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Dark Fields of the Republic: Poems
A new book of poems by one of America's most distinguished poets. A new book of poems by one of America's most distinguished poets.
"When does a life bend toward freedom? grasp its direction?" asks Adrienne Rich in Dark Fields of the Republic, her major new work. Her explorations go to the heart of democracy and love, and the historical and present endangerment of both.
The poems of Dark Fields of the Republic are a theater of voices: of men and women, the dead and the living, over time and across continents. Rich writes out of conversations actual and imaginary, actions taken for better or for worse, out of histories and songs, humdrum and terrible events, out of the most intimate loves and love for the world. Through these poems, she extends the poet's reach of witness and power of connection, and invites the reader-listener to participate.
"When does a life bend toward freedom? grasp its direction?" asks Adrienne Rich in Dark Fields of the Republic, her major new work. Her explorations go to the heart of democracy and love, and the historical and present endangerment of both.
The poems of Dark Fields of the Republic are a theater of voices: of men and women, the dead and the living, over time and across continents. Rich writes out of conversations actual and imaginary, actions taken for better or for worse, out of histories and songs, humdrum and terrible events, out of the most intimate loves and love for the world. Through these poems, she extends the poet's reach of witness and power of connection, and invites the reader-listener to participate.
79 pages, Paperback
First published September 1, 1995
10 people are currently reading
347 people want to read
About the author
Adrienne Rich
139 books1,596 followersWorks, notably
Diving into the Wreck
(1973), of American poet and essayist Adrienne Rich champion such causes as pacifism, feminism, and civil rights for gays and lesbians.
A mother bore Adrienne Cecile Rich, a feminist, to a middle-class family with parents, who educated her until she entered public school in the fourth grade. She graduated Phi Beta Kappa from Radcliffe college in 1951, the same year of her first book of poems, A Change of World. That volume, chosen by W. H. Auden for the Yale Series of Younger Poets Award, and her next, The Diamond Cutters and Other Poems (1955), earned her a reputation as an elegant, controlled stylist.
In the 1960s, however, Rich began a dramatic shift away from her earlier mode as she took up political and feminist themes and stylistic experimentation in such works as Snapshots of a Daughter-in-Law (1963), The Necessities of Life (1966), Leaflets (1969), and The Will to Change (1971). In Diving into the Wreck (1973) and The Dream of a Common Language (1978), she continued to experiment with form and to deal with the experiences and aspirations of women from a feminist perspective.
In addition to her poetry, Rich has published many essays on poetry, feminism, motherhood, and lesbianism. Her recent collections include An Atlas of the Difficult World (1991) and Dark Fields of the Republic: Poems 1991–1995 (1995).
A mother bore Adrienne Cecile Rich, a feminist, to a middle-class family with parents, who educated her until she entered public school in the fourth grade. She graduated Phi Beta Kappa from Radcliffe college in 1951, the same year of her first book of poems, A Change of World. That volume, chosen by W. H. Auden for the Yale Series of Younger Poets Award, and her next, The Diamond Cutters and Other Poems (1955), earned her a reputation as an elegant, controlled stylist.
In the 1960s, however, Rich began a dramatic shift away from her earlier mode as she took up political and feminist themes and stylistic experimentation in such works as Snapshots of a Daughter-in-Law (1963), The Necessities of Life (1966), Leaflets (1969), and The Will to Change (1971). In Diving into the Wreck (1973) and The Dream of a Common Language (1978), she continued to experiment with form and to deal with the experiences and aspirations of women from a feminist perspective.
In addition to her poetry, Rich has published many essays on poetry, feminism, motherhood, and lesbianism. Her recent collections include An Atlas of the Difficult World (1991) and Dark Fields of the Republic: Poems 1991–1995 (1995).
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 30 reviews
January 15, 2015
Not as volatile as the other collection of Rich's poetry that I have read, Diving Into the Wreck, this work from the early 1990's allows Rich to air her grievances about the Western World going to hell in a hand basket. But sadly the caustic, piercing qualities of her 1970's work - where she raged and raged and raged against gender roles and relations - have been smoothed over for a more melancholic, retrospective murmur. When Rich's love for women-loving is mentioned (in vague she's or you's, natch: this is "poetry" after all") it's not with fiery sexuality, but with more of a nostalgic remove. Sure, Rich was much older by this collection, and age brings wisdom and prudence, or some shit like that; but I'd rather of have had her angry.
