 'em again....Only rosier...

[Paul Mena · Rating 5 out of 5]

The late Jim Harrison was best known for his short stories and novellas (for example "Legends of the Fall"), but always aspired to be appreciated as a poet. His natural gift for storytelling lends itself very well to long narrative forms, and that's where I've focused when reading him, but having read this anthology of poetry, I feel like I've missed out on great secret. His ability to evoke deep emotions with words borders on the magical. His subject matter varies widely, from his love for hunting and fishing in the wild, to his appreciation of fine wine and literature. Some of his tenderest words are saved for his dogs, most of which were hunting partners but also cherished family members. To find this collection hidden in plain sight on one of our bookshelves (thanks to my wife Mary, who is a long-time Harrison fan) was like finding treasure. I'll need to remember where I put it back so that I can readily find it to read again.

[Emilie Marshall · Rating 5 out of 5]

Jim Harrison is one of my most favorite poets ever. His poems are so simple and easy to understand but with layers and layers of meaning, feelings, and emotions that wrap around you like thick cozy sweaters. His poetry glows like lights on a Christmas tree on a snowy night. His awareness of the world and her small secret gifts makes you feel like a kind stranger just put a starburst in your pocket and lucky you its a pink one. If you're the kind of human that forgets why life is so wonderful and worth it, read some of Harrison's poetry and you'll soon have tears in your eyes and be like "Oh right. That's why."

[Stephen Lamb · Rating 4 out of 5]

Rumination

I sit up late dumb as a cow,
which is to say
somewhat conscious with thirst
and hunger, an eye for the new moon
and the morning’s long walk
to the water tank. Everywhere
around me the birds are waiting
for the light. In this world of dreams
don’t let the clock cut up
your life in pieces.

[bepassersby · Rating 4 out of 5]

My favorites in this collection are Suite of Unreason, Poet Warning, Mary, River II, Desert Snow, Reality, Greed, Blue, Chatter, Return, and Death Again.

I don’t know what happens after death
but I’ll have to chance it. I’ve been waking
at 5 a.m. and making a full study of darkness.

[Shawn Aebi · Rating 3 out of 5]

Solid collection reflecting often on his Montana landscape. A true passion for birds and their habits. A side poem on alternating pages is at times distracting but mostly embellishes the themes projected. Preparing himself for pending death.

[allegra e.]

del water gap (s. holden jaffe) recommended this and said it's his favorite poetry book, so here it is on my tbr. haven't read it yet but he said it has influenced him lyrically so i look forward to making those connections :)

[Daniel Quinn · Rating 5 out of 5]

There’s no question about circles, curves, and loops, life’s true structures, but the edges, straight lines, squares come from us. We must flee these shapes, even linear sentences that limit us to doors, up and down ladders, straight trajectories which will curve into eternity.

[Liz Lazar · Rating 5 out of 5]

I can feel Jim Harrison’s poems at my very core. This is simply a beautiful book and a must for anyone who appreciates the challenge and reward that exceptional poetry provides.

[Matt Kuntz · Rating 5 out of 5]

Breathtakingly beautiful.

[David W. Berner · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fabulous. Fabulous. Fabulous.

[Jo Rootkevitch · Rating 5 out of 5]

Like all good poetry, I don’t feel like I truly finished it. First Jim Harrison, definitely not the last. Thank you, Mitch.

[Eduardo A. Camargo · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fantastic!

[Buck · Rating 5 out of 5]

It felt like every line was the most profound thing I’ve ever read.

[Abigail Cole · Rating 5 out of 5]

Love. Love. Love. Love. Love.

[Christina · Rating 5 out of 5]

An incredible poet. A must read.

[Nate · Rating 4 out of 5]

Jim Harrison is awesome, and Songs of Unreason is an excellent collection. I recommend reading this one by picking it up every few days and reading a random poem. Read front to back, it gets a little tiresome and seems a bit too self-aware. The random dollops will maximize the impact. Highly recommended to anyone interested in finding out what Jim Harrison is all about.

[Chrissy Rongnion · Rating 5 out of 5]

Nature is full of spirits and Jim makes your heart hurt. I think this is my favorite of his so far. It is impeccably gorgeous. I have nearly every page bookmarked lol

[Gaylord Dold · Rating 4 out of 5]

Jim Harrison. Songs of Unreason, Copper Canyon Press (143pp. $22)

My friend Arlice Davenport is the book editor of the Wichita Eagle. He’s a perceptive traveler, philosopher and poetry lover. He wrote this appreciative review of Jim Harrison’s latest volume of poetry. I know he wouldn’t mind me sharing it with you:


Nature nurtures the poet’s soul with ineffable longing. The world indwells him, engulfs him, immerses him in the endless river of time. He struggles to rise above it, to sing its rhythms. But the world is not word. It overflows; it does not mean. So the poet indwells the poem, searching for the hidden source of song and soul, searching for the place where world and word become one. Jim Harrison has found the source.

