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Leaping Poetry: An Idea with Poems and Translations
Leaping Poetry is Robert Bly's testament to the importance of the artistic leap that bridges the gap between conscious and unconscious thought in any great work of art. Part anthology and part commentary, Bly seeks to rejuvenate modern Western poetry through his revelations of ";leaping"; as found in the works of poets from around the world, while also outlining the basic principles that shape his own poetry.
93 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1975
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About the author
Robert Bly
284 books414 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 - 30 of 33 reviews
July 29, 2015
Robert Bly, before, after, but not during his Iron John phase has been one of my favorite poets. First contact was with The Tooth Mother Naked at Last, a great poem out of the Vietnam War period. A harrowing poem. His own writing has gotten simpler with time, and he should have much more recognition than he does. I see there's a film coming out - that will help a little. Equally adept as a translator, his work with Nobel Laureate Tomas Transtromer is sublime. A copy of Friends, You Drank Some Darkness should be on everyone's shelf.
Leaping Poetry is a study in writing metaphor. The current crop of American poets seem to have left metaphor behind - they should take a refresher. This would be an excellent place to start.
Leaping Poetry is a study in writing metaphor. The current crop of American poets seem to have left metaphor behind - they should take a refresher. This would be an excellent place to start.
October 30, 2008
"In ancient times, in the 'time of inspiration,' the poet flew from one world to another, 'riding on dragons'. . . . They dragged behind them long tails of dragonsmoke. . . . This dragonsmoke means that a leap has taken place in the poem. In many ancient works of art we notice a long floating leap at the center of a work. That leap can be described as a leap from the conscious to the unconscious and back again, a leap from the known part of the mind to the unknown part and back to the known."
So begins Robert Bly's short (all the better reason to re-read it often!) but endlessly fascinating aesthetic manifesto for surreal poetry. Here Bly both lays out his wonderful idea about "leaping" poetry and pays homage to the modern masters of this method, largely Spanish and Latin American poets such as Neruda, Lorca and Vallejo. Other concepts crucial to Bly's leaping-poetry idea are those of Wild Association and the hierarchy of "three brains" involved in a complex relationship within the human mind.
This book is likely to transform not only your view of poetry, but of any art.
So begins Robert Bly's short (all the better reason to re-read it often!) but endlessly fascinating aesthetic manifesto for surreal poetry. Here Bly both lays out his wonderful idea about "leaping" poetry and pays homage to the modern masters of this method, largely Spanish and Latin American poets such as Neruda, Lorca and Vallejo. Other concepts crucial to Bly's leaping-poetry idea are those of Wild Association and the hierarchy of "three brains" involved in a complex relationship within the human mind.
This book is likely to transform not only your view of poetry, but of any art.
September 4, 2018
Interesting ideas. I'm still trying to understand them fully.
May 13, 2020
Helpful for understanding the difference between the leap and the turn in a poem. The poems included are more difficult than Bly's wonderful essays, and I look forward to reading them many times.
February 24, 2014
This book has a lot of wonderful ideas I have never though of before, or at least not in detail. How rapid and leaping associations make poems powerful. Surrealism, of course, is the embodiment of this technique.But how does one achieve the leaps?
Writing and erasing some of the the links is of course a very basic way to achieve some sort of leaping thoughts, but not enough. What Bly states about the Spaniards of the 20th century - wild associations, emotion cascading in words on the page - and what Federico Garcia Lorca says about "the Duende" seems to be the key. Intense emotion and adrenaline help the brain reach a more "spiritual" plane, where associations occur like explosions in mine fields. To write as if we only have one poem left to write before we die, and to use that poem to amaze and stun the world we will leave behind. To keep building up that energy so the new "last" poem is better than the one before, never any less.
Sometimes poetry in the English language suffers periods of struggle to mimic what the Spanish poets of the 20th century accomplished; and there is something that doesn't quite transfer to English when these surreal poems are translated. Bly discusses many different issues with logic leaps and translations, using a variety of poems from different languages to demonstrate the effects of "leaping poetry". Leaping Poetry is a fascinating study on "logic leaps" and translation, I highly recommend it.
Writing and erasing some of the the links is of course a very basic way to achieve some sort of leaping thoughts, but not enough. What Bly states about the Spaniards of the 20th century - wild associations, emotion cascading in words on the page - and what Federico Garcia Lorca says about "the Duende" seems to be the key. Intense emotion and adrenaline help the brain reach a more "spiritual" plane, where associations occur like explosions in mine fields. To write as if we only have one poem left to write before we die, and to use that poem to amaze and stun the world we will leave behind. To keep building up that energy so the new "last" poem is better than the one before, never any less.