Bring me all the angry (but well-written) poems!
Bring me all the angry (but well-written) poems!
March 6, 2022
"Life was always stronger ... the critics couldn't get it.
Memory says the music always ran ahead of the words."
- Late Ghazal
Memory says the music always ran ahead of the words."
- Late Ghazal
August 18, 2023
Heroic—this book is absolutely marvellous, and perfectly blunt.
Adrienne Rich is masterful.
Adrienne Rich is masterful.
July 8, 2024
Read a long time ago, but reread it in May/June and I guess I assumed I already logged it.
Favorite pieces in here are the ghazals I think, but all of it is wonderful.
Favorite pieces in here are the ghazals I think, but all of it is wonderful.
Read
July 16, 2024i love you adrienne
Read
November 5, 2024A cat drinks from a bowl of marigolds - his moment.
otherwise not so sure
otherwise not so sure
April 24, 2019
I did not connect with these poems as much as I'd liked, but it's still very good poetry, Adrienne Rich was a very talented poet, no doubt here.
April 4, 2019
Will strike you. The power of these poems, their contemporaneity. Love not divided from politics, heady.
WHAT KIND OF TIMES ARE THESE
There’s a place between two stands of trees where the grass grows
uphill
and the old revolutionary road breaks off into shadows
near a meeting-house abandoned by the persecuted
who disappeared into those shadows.
I’ve walked there picking mushrooms at the edge of dread, but
don’t be fooled,
this isn’t a Russian poem, this is not somewhere else but here,
our country moving closer to its own truth and dread,
its own ways of making people disappear.
I won’t tell you where the place is, the dark mesh of the woods
meeting the unmarked strip of light −
ghost-ridden crossroads, leafmold paradise;
I know already who wants to buy it, sell it, make it disappear.
And I won’t tell you where it is, so why do I tell you
anything? Because you still listen, because in times like these
to have you listen at all, it’s necessary
to talk about trees.
1991
WHAT KIND OF TIMES ARE THESE
There’s a place between two stands of trees where the grass grows
uphill
and the old revolutionary road breaks off into shadows
near a meeting-house abandoned by the persecuted
who disappeared into those shadows.
I’ve walked there picking mushrooms at the edge of dread, but
don’t be fooled,
this isn’t a Russian poem, this is not somewhere else but here,
our country moving closer to its own truth and dread,
its own ways of making people disappear.
I won’t tell you where the place is, the dark mesh of the woods
meeting the unmarked strip of light −
ghost-ridden crossroads, leafmold paradise;
I know already who wants to buy it, sell it, make it disappear.
And I won’t tell you where it is, so why do I tell you
anything? Because you still listen, because in times like these
to have you listen at all, it’s necessary
to talk about trees.
1991
January 6, 2025
Wise, emotionally stirring poems. Rich writes about existing and participating in humanity in a way that realizes the harshness, the beauty, the heartbreak, and everything in between; then embraces it all and calls us to action.
May 29, 2019
Faves -
To The Days
Amends
And Now
Sending Love
Take
To The Days
Amends
And Now
Sending Love
Take
August 24, 2021
"this isn't a Russian poem, this is not somewhere else but here"
August 28, 2023
the extremes I stoke
September 8, 2023
a banger.
faves:
• To the Days
• Amends
• Calle Visión
• Inscriptions One: comrade & Five: voices
faves:
• To the Days
• Amends
• Calle Visión
• Inscriptions One: comrade & Five: voices
August 30, 2024
This title is among my favorite Rich poetry books.
October 30, 2024
3.5 stars.
May 5, 2025
Beautiful, melancholy. These poems are a unique illustration of the crossing paths of life, love, war and politics and their long term effects on the human state.
January 23, 2026
Powerful, nostalgic, cutthroat, and horrifingly timely for 2026.
March 18, 2018
I purchased this during my last trip to the Book Barn. I was lucky enough to open it and find that it was a signed copy before beginning to read it ... but it got beat up in my bag and water spilled on it. I'm disappointed but the words still stand.
This is standard Rich. That sentence may seem to state that this poetry is mundane or common. In fact, it is quite the opposite. Rich wrote the truth of the times, wrote about finding hope and love in the face of oppression. As always, it's good stuff -- and this is particularly good stuff. A Rich book is always worth a read.
