What Does Not Change: The Significance of Charles Olson's 'the Kingfishers' by Ralph Maud

by Ralph Maud

Taking its title from the first line of Charles Olson's poem "The Kingfishers," this book provides a full-scale exegesis of that milestone poem in postwar American literature, the poem that led off and set the tone for Donald Allen's New American Poetry, the defining anthology of the sixties. The author demonstrates that "The Kingfishers," as Olson's first long poem, is so crucial to understanding his development that a study of it (along with "The Praises," cut from the same cloth) takes one into every aspect of Olson's early life and thought. Insight into Olson's apprenticeship and purposes has been somewhat blurred because "The Kingfishers" has not been entirely understood. This long-awaited explication (Guy Davenport announced its existence and anticipated its importance in 1985) removes what has been an obstacle in the path of further study of Olson. This study argues that Olson is not seeking a place within the "modern movement," but rather, because what does not change "is the will to change," he is creating the ground for a new and different future. In this, his allies are contemporaries, such as the artist Corrado Cagli, the businessman Jean Riboud, and the mathematician Norbert Wiener. The intricate influences of these and others are fully laid out, as Maud's volume answers many of the questions that have delayed progress in evaluating the full richness of Charles Olson's genius.

Genres: Literary Criticism

Hardcover

First published January 1, 1997

Reviews

[Justin Evans · Rating 3 out of 5]

Do you want to read Olson's poem 'The Kingfishers'? It's really good. And this is probably the best thing to read along with it, despite Maud's tendency to hagiography and his inability to provide a general answer to the question "So what?" Lots of specific information though, and it's nicely written as all his stuff is.

[David · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book. Highly recommended! Best author on Charles Olson I have encountered.