Later

by Robert Creeley

The epigraph to Later, Robert Creeley’s second book of poems published by New Directions, enjoins the reader to "hold in mind/ All that has loved you or been kind." This commitment to the continuity of life on a fragile planet, limited by both time and space, has become increasingly important to a poet who, "if older," takes a certain pride in knowing the boundaries of the possible. Where his 1978 verse journal Hello chronicled an actual journey (to New Zealand, Australia, and the Far East), Later deals with an interior exploration rooted in everyday sights and sounds––the play of light and shadow through a window, the lap of waves on a beach. Past occurrences and expectations are reconciled with an acceptance of inevitable change, and in the poignant title sequence Creeley marvels, "but now the wonder of life is/ that it is at all."

Genres: Poetry

121 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1975

About the author

Robert Creeley was an American poet and author of more than sixty books. He is usually associated with the Black Mountain poets, though his verse aesthetic diverged from that school's. He was close with Charles Olson, Robert Duncan, Allen Ginsberg, John Wieners and Ed Dorn. He served as the Samuel P. Capen Professor of Poetry and the Humanities at State University of New York at Buffalo, and lived in Waldoboro, Maine, Buffalo, New York and Providence, Rhode Island, where he taught at Brown University. He was a recipient of the Lannan Foundation Lifetime Achievement Award, and was much beloved as a generous presence in many poets' lives.

Reviews

[Kent · Rating 5 out of 5]

Creeley's densely styled lines make each poem a little gift that must be unwrapped with care. And here, the gift tells of an older man, reflective because his mother has died, he has reached that point in his life where life exists, and mortality is equally existent. There are many things I admire, but one thing is the careful composition, with the first section setting me into the speaker's meditative frame, the second section more biographical, and the third section making a lyrical investigation of nostalgia and experience.

[Abby · Rating 3 out of 5]

I don't know what to say, really, about these poems. Then again, I never really know what to say about poems. But the primary thought in my head after I finished this collection was, Were any of these poems GOOD? I can't tell. (I may also be influenced by my general lack of understanding/appreciation for the Beat generation.)

[Brian · Rating 3 out of 5]

I wasn't as amazed by this collection as I was expecting to be. Knowing Creeley's reputation--Black Mountain School, link to the Beats--I was expecting more, but will seek out his earlier work before giving up on him.

[M.W.P.M. · Rating 3 out of 5]

This collection contains some of Robert Creeley's longest poems. At least the longest that I've read. Before reading LATER, I was accustomed to the Creeley of PIECES, the Creeley of short and fragmented poems. But from the outset, this collection proved to be a departure.

For example, many of the poems in this collection display a preoccupation with natural imagery, which I don't remember from his earlier collections...

So sing this
weather, passing,
grey and blue
together, rain and sun.
- For Pen (1)

sunlight
in courtyard
beyond
settles on stump
- Nature

What's in the world
is water, earth,
and fire,...
- Childish

I'm a young old man here on earth,
sticks, dust, trees, people.
- I Love You


In spite of which, there are glimpses of early Creeley. His minimalism. His profundity. His play with language. His commentary on the poetic form....

Think out
of it -

be here.
- P

Sitting
and thinking.

Dreaming
again
- Ciano's

lAnd I was
not asleep

and I was
not alone.
- Poor


There are three poems entitled "For Pen"...

I want to be useful
to someone, I think,
always - if not many,
then one.
- For Pen (1)

Thinking out
of the heart -

it's up,
it's down...

It's that time
of day light

echoes the sun
setting west

over mountains.
I want to come home.
- For Pen (2)

Last day of year,
sky's a light

open grey, blue
spaces appear

in lateral tiers.
- For Pen (3)


And two poems entitled "Later"...

Money I don't want.
No place more
than another -
I'm not here...
- Later (1)

Shan't be winding
back in blue
gone timing ridiculous,
nor lonely

anymore....
- Later (2)


There seems to be a dialogue, Creeley with himself, regarding the current of his style as it departs from his early style and returns. The current is acknowledged...

I'll not write again
things a young man
thinks, not the words
of that feeling.
- After

me again. Not
earth, sky, water -
no mind, no time.
No island in the sun.
- Later (1)

I'm a young old man here on earth,
sticks, dust, trees, people.
- I Love You


Creeley's style has always been informal, but here it takes on a deliberate informality. Is the poet combating his old age ("Heat's thick/sun's bright//in window still/early morning,//May, fifty-first birthday" - Loner) in an attempt to appear perpetually youthful, or is this another perspective on the same dialogue, commenting on the currents of the poet's style...

Later. This
is just to say I was
something or other, and you dig it,
that's it, brother.
- Peace

If I could take the world,
and put it on its side, man,
and squeeze just in the right
places. Wow....
- Two

Look at
that motherfucking smokestack
- Blue Skies Motel

When I was a kid, I
thought like a kid -

I was a kid,
you dig it....
- Later (2)

Am I useful
today? Will I fuck up
the fireplace?
- Corn Close


This awareness and possible self-consciousness regarding old age may have been caused by the death of the poet's mother, whom the poet acknowledges in a tribute...

Looking back
now, wish
I'd talked

more to her.
I tried
in the hospital

but our habit
was too deep -
we didn't

speak easily.
Sitting
now, here

early morning,
by myself,
can hear her -
- Four Years Later


This dialogue seems to reach it conclusion in the second poem entitled "Later". In it the culmination of his questions about his age, his style, about time, about poetry, come together, escaping the internal dialogue (Creeley with himself), and addressing the external reader...

In testament
to a willingness

to live, I,
Robert Creeley,

being of sound body
and mind, admit

to other preoccupations -
with the future, with

the past. But now -
but now the wonder of life is

that it is at all,
this sticky sentimental

warm enclosure,
feels place in the physical

with others,
lets mind wander

to wondering thought,
then lets go of itself,

finds a home
on earth.
- Later (2)

[Mat · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great poem in ten parts by Robert Creeley. Each of Robert Creeley's poems are like beautifully wrapped gifts that you must slowly unravel by yourself but the rewards are really worth it.

Therefore, I find myself reading and re-reading his poems often and each time I do, I seem to glean more information. This does not apply to all of his poems but if a poem is short and appears to be deceptively simple, think again. It is probably Creeley saying something very wryly or wittily.

Highly recommended. I know I'll be reading much more of Robert Creeley from now on.