This is standard Rich. That sentence may seem to state that this poetry is mundane or common. In fact, it is quite the opposite. Rich wrote the truth of the times, wrote about finding hope and love in the face of oppression. As always, it's good stuff -- and this is particularly good stuff. A Rich book is always worth a read.
August 30, 2012
After reading this collection of poetry by Adrienne Rich, I felt called to action. What action, I am not entirely sure. Dark Fields of the Republic is a compilation of what I can only describe as "cautionary" poems - a review of the past and a warning not to relive our mistakes. A plea to figure it out before it's too late.
The title comes from a line in The Great Gatsby: "He had come a long way to this blue lawn, and his dream must have seemed so close that he could hardly fail to grasp it. He did not know that it was already behind him, somewhere back in that vast obscurity beyond the city, where the dark fields of the republic rolled on under the night."
The opening section and poem is called "What Kind of Times Are These and sets the tone of the entire work. Here is an excerpt:
I've walked there picking mushrooms at the edge of dread, but
don't be fooled,
this isn't a Russian poem, this is not somewhere else but here,
our country moving closer to its own truth and dread,
its own ways of making people disappear.
The second section is called "Calle Vision," which translated means "Vision Street," and the tone here is slightly different - an expression of trying to come to terms with one's life purpose, especially as an artist. I love this line in Part 9:
This place is alive with the dead and the living
I have never been alone here
I wear my triple eyes as I walk along the road
past, present, future all are at my side
Storm-beaten, tough-winged passenger
there is nothing I have buried that can die.
In the section "Then or Now," we again get the sense that history could repeat itself, as the poems shift from reflections on WWII incidents to modern-day angst.
At times I feel the poems are cryptic - providing a message that I, the reader, need to decipher before it's too late. Before freedom is lost, before life is lost. In the section called "Sending Love," one may get the idea that love this is the answer, but is love enough? Or is it about loving truly versus "sending love without heart -- well, people do that daily."
Dark Fields is one of those collections to be picked up and read over a lifetime, since it is an expression of the poet's own life and what she hopes to leave for future generations.
The title comes from a line in The Great Gatsby: "He had come a long way to this blue lawn, and his dream must have seemed so close that he could hardly fail to grasp it. He did not know that it was already behind him, somewhere back in that vast obscurity beyond the city, where the dark fields of the republic rolled on under the night."
The opening section and poem is called "What Kind of Times Are These and sets the tone of the entire work. Here is an excerpt:
I've walked there picking mushrooms at the edge of dread, but
don't be fooled,
this isn't a Russian poem, this is not somewhere else but here,
our country moving closer to its own truth and dread,
its own ways of making people disappear.
The second section is called "Calle Vision," which translated means "Vision Street," and the tone here is slightly different - an expression of trying to come to terms with one's life purpose, especially as an artist. I love this line in Part 9:
This place is alive with the dead and the living
I have never been alone here
I wear my triple eyes as I walk along the road
past, present, future all are at my side
Storm-beaten, tough-winged passenger
there is nothing I have buried that can die.
In the section "Then or Now," we again get the sense that history could repeat itself, as the poems shift from reflections on WWII incidents to modern-day angst.
At times I feel the poems are cryptic - providing a message that I, the reader, need to decipher before it's too late. Before freedom is lost, before life is lost. In the section called "Sending Love," one may get the idea that love this is the answer, but is love enough? Or is it about loving truly versus "sending love without heart -- well, people do that daily."
Dark Fields is one of those collections to be picked up and read over a lifetime, since it is an expression of the poet's own life and what she hopes to leave for future generations.
February 4, 2017
The first three poems of Dark Fields of the Republic are a blistering indictment answering the question posed in the title of the first: "What Kind of Times Are These." Increasingly desperate at the complacency replacing the anger over the US's betrayal of its every ideal, Rich reaches out to a reader she hopes is still listening, responding: "Because you still listen, because in times like these/ to have you listen at all, it is necessary to talk about trees." (Cut to 2017 and an environmental debacle in progress that makes the early 90s look like the golden era of awareness.)
in the second poem, "In Those Years," she pinpoints the core of the collapse: "In those years, people will say, we lost track/ of the meaning of we, of you/ we found ourselves/ reduced to I"while "the great dark birds of history screamed and plunged/ into our personal weather." The third poem, "To the Days," meditates on "the newscasts' terrible stories/ of life in my time" feeling the way into "knowing it's worst than that, /much worse--the knowing what it means to be lied to." And the bottom line: "Acceptable levels of cruelty, steadily rising."