Sometimes poetry in the English language suffers periods of struggle to mimic what the Spanish poets of the 20th century accomplished; and there is something that doesn't quite transfer to English when these surreal poems are translated. Bly discusses many different issues with logic leaps and translations, using a variety of poems from different languages to demonstrate the effects of "leaping poetry". Leaping Poetry is a fascinating study on "logic leaps" and translation, I highly recommend it.
March 15, 2015
I read this in two hours. Robert Bly is a master poet and an expert provocateur. He's also a little kooky in a wonderful way. This book is his short but important manifesto about our estrangement from imagination and the parts of our brains which honor and seek myth. He believes this estrangement is due to Christianity's ethical and theological system and that the effect is much to our detriment. It was inspiring reading. The poems by Lorca and Vallejo and Bly's own essays make a compelling case that the poetics of Leaping---while not the only valuable or quality form of poetry---amount to nothing less than a celebration of our deepest selves, our New Brains (read the book to understand) and a revolution against the anesthetizing effects of Judeo-Christian/European linear culture.
I say Bly is a kook a bit because in the section on the different parts of the brain, he uses a maximum of certain language with a minimum of scientific support. This if course, may be part of his point. But it felt like reading those old anatomy books of the 15th and 16th centuries while shaking one's head and saying, oh silly them.....leeches! Now we know that the best way to fight cancer is poisoning yourself with chemicals and radiation!
In any case, this book is a must. I immediately ordered Garcia Lorca's Complete Poems.
I say Bly is a kook a bit because in the section on the different parts of the brain, he uses a maximum of certain language with a minimum of scientific support. This if course, may be part of his point. But it felt like reading those old anatomy books of the 15th and 16th centuries while shaking one's head and saying, oh silly them.....leeches! Now we know that the best way to fight cancer is poisoning yourself with chemicals and radiation!
In any case, this book is a must. I immediately ordered Garcia Lorca's Complete Poems.
May 2, 2020
bly offers us a sampling of great poetry - I adore rainer maria rilke - but goes on to bash anything that doesn’t fit into his horrible theory (being bold enough to include an entire chapter dismissing the new york school and frank o’hara, who was a genius). this entire book is nothing more than a pompous justification of why his taste is superior.
that’s not all! only one woman’s work is included. one. he also atrociously explains how women’s brains are fundamentally different than men’s, therefore making it harder for us to write “poetry that leaps.” this is one of the most sexist, pretentious things I’ve ever read, and I absolutely hated it. do yourself a favor and read ben lerner’s incredible “the hatred of poetry” instead.
that’s not all! only one woman’s work is included. one. he also atrociously explains how women’s brains are fundamentally different than men’s, therefore making it harder for us to write “poetry that leaps.” this is one of the most sexist, pretentious things I’ve ever read, and I absolutely hated it. do yourself a favor and read ben lerner’s incredible “the hatred of poetry” instead.
January 29, 2023
This is one book that I didn’t understand at all, and yet I enjoyed. Robert Bly argues that the best poetry makes leaps from one unconscious idea to another, and from unconscious to conscious, by means of association. I believe him, and yet when I read the many poems he uses as examples, I have no idea where the leaps are. I see gaps and strange juxtapositions, but I don’t see the connections. Maybe that proves that the leaps are unconscious.
I like the way that Bly throws out speculative ideas with great authority, as though he, as a poet, can see things that other people can’t. I can hear his laconic voice when he makes his pronouncements. For example, he takes the germ of an idea from a scientific source, and says that there are really three brains: the reptilian brain, the mammalian brain, and the spiritual brain, and then he goes on to identify their work in different poems.
Bly has the courage to conceive of things in entirely new ways, as a poet, and who cares if they are intellectually or scientifically sound? That will come later. What’s important is to see things as though for the very first time.
I like the way that Bly throws out speculative ideas with great authority, as though he, as a poet, can see things that other people can’t. I can hear his laconic voice when he makes his pronouncements. For example, he takes the germ of an idea from a scientific source, and says that there are really three brains: the reptilian brain, the mammalian brain, and the spiritual brain, and then he goes on to identify their work in different poems.
Bly has the courage to conceive of things in entirely new ways, as a poet, and who cares if they are intellectually or scientifically sound? That will come later. What’s important is to see things as though for the very first time.
July 24, 2007
This was my introduction, many years ago now, to looking at poetry in a different way. It feels a bit dated now, but so do I, most days.
January 15, 2012
D:
this makes no sense! everything i thought i knew about poetry has been blown up in my face.
this makes no sense! everything i thought i knew about poetry has been blown up in my face.
February 14, 2008
crazy bull-headed and brilliant
April 19, 2024
Positively essential. Everything you always knew about poetry, all in one place. Not totally sure I'm 100 percent aligned with Bly's cosmology of animal/human, unconscious/conscious, dark/light dichotomy, but at least he's talking about it, and it's undeniably true, even if it doesn't paint a complete picture for me. Isn't there something else (ie the ineffable) to address??? I guess I can't ask one book to capture the whole world; still, this comes close.
