To the Green Man

by Mark Jarman

This collection leaps into the dangerous currents where poetry and reli-gion meet, and enlivens the lexicon of traditional American Christian belief by testing its doctrines and language against contemporary experience. "Beyond the wonderful music of his lines . . . , what makes To the Green Man such an important and memor-able book is its enactment of a spiritual struggle to be at once at home in the world and astonished by it."—Alan Shapiro Mark Jarman is a professor of English at Vanderbilt University in Nashville. His book The Black Riviera won the Poets’ Prize, and Questions for Ecclesiastes was a finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award and won the Lenore Marshall Poetry Prize.

Genres: Poetry

88 pages, Paperback

First published July 1, 2004

Reviews

[Sarah · Rating 4 out of 5]

Bought this in East Nashville, at a small used bookstore. I try to get local/regional books when I travel. 🥰 This author is from Kentucky, I believe, so sort of a stretch but it’s the thought that counts. 😝

I really enjoyed this, makes me wonder if I could get my hands on more of his work. The last poem had me in tears, it’s a poem about daughters, from a parent’s perspective. ❤️ Will try to add an excerpt!

[Peter Spaulding · Rating 5 out of 5]

Lovely. Amazing.

[Mindy · Rating 3 out of 5]

In this collection, Jarman arranges what is beautiful and mysterious, into words:

"Words too can be as close to us as breathing.

A spider's dragline, glinting like a thought,
Trolls through depths of shade and morning light.
The hemlock limbs bob as if at anchor.
And a pair of downy woodpeckers swoops up
To the seed bell at my study window. Everything answers.

Everything says back, "I am present, too.""

(excerpt from "As Close as Breathing")

[Willow · Rating 4 out of 5]

A solid collection of poetry about religion and nature and love. A sort of "what if" theme for Christianity that was both thoughtful and unique (to me, at least). I enjoyed Jarman's collection very much.

[Blas · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent book. Rich and profound. A good book to remind me of what narrative poetry can do.

[Russ · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a great book and has a touch of painting into a corner the battle between myth and fact.