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The Winged Energy of Delight: Selected Translations – A World Poetry Compendium by Master Translator Robert Bly
Robert Bly had always been amazingly prescient in his choice of poets to translate . The poetry he chose supplied qualities that were lacking from the literary culture of this country. For the first time Robert Bly’s brilliant translations, from several languages, have been brought together in one book. Here, in The Winged Energy of Delight , the poems of twenty-two poets, some renowned, others lesser known, are brought together. At a time when editors and readers knew only Eliot and Pound, Robert Bly introduced the earthy wildness of Pablo Neruda and Cesar Vallejo and the sober grief of Trakl, as well as the elegance of Jiménez and Tranströmer. He also published high-spirited versions of Kabir and Rumi, and Mirabai, which had considerable influence on the wide culture of the 1970s and 1980s. Bly’s clear translations of Rilke attracted many new readers to the poet, and his versions of Machado have become models of silence and depth. He continues to bring fresh and amazing poets into English, most recently Rolf Jacobsen, Miguel Hernandez, Francis Ponge, and the ninteenth-century Indian poet Ghalib. As Kenneth Rexroth has said, Robert Bly “is one of the leaders of a poetic revival which has returned American literature to the world community.”
416 pages, Paperback
First published March 24, 2009
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About the author
Robert Bly
284 books420 followersRobert Bly was an American poet, author, activist and leader of the Mythopoetic Men's Movement.
Robert Bly was born in western Minnesota in 1926 to parents of Norwegian stock. He enlisted in the Navy in 1944 and spent two years there. After one year at St. Olaf College in Minnesota, he transferred to Harvard and thereby joined the famous group of writers who were undergraduates at that time, which included Donald Hall, Adrienne Rich, Kenneth Koch, John Ashbery, Harold Brodky, George Plimpton, and John Hawkes. He graduated in 1950 and spent the next few years in New York living, as they say, hand to mouth.
Beginning in 1954, he took two years at the University of Iowa at the Writers Workshop along with W. D. Snodgrass, Donald Justice, and others. In 1956 he received a Fulbright grant to travel to Norway and translate Norwegian poetry into English. While there he found not only his relatives but the work of a number of major poets whose force was not present in the United States, among them Pablo Neruda, Cesar Vallejo, Gunnar Ekelof, Georg Trakl and Harry Martinson. He determined then to start a literary magazine for poetry translation in the United States and so begin The Fifties and The Sixties and The Seventies, which introduced many of these poets to the writers of his generation, and published as well essays on American poets and insults to those deserving. During this time he lived on a farm in Minnesota with his wife and children.
In 1966 he co-founded American Writers Against the Vietnam War and led much of the opposition among writers to that war. When he won the National Book Award for The Light Around the Body, he contributed the prize money to the Resistance. During the 70s he published eleven books of poetry, essays, and translations, celebrating the power of myth, Indian ecstatic poetry, meditation, and storytelling. During the 80s he published Loving a Woman in Two Worlds, The Wingéd Life: Selected Poems and Prose of Thoreau,The Man in the Black Coat Turns, and A Little Book on the Human Shadow.
His work Iron John: A Book About Men is an international bestseller which has been translated into many languages. He frequently does workshops for men with James Hillman and others, and workshops for men and women with Marion Woodman. He and his wife Ruth, along with the storyteller Gioia Timpanelli, frequently conduct seminars on European fairy tales. In the early 90s, with James Hillman and Michael Meade, he edited The Rag and Bone Shop of the Heart, an anthology of poems from the men's work. Since then he has edited The Darkness Around Us Is Deep: Selected Poems of William Stafford, and The Soul Is Here for Its Own Joy, a collection of sacred poetry from many cultures.
Robert Bly was born in western Minnesota in 1926 to parents of Norwegian stock. He enlisted in the Navy in 1944 and spent two years there. After one year at St. Olaf College in Minnesota, he transferred to Harvard and thereby joined the famous group of writers who were undergraduates at that time, which included Donald Hall, Adrienne Rich, Kenneth Koch, John Ashbery, Harold Brodky, George Plimpton, and John Hawkes. He graduated in 1950 and spent the next few years in New York living, as they say, hand to mouth.
Beginning in 1954, he took two years at the University of Iowa at the Writers Workshop along with W. D. Snodgrass, Donald Justice, and others. In 1956 he received a Fulbright grant to travel to Norway and translate Norwegian poetry into English. While there he found not only his relatives but the work of a number of major poets whose force was not present in the United States, among them Pablo Neruda, Cesar Vallejo, Gunnar Ekelof, Georg Trakl and Harry Martinson. He determined then to start a literary magazine for poetry translation in the United States and so begin The Fifties and The Sixties and The Seventies, which introduced many of these poets to the writers of his generation, and published as well essays on American poets and insults to those deserving. During this time he lived on a farm in Minnesota with his wife and children.
In 1966 he co-founded American Writers Against the Vietnam War and led much of the opposition among writers to that war. When he won the National Book Award for The Light Around the Body, he contributed the prize money to the Resistance. During the 70s he published eleven books of poetry, essays, and translations, celebrating the power of myth, Indian ecstatic poetry, meditation, and storytelling. During the 80s he published Loving a Woman in Two Worlds, The Wingéd Life: Selected Poems and Prose of Thoreau,The Man in the Black Coat Turns, and A Little Book on the Human Shadow.
