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Princeton Series of Contemporary Poets
The Unstill Ones: Poems
An exciting debut collection of original poems and translations from Old English
An exciting debut collection of original poems and translations from Old English, The Unstill Ones takes readers into a timeless, shadow-filled world where new poems sound ancient, and ancient poems sound new. Award-winning scholar-poet Miller Oberman’s startlingly fresh translations of well-known and less familiar Old English poems often move between archaic and contemporary diction, while his original poems frequently draw on a compressed, tactile Old English lexicon and the powerful formal qualities of medieval verse.
Shaped by Oberman’s scholarly training in poetry, medieval language, translation, and queer theory, these remarkable poems explore sites of damage and transformation, both new and ancient. “Wulf and Eadwacer,” a radical new translation of a thousand-year-old lyric, merges scholarly practice with a queer- and feminist-inspired rendering, while original poems such as “On Trans” draw lyrical connections between multiple processes of change and boundary crossing, from translation to transgender identity. Richly combining scholarly rigor, a finely tuned contemporary aesthetic, and an inventiveness that springs from a deep knowledge of the earliest forms of English, The Unstill Ones marks the emergence of a major new voice in poetry.
An exciting debut collection of original poems and translations from Old English, The Unstill Ones takes readers into a timeless, shadow-filled world where new poems sound ancient, and ancient poems sound new. Award-winning scholar-poet Miller Oberman’s startlingly fresh translations of well-known and less familiar Old English poems often move between archaic and contemporary diction, while his original poems frequently draw on a compressed, tactile Old English lexicon and the powerful formal qualities of medieval verse.
Shaped by Oberman’s scholarly training in poetry, medieval language, translation, and queer theory, these remarkable poems explore sites of damage and transformation, both new and ancient. “Wulf and Eadwacer,” a radical new translation of a thousand-year-old lyric, merges scholarly practice with a queer- and feminist-inspired rendering, while original poems such as “On Trans” draw lyrical connections between multiple processes of change and boundary crossing, from translation to transgender identity. Richly combining scholarly rigor, a finely tuned contemporary aesthetic, and an inventiveness that springs from a deep knowledge of the earliest forms of English, The Unstill Ones marks the emergence of a major new voice in poetry.
- GenresPoetryTransgenderLGBT
77 pages, Paperback
Published October 10, 2017
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Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews
April 5, 2019
Fuck yeah
Wow. Part tenth century translations of Old English, part freewheeling spokes of the cosmic wheel. It's rather extraordinary. It didn't dogear a single page, and fucking love dogearing books (especially when they're from the library like this one.) Cause the Old English stuff, it's what gets you through the door. It's ticket price alone. But then you're think, 'what kind of poems go alongside these things?' And there's where the charm factor turns into a dream factory. It has putup/shutup tention on the outset and this poet cat puts up.
It's like circling the globe, but instead of a world, it's time, and as you're soaring you think, “what could stay the same?” And yet, it's there. Nature seems like the obvi-answer (and sometimes it’s that) but these arn't nature poems. They make one feel like soaring up, to cast the same askance view as angels have. It's quite the trip.
Wow. Part tenth century translations of Old English, part freewheeling spokes of the cosmic wheel. It's rather extraordinary. It didn't dogear a single page, and fucking love dogearing books (especially when they're from the library like this one.) Cause the Old English stuff, it's what gets you through the door. It's ticket price alone. But then you're think, 'what kind of poems go alongside these things?' And there's where the charm factor turns into a dream factory. It has putup/shutup tention on the outset and this poet cat puts up.
It's like circling the globe, but instead of a world, it's time, and as you're soaring you think, “what could stay the same?” And yet, it's there. Nature seems like the obvi-answer (and sometimes it’s that) but these arn't nature poems. They make one feel like soaring up, to cast the same askance view as angels have. It's quite the trip.
February 5, 2020
I honestly just don't care for poetry.
Reading all these short books is screwing with my average page count :(
Reading all these short books is screwing with my average page count :(
February 7, 2022
4.5 stars-- i loved this collection! i havent read poetry in a long time and this was a lovely way to return, with much of what i love about poetry in one place: turning the ordinary into magic, attempting to express what is inexpressible and lovingly leaning into the places where that project inevitably fails. wish i could have a better appreciation of overman's project re: old english/translation but i simply just don't know much about those things
January 8, 2018
Voices calling out to one another from century to century permeate this debut collection of verse by the Medieval-enthralled multiple-award-winning poet-scholar, Miller Oberman. Juxtaposing wholly new translations of Old English poems aside those of his own making, Oberman renders vivid and immediate, in clearly articulated poesy, the profound concerns of humankind across the ages, from cradle to grave. Whether in masculine or feminine voice (with two of the poems, ‘Wulf and Eadwacer’ and ‘The Wife’s Lament,’ appearing to be in the latter), the lyrics, riddles and charms that fill these pages are as intriguing as they are insightful.
As a Medieval scholar, Oberman is intensely aware of the wholeness and integrity of the original text, so that, even where there are gaps in the extant work (with most of the Old English text, on which his translations are based, having been drawn from the physically damaged Exeter Book), he respectfully and reverently indicates such by means of the insertion of parentheses, rather than resorting to the method of trying to fill in the blanks himself, which many other translators have done before him. The spaces that are present in such poems as ‘The Ruin’ not only befit the theme, but also reflect the silences that are integral to the essential meaning of such texts, especially in the light of the aeons that have passed since the verse was first composed.