Now well into his 70s and staring down mortality with his one good eye, Harrison has written a nearly pitch-perfect book of poems, shining with the elemental force of Neruda’s “Odes” or Matisse’s paper cutouts. His is an old man’s voice, seasoned and crusty, confident and fierce, bearing the world’s wounds as hard-fought medals of honor.

His heart proves equal to anything that nature throws his way: fire and water, stone and ice. But always the river calls him back, churning, distilling, spawning his song. In “Songs of Unreason”, his finest book of verse, Harrison has stripped his voice to the bare essentials---to what must be said, and only what must be said. He has mined the decades of his prolific, voluminous prose---much beloved and celebrated---as a long apprenticeship in a single direction: toward this culmination of vision and vitality; toward this testament of devotion and faith in the ageless power of the Earth. He sings of man and dogs wandering the mountains of Montana or the deserts of Arizona in wonderment at the great gift of being that is the world, that is word and soul. That is his life.

Tiring of language, the mind takes flight/swimming off into the ocean of air thinking/who am I that the gods and men have disappointed me? (From “Bird’s Eye View”)

Over the past century, poetry has metamorphosed into ever shifting shapes, never stable, sometimes street-smart, seeking praise for broken prose. What makes a poem a poem? Plato thought it a kind of madness, irrational and deadly, and banished poets from his republic. Harrison counters: “ a bone-deep language/without nouns and verbs”; a “music/well before the words occur.” For both, poetry springs from human wildness, the sudden thunderstorm in the desert, icy swirls of mountain snowmelt. Call it speech beyond words, part embodiment, part ghost. When poetry descends to this mute essence, for Harrison, it always arises as music that baptizes and restores: “We were born to be moving water not ice.” This motion, this straining toward what is there, other than oneself, powers his poems with a haunting pathos---a regret for what is lost, a longing for what lingers.

Winding through this gem of a book is “The Suite of Unreason”, a long poem composed of short stanzas printed in sans-serif type on unnumbered pages, each enigmatic fragment facing a longer, titled poem. The effect is mesmerizing and mysterious. In the counterpoint of poem on poem, Harrison’s mythic imagination thrives: surreal, yet carefully controlled, spilling over into the unforced grace of dreams.

For Harrison, it is the image, not the word that calls deep to deep; it is the image that evokes and connects the poet and the poem---reader too---with the inky pools of the collective unconscious. The image bridges the gap between world and word, song and soul. Without it, they remain isolated and alienated; with it, their mutual mystery blooms. “Songs of Unreason” soars as a triumph of atavistic imagism, making Harrison one of the last great romantics of American art.

Hear him on death, as he sounds the depths of unreason:

it’s mostly a placid
lake at dawn, mist rising,
a solitary loon
call, and staring into the still,
opaque water

Speech beyond words, river of life. These are songs of the soul that all of us can sing.

[J.A. Strub · Rating 5 out of 5]

I stumbled across an editors' proof of this at Alibaster Book Shop in the Village and stood in the corner of the store, transfixed as I read, for about 40 minutes. After a time, the owner kicked me out. I did not buy the proof - it was $36 - but I immediately ordered a copy on Amazon for a third of the price. Over the past week or so, I've opened this collection around 3 or 4 times a day, sometimes just for an excerpt, other times to read a whole section. Harrison has a gift for putting into words certain emotions, conditions, or thought processes that I find very relatable but that I have never been able to explain. He also grapples with issues such as growing old, reviving one's relationship with place, and having a strong voice whilst still being discrete and gentle. The continued allusion to nature and extended metaphors involving lakes, trees, and grassy hilltops might feel cliche if written by another (as might the frequent forays into eroticism and often weird discussions of women Harrison has known or imagined up), but Harrison weaves them into a broader narrative of human consciousness and the implicit relationships that people have with each other and with the land. Pastoral, warm, and inviting, while still retaining a sharp edge of occasional acerbic wit, this is a new classic that really sums up the essence of the American style. Everybody should give it at least one read.

[Jeffrey (Akiva) Savett · Rating 5 out of 5]

Absolutely breathtaking collection of poems from an old faithful, Jim Harrison. As always, his poetry manages to be inspiring not sentimental, romantic not trite, and serious but not without humor.

Harrison is one of those poets whose varied subjects are always seen through the prism of nature, particularly, in trees, water, birds, and the moon. Though his spirit is akin to W.S. Merwin and Galway Kinnell, Harrison has a sort of irony that places his poems a bit more in the muck of the everyday. I found myself, midway through this collection, wondering how many times I could enjoy another poem about birds. Yet Harrison does it---dazzles with the most beautiful attention to detail---every time and it's astounding.

I will return to these poems many times.