For You: Poetry

by Hayden Carruth

Five long poems, previously uncollected. This book collects five long poems that have previously appeared, with one exception, only in magazines and limited editions. One critic has called them "virtually secret." Yet they are probably the heart of Carruth’s poetic achievement, both technically and thematically. Rising from the experience of emotional illness and the asylum, the poems move at intervals and over a period of nearly fifty years toward a sustained, workable view of humanity in crisis."I have tried to create a person," Carruth writes, "specifically a seeing, living, surmounting person. Modesty is important, and so are winter and the north. A man alone in the snow is still much in this world, including the social world, though his ’in-ness’ is naturally a form of rebellion."The poems included are The Asylum , Journey to a Known Place , North Winter , Contra Mortem and My Father’s Face.

Genres: Poetry

117 pages, Paperback

First published December 12, 1970

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

[Robert Beveridge · Rating 4 out of 5]

Hayden Carruth, For You (New Directions, 1970)

For You compiles five long poems from previous in Carruth's career (including "North Winter," reviewed here a few weeks previous), spanning 1958 to 1967. To call some of them long poems is something of a stretch, especially "Contra Mortem," an episodic piece consisting of a number of smaller pieces. Long poems are exceptionally difficult to pull off, and aside from a few potholes along the way, the work in For You holds together surprisingly well (and stands the test of time thirty-five years after publication, for the most part).

Writing more superlatives about Carruth would be overkill. This is good stuff, though it slips a bit now and again (the opening piece, "Asylum," is early work and looks the part, and my criticisms of "North Winter" have already been aired). The Carruth neophyte may be better served starting with Brothers, I Loved You All or Collected Shorter, but the established fan will find much to like here. *** ½