His work Iron John: A Book About Men is an international bestseller which has been translated into many languages. He frequently does workshops for men with James Hillman and others, and workshops for men and women with Marion Woodman. He and his wife Ruth, along with the storyteller Gioia Timpanelli, frequently conduct seminars on European fairy tales. In the early 90s, with James Hillman and Michael Meade, he edited The Rag and Bone Shop of the Heart, an anthology of poems from the men's work. Since then he has edited The Darkness Around Us Is Deep: Selected Poems of William Stafford, and The Soul Is Here for Its Own Joy, a collection of sacred poetry from many cultures.
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
March 8, 2024
FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK
I can't believe of all the stupid books I own one of them isn't this. It's so good I could literally shed an actual tear. There are a few inclusions whomst I did not enjoy one bit (Trakl is shit IMHO) but for the most part it's a fluid wonderful collection and Robert Bly's translations are the only ones worthwhile. I mean if you are reading Rilke translated by anyone else it's going to be bastardized so horribly. Bly vs. other translators is like night and day.
For example:
"his torso is suffused with brilliance from inside" (mitchell)
or
"his torso glows: a candelabrum set" (macintyre)
DOES NOT CUT IT. But
"his body now is glowing like a gas lamp" is a line that keeps me up at night.
Separately imagine taking the last line, which Bly translates as "there is no place at all that isn't looking at you. You must change your life."
and making it into
"there is no angle from which it cannot see you. you have to change your life" (stutt)
It's just perverted
The Mirabai, Kabir, and Rumi translations are top notch too. Robert Bly knows poetry
I can't believe of all the stupid books I own one of them isn't this. It's so good I could literally shed an actual tear. There are a few inclusions whomst I did not enjoy one bit (Trakl is shit IMHO) but for the most part it's a fluid wonderful collection and Robert Bly's translations are the only ones worthwhile. I mean if you are reading Rilke translated by anyone else it's going to be bastardized so horribly. Bly vs. other translators is like night and day.
For example:
"his torso is suffused with brilliance from inside" (mitchell)
or
"his torso glows: a candelabrum set" (macintyre)
DOES NOT CUT IT. But
"his body now is glowing like a gas lamp" is a line that keeps me up at night.
Separately imagine taking the last line, which Bly translates as "there is no place at all that isn't looking at you. You must change your life."
and making it into
"there is no angle from which it cannot see you. you have to change your life" (stutt)
It's just perverted
The Mirabai, Kabir, and Rumi translations are top notch too. Robert Bly knows poetry
February 3, 2026
The poem "Winged Energy of Delight" by Robert Bly, with its selected transitions, evokes a sense of liberated joy. The language, particularly when interpreted through a "feminine way," suggests an appreciation for subtlety, intuition, and the interconnectedness of emotions and the natural world. The "winged energy" itself implies a lightness and freedom, a movement that is both graceful and powerful, much like the unfolding of an idea or a feeling that blossoms unexpectedly.
The transitions within the poem likely serve to guide the reader through these shifts in perception, mirroring the fluid and often non-linear way in which emotions can evolve. There's a beauty in how Bly captures these ephemeral moments, suggesting a deep understanding of the delicate balance between the internal landscape of the heart and the external world. The "delight" is not a static state but a dynamic force, a radiant energy that can lift and transform. Reading it feels like witnessing a gentle awakening, a quiet blossoming of happiness that is both profound and deeply personal.
The transitions within the poem likely serve to guide the reader through these shifts in perception, mirroring the fluid and often non-linear way in which emotions can evolve. There's a beauty in how Bly captures these ephemeral moments, suggesting a deep understanding of the delicate balance between the internal landscape of the heart and the external world. The "delight" is not a static state but a dynamic force, a radiant energy that can lift and transform. Reading it feels like witnessing a gentle awakening, a quiet blossoming of happiness that is both profound and deeply personal.
July 15, 2011
I am a huge fan of poetry and this is my favorite anthology. It seems as though every page is dog-eared. Bly does a sublime job with the translations- I have encountered these poems in other translations which are awkward and horrible in comparison. This is such a diverse collection I think that most readers would at least enjoy some poems.
September 13, 2022
An anthology of translations of famous poets you probably never heard of--poets from Sweden, India, Spain, Chili, Austria, Norway, Afghanistan, Turkey, Iran, etc. Some poems bear strong markings of the culture from which they are derived, others are universal in thought and emotion.
September 20, 2009
Unbelievably fine collection of poems from around the world and across the ages, translated by a master poet.
June 2, 2012
A very nice collection with a modern feel. Poetry ranges from Rilke, Antonio Machado, and Juan Ramon Jimenez, to Rumi, Hafez, Kabir, and Mirabai.
February 28, 2013
I picked up this collection as it had a few of my favourite poets but in reading it I discovered a few more.
January 15, 2018
Enlightening Rilke translations. Hafiz, Trakyl, Jacobson and every poet in this book is magically represented by Bly.
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews