From Snow and Rock, from Chaos: Poems, 1965-1972 (New Directions Books) by H Carruth

by Hayden Carruth

Hayden Carruth's From Snow and Rock, from Chaos - his first book since For You (1970) - contains a selection of his best short poems written between 1965 and 1972. Once again, the setting for many of the pieces is the Green Mountains of Vermont, where the poet and his family have lived for several years. A member of the editorial board of The Hudson Review and a regular contributor to numerous periodicals, he is the editor of the recent comprehensive paperbook anthology The Voice That is Great Within American Poetry of the Twentieth Century (1970).

Genres: Poetry

Paperback

First published January 1, 1973

About the author

Hayden Carruth was an American poet, literary critic, and anthologist known for his distinctive voice, blending formal precision with the rhythms of jazz and the blues. Over a career spanning more than sixty years, he published over thirty books of poetry, as well as essays, literary criticism, and anthologies. His work often explored themes of rural life, hardship, mental illness, and social justice, reflecting both his personal struggles and his political convictions.
Born in Waterbury, Connecticut, Carruth studied at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and later earned an M.A. from the University of Chicago. His early career included serving as editor-in-chief of Poetry and as an advisory editor of The Hudson Review for two decades. He later became poetry editor at Harper’s Magazine and held teaching positions at Johnson State College, the University of Vermont, and Syracuse University, where he influenced a new generation of poets.
Carruth received numerous awards, including the National Book Critics Circle Award for Collected Shorter Poems (1992) and the National Book Award for Scrambled Eggs and Whiskey (1996). His later works, such as Doctor Jazz and Last Poems, further cemented his reputation as a major voice in American poetry. His influential anthology The Voice That Is Great Within Us remains a landmark collection of American verse.

Reviews

[William · Rating 5 out of 5]

I could take ... greatest love poem ever -- start there -- youngsters, steal it for valenties - on a card to you girlfriend (not on Facebook where you face copyright issues) but I tell you, it was a great companion for me throughout the years.

[Derek · Rating 4 out of 5]

Usually, if I love a book I give it five stars. I did appreciate this one, but not every poem was exceptional (and to be honest, some of them I may have just not understood). I am still glad I have this on my shelf, and I believe I’ll revisit it.

I particularly loved his poems about snow and crows.

[James · Rating 5 out of 5]

A gathering of Carruth's poems written between 1965 and 1973. Carruth is always a pleasure to read and he is fine form here as he examines his life, the people and the landscape of the Green Mountains of Vermont where he lived at the time.

[Rosa]

“Honest Countryman’s Bread.”

[Robert Beveridge · Rating 5 out of 5]

Hayden Carruth, From Snow and Rock, from Chaos (New Directions, 1973)

Hayden Carruth has long been one of the finest poets America has to offer, and this slim volume offers a good number of reasons why. The fifty-eight pages of this collection (which can still be found for its extremely low cover price at Amazon thirty years later!) are far less intimidating to the Carruth novice than the eight hundred plus of Collected Shorter Poems 1946-1991, and while the book doesn't include anything of the magnitude of "Ray" or The Bloomingdale Papers, there is more than enough brilliance here to whet the reader's appetite for more of Carruth's soft, often witty poetry. Moving between structure and free verse with a sure hand in both, there is something in this collection for just about everyone. If you haven't yet discovered Carruth, this is an excellent starting point. **** ½

[Joe · Rating 3 out of 5]

Read while house was 49 deg inside. Not in mood for poems about contemplating snow and rocks.

[stephanie cassidy]

When a rhythm and a vision sink
into the origami fold of my yearning

I know I have found a noise
in the grove I sit in.

Sir, I will sit
at your feet. I hope you do not

grow tired of me.

[Jason Weisberger · Rating 5 out of 5]

You do not need me to tell you to read Hayden Carruth.

[Jarrod · Rating 5 out of 5]

"I Could Take" was one of my favorites.