Plus the translations are just stellar. No surprise but even still he managed to get them even more perfect. Transtromer and Vallejo shine particularly brightly here!!
Plus the translations are just stellar. No surprise but even still he managed to get them even more perfect. Transtromer and Vallejo shine particularly brightly here!!
September 11, 2022
Bly's idea about unconsciously leaping between the conscious and unconscious minds when writing being a conversation between our three brains--the lizard brain (the survival brain), the mammal brain (the life in this world brain), and the new brain (the brain of the spirit)--is present in a variety of Spanish-language and Swedish poets who write beyond the bounds of Western rationalism, which binds us to neat forms and certainties. The poems and Bly's idea are great reminders of why it doesn't suit to analyze poems; better it is that they be experienced.
March 29, 2024
!!! Every !!! Beginning !!! Poet !!! Needs !!! To Read !!! This !!!
I'm in enormous debt to Leaping Poetry, as it introduced me to so many of my favorite poets, most notably Lorca & Tranströmer (and the floodgates poured from there...). Bly strips poetry's academic, stuffy reputation (which is, as he notes, so often a product of the way it's taught in highschool -- as if there's definite answers) and thrusts readers into the pure joy of it, the imaginative, transcendental, otherworldly qualities that have allowed it to persist as an art form for so long. In a word: wonderful!
I'm in enormous debt to Leaping Poetry, as it introduced me to so many of my favorite poets, most notably Lorca & Tranströmer (and the floodgates poured from there...). Bly strips poetry's academic, stuffy reputation (which is, as he notes, so often a product of the way it's taught in highschool -- as if there's definite answers) and thrusts readers into the pure joy of it, the imaginative, transcendental, otherworldly qualities that have allowed it to persist as an art form for so long. In a word: wonderful!
April 12, 2018
I looooove Bly but sometimes these grand generalizations in his essays are a bit much.
I'm all for leaping but this type of excessive imagery in poetry... most of the times it just feels so gratuitous.
I'm all for leaping but this type of excessive imagery in poetry... most of the times it just feels so gratuitous.
November 19, 2022
A book I continue to ponder as Bly uses translations of poems to explore 'dragon smoke', a leap that has taken place. Favourites such as Neruda and Lorca show Spanish leaping and wild association, what Bly maintains is missing from much poetry written today.
February 23, 2024
read parts of this in college but only now came back to read the whole way through—curation is great and the overarching ideas resonate with me (although the reptile/mammal/new brain bit kind of lost me)
October 14, 2017
Definitely dug 80% of Bly's theories.
October 14, 2024
kind of goated
June 24, 2024
Most of these weren't for me, but I did like the ones in the section called Home Grown Poems.
October 18, 2019
While a bit dated, I will be reading and rereading this short text for years.
May 11, 2012
A wonderful, bite-size (as in edible and, yes, sound-worthy/quote-worthy) book. I found Bly's basic premise that poetry is a product of both the unconscious and conscious mind very provocative. It made me re-see some of my favorite poets and my own work.
Though it's true that the translations are uneven and Bly makes unqualified pronouncements at times, I loved the international range of this collection and the flash and teeth of Bly's opinionated wit.
It's also wonderful to trace the inception of Spanish surrealism (among other surrealisms) into American poetry; you can see how much influence this strain will have on later poets (post-New York School: whom Bly calls "hoppers" (versus "leapers")): Mark Strand, Charles Simic (Serbian-American, okay), James Tate, to name a few.
Though it's true that the translations are uneven and Bly makes unqualified pronouncements at times, I loved the international range of this collection and the flash and teeth of Bly's opinionated wit.
It's also wonderful to trace the inception of Spanish surrealism (among other surrealisms) into American poetry; you can see how much influence this strain will have on later poets (post-New York School: whom Bly calls "hoppers" (versus "leapers")): Mark Strand, Charles Simic (Serbian-American, okay), James Tate, to name a few.
December 5, 2012
Bly's words are equal parts cryptic and methodical as he discusses his topic of what makes poetry really live. The best have a quality of 'leaping' from subject to subject in ways that make sense not logically but something deeper. The poems included are very good. But exhausting. At least i was exhausted. I thought about it later and said to myself, those damn poems are like a nightmare on speed, like a funhouse ride at the surrealist theme park, and now i'm tired after reading them.
November 9, 2007
You can read this book in one sitting, and after reading it you won't be able to read a one-page poem in one sitting ever again! Okay, that's not exactly true, but it does help me think about why I like certain poetry and even poetic prose.
July 30, 2010
This is the first book that got me to read poetry. I think it is the reason that I am in grad school now. I think it might be the most important book in my entire life. Should read it again before giving it a full 5 stars, but what the hell: read