The poet unsparingly confronts the experience of living with physical pain, of feeling herself an exile, but rededicates herself to bearing witness, to writing: "I tried to listen to/ the public voice of our time/ tried to survey our public space/ as best I could," observing "who was in charge of definitions/ and who stood by receiving them."
There aren't as many poems that grabbed me in Dark Fields as in Time's Power or Atlas of a Difficult World, but the closing sequence, "Inscriptions" resonates with her determination to an imagined reader, sharing her drive in his or her own way: "My testimony yours: Trying to keep faith/ not with each other exactly yet it's the one known and unkown/ who stands for, imagines the other with whom faith could be kept." As almost always, the volume ends in motion, process: "Thesare are the extremes I stoke/ into the updraft of this life/ still roaring."
in the second poem, "In Those Years," she pinpoints the core of the collapse: "In those years, people will say, we lost track/ of the meaning of we, of you/ we found ourselves/ reduced to I"while "the great dark birds of history screamed and plunged/ into our personal weather." The third poem, "To the Days," meditates on "the newscasts' terrible stories/ of life in my time" feeling the way into "knowing it's worst than that, /much worse--the knowing what it means to be lied to." And the bottom line: "Acceptable levels of cruelty, steadily rising."
The poet unsparingly confronts the experience of living with physical pain, of feeling herself an exile, but rededicates herself to bearing witness, to writing: "I tried to listen to/ the public voice of our time/ tried to survey our public space/ as best I could," observing "who was in charge of definitions/ and who stood by receiving them."
There aren't as many poems that grabbed me in Dark Fields as in Time's Power or Atlas of a Difficult World, but the closing sequence, "Inscriptions" resonates with her determination to an imagined reader, sharing her drive in his or her own way: "My testimony yours: Trying to keep faith/ not with each other exactly yet it's the one known and unkown/ who stands for, imagines the other with whom faith could be kept." As almost always, the volume ends in motion, process: "Thesare are the extremes I stoke/ into the updraft of this life/ still roaring."
Want to read
August 10, 2013I wish I were an Adrienne Rich fan. I understand her important role in American poetry as an insistent voice for harvesting the personal married to the well-structured perspective. I don't find her work supple and enough to hold my attention, nor do I find the kind of generosity of spirit that I seek from a poet who should be giving us moments of intense self-recognition. Nevertheless, there are poems here that have informed many other poets who take more willingly to the lessons taught.
September 2, 2009
My first real acquaintance w/ this author. The poems are dry in a way, meaning that they contain little bounce & surprise. The poems aren't sexy or juicy or joyful. But they do sound w/ a power & a finality, as if their findings cannot be disputed. This poetry is written w/ a firm hand; the pen does not aimlessly wander.
June 30, 2013
"When a voice learns to sing it can be heard as dangerous
when a voice learns to listen it can be heard as desperate."
While this collection did not resonate with me as much as some of her other works, I still found myself savoring several of the poems and rereading them slowly rather than moving on to the next page.
when a voice learns to listen it can be heard as desperate."
While this collection did not resonate with me as much as some of her other works, I still found myself savoring several of the poems and rereading them slowly rather than moving on to the next page.
November 10, 2013
Absolutely beautiful and powerful. I toyed with giving this a 5, but some of the poems I didn't like (particularly Calle Vision). I'm not sure if it was the formatting or the subject matter...but for the most part Rich's poetry is evocative and compelling.
Favorites:
-In Those Years
-Six Narratives
-From Pierced Darkness
-One: Comrade
-Three: Origins
Favorites:
-In Those Years
-Six Narratives
-From Pierced Darkness
-One: Comrade
-Three: Origins
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July 17, 2009poetry
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April 3, 2012King Library (2nd floor) | PS3535.I233 D37 1995 | AVAILABLE
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September 15, 2024person who owned this book before me wrote "frustrated lesbian" in the margins
June 11, 2014
good but didn't love love it.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 30 reviews