Ring of Fire

by Lisa Jarnot

An expanded version of Ring of Fire, originally published by Zoland Books, Boston, 2001. This full-length collection includes individual lyric poems as well as a previously published chapbook Sea Lyrics and a new collaborative piece "Dumb Duke Death" with illustrations by Jennifer Jarnot.

Genres: Poetry

97 pages, Paperback

First published February 5, 2001

Reviews

[Caspar "moved to storygraph" Bryant]

educating myself ! incredible - defining study of repetition, as others have said. The armadillo poem & a poem like 'Moo is Om Backwards' are excellent ways of working out around your nouns. personalities lift & eidos shifts & signifier floats free. let's also not overlook the exquisite joy (& its undoing) in 'Brooklyn Anchorage', a poem I like to read again & again & best aloud. like jarnot lots. qua spahr

[Joe · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was recommended to me as a study in repetition, so let’s start there. It works several ways here. First, a great number of the poems (and all of those in Sea Lyrics) are sort of one sentence blasts which are composed of long paratactic strings of phrases: I am_____, I am_____, I am_______. Within these paratactic strings are repetitions of key images or phrases—“I am the waterfront and I cover the waterfront.” And often crucial images or phrases are repeated not only within one poem, but from poem to poem. These images often find themselves in increasingly strange or amusing contexts. The effect is one which often frustrates traditional sense making, as the sentences can simply just fold back up on themselves, return from where they came. And while this would seem to invite the reader to linger on the images longer than they would if they were a part of same larger, easily recognizable unit of sense, the lines are often enjambed, forcing the reader forward. The result is, at best, a rapid succession of happy transformations or departures and returns from certain phrases. At worst, the poems just seem sloppy, overfull, moving too fast, having meaning only through their own insistent motion. Though because there is a sort of improvisational element to writing in a listing method, one is willing to give lesser poems the benefit of the doubt. And poems such as “I am holding the guns in the attics…” & “O Razorback Clams” are definitely successful.

“Sea Lyrics” is especially challenging in that there are no variations in the form, just one dense block of stuff after another. In the end, because Jarnot only demonstrates hints at formal versatility and her chosen form in this book being so rigid (many of the poems in other sections being written via the “Sea Lyrics” method), this book feels around 4-6 poems too long. It risks alienating the reader without a tremendous amount of patience.

[Oliver Ho · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is another collection worth re-reading several times over. The poems are hypnotic in their use of repeated images and words, circular and dreamlike in construction. There's a religious, ecstatic feel to many of the poems, celebrating life and creatures of all sorts, while balancing a meditative aspect about them. It's as if the poet is trying to be as clear and detailed as possible about a particular moment, but then something mysterious keeps her thoughts swirling around and back on itself.

[MKMKMK · Rating 5 out of 5]

I just posted the below note on Black Dog Songs, but it was really about both so I'm pasting it below:

I think this and Ring of Fire made me wake up to contemporary poetry. Prior to these I had no idea there was poetry being written right now that was doing anything worth paying attention to. Glad I was wrong. Sort of embarrassed to say it was so recent that I discovered these nice absurd explorations.

[Anna · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you want to know what repetition can do, read this book. Ring of Fire seems the most rigorous example of Jarnot's style. She's always playful, but there's more than that here. "Sea Lyrics" is a great series/long poem. It will make you run to the nearest tattoo shop and do something the House Unamerican Activities Committee would disapprove of.

[cristiana · Rating 5 out of 5]

"the bridge," the opening poem to the collection, is one of my favorite poems. the collection, as a whole, should be read by every poet who cringes at the idea of writing "i" poems, but still wants his/her audience to understand some sort of emotive thread.

[Logan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another book I'll never get over. This book got my engines goin' and my sails pointed in the right direction. Word-play AND emotion in modern/ post-avant/ post-language/ post-post-modern / whatever poetry. It CAN happen. It's called HAVING A SOUL. Jarnot's got one. Do you?

[monica · Rating 4 out of 5]

Solid.

[Geoffrey · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love this book! Simply stunning moving language.

[Wendy · Rating 5 out of 5]

great great stuff

[Bette Noir · Rating 2 out of 5]

Type of pony: one trick.

[C.S. Carrier · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the most amazing and infectious books ever.