The Unstill Ones: Poems is structured in such a way as to render its content most meaningful, with it being divided into three parts, in accordance with the three runes: ehwaz (poems of progression and change, and the harmony that is attainable thereby); algiz (poems that ‘figure forth’ courage in the face of fear); and dagaz (poems that exhibit the experiencing of an epiphany leading to bold and transcendent change). The individual poems themselves, stretching from Oberman’s initial translation of Cædmon’s inspirational Hymn, in which homage is paid to the “master almighty”, the “holy maker”, to the man-centred poem, ‘Breakwater,’ in which the poet declares “I was wrong to think stars / more holy than soap,” the contents of The Unstill Ones seem to reflect the poet’s own evolution of thought, from idealistic aspiration to a grounding in self made porous and open to further experience on an earthly plane. As a debut work, therefore, Oberman’s The Unstill Ones can be seen as a true coming-of-age in poetic form, and should be applauded as such.
Oberman’s poetic metaphor bears close resemblance to the imagery that is found in the writings of such Metaphysical poets as George Herbert, while his meter closely parallels the natural cadence of Gerard Manley Hopkins. Yet, despite the poet’s clear awareness of the intrinsic, deep-seated call of the spiritual realm, his verse has a ruggedness and a virility that finds its home in the epicentre of man, rather than in an unearthly and transcendent sphere. The alliterativeness and kenning that characterise expressions of the Old English ethos are omnipresent throughout The Unstill Ones: Poems, giving a resonance to the poems that, if phrased in more contemporary terms, would likely not have been as effective.
The depth of insight made manifest in these poems and translations auger well for Oberman’s future as an outstanding scholar and poet. As such, this book is well worth the many hours that can be spent reflecting on the vast array of meanings that can be accessed through the fine text.
As a Medieval scholar, Oberman is intensely aware of the wholeness and integrity of the original text, so that, even where there are gaps in the extant work (with most of the Old English text, on which his translations are based, having been drawn from the physically damaged Exeter Book), he respectfully and reverently indicates such by means of the insertion of parentheses, rather than resorting to the method of trying to fill in the blanks himself, which many other translators have done before him. The spaces that are present in such poems as ‘The Ruin’ not only befit the theme, but also reflect the silences that are integral to the essential meaning of such texts, especially in the light of the aeons that have passed since the verse was first composed.
The Unstill Ones: Poems is structured in such a way as to render its content most meaningful, with it being divided into three parts, in accordance with the three runes: ehwaz (poems of progression and change, and the harmony that is attainable thereby); algiz (poems that ‘figure forth’ courage in the face of fear); and dagaz (poems that exhibit the experiencing of an epiphany leading to bold and transcendent change). The individual poems themselves, stretching from Oberman’s initial translation of Cædmon’s inspirational Hymn, in which homage is paid to the “master almighty”, the “holy maker”, to the man-centred poem, ‘Breakwater,’ in which the poet declares “I was wrong to think stars / more holy than soap,” the contents of The Unstill Ones seem to reflect the poet’s own evolution of thought, from idealistic aspiration to a grounding in self made porous and open to further experience on an earthly plane. As a debut work, therefore, Oberman’s The Unstill Ones can be seen as a true coming-of-age in poetic form, and should be applauded as such.
Oberman’s poetic metaphor bears close resemblance to the imagery that is found in the writings of such Metaphysical poets as George Herbert, while his meter closely parallels the natural cadence of Gerard Manley Hopkins. Yet, despite the poet’s clear awareness of the intrinsic, deep-seated call of the spiritual realm, his verse has a ruggedness and a virility that finds its home in the epicentre of man, rather than in an unearthly and transcendent sphere. The alliterativeness and kenning that characterise expressions of the Old English ethos are omnipresent throughout The Unstill Ones: Poems, giving a resonance to the poems that, if phrased in more contemporary terms, would likely not have been as effective.
The depth of insight made manifest in these poems and translations auger well for Oberman’s future as an outstanding scholar and poet. As such, this book is well worth the many hours that can be spent reflecting on the vast array of meanings that can be accessed through the fine text.
December 14, 2017
Oberman's poems and translations here are excellent and often subtle without obtuse language. First rate.
August 29, 2023
this actually made me shed a tear
July 26, 2018
These poems, the old and the new, have moved me like no others in recent memory.
December 4, 2022
A truly fascinating collection of poetry with equal merits to be found in its scholarly interventions into processes of translation and the movements of language and meanings across texts and ages, as much as its more personal explorations into queerness, identity and brotherhood.
Beautifully written, expertly crafted and amalgamated, overall a wonderful collection and thoroughly provocative read :))
Beautifully written, expertly crafted and amalgamated, overall a wonderful collection and thoroughly provocative read :))
December 30, 2017
There are several very strong poems in this collection, and I find his translations and variations of Old English poems to be interesting, but often times the poems feel like someone's ideas of poems, a bit too constrained, a bit cold.
February 4, 2020
3.5 Some good poetry. It's not really my exact taste but I still appreciate well written poetry. The Old English poems were great, interesting use of words.
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January 19, 2022“we are here, we are here”
such beautiful and moving work.
such beautiful and moving work.
March 14, 2023
mad confusing but also very cool
January 4, 2024
yippee
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August 11, 2024good stuff, rating to come
March 14, 2023
bumping this up to five stars now that i’m older and wiser. god what a book. his melding of the current and the ancient is just masterful—particularly love the inclusion of both translations of and poems after medieval stories and riddles.
reread in anticipation of seeing him read this week!
reread in anticipation of seeing him read this week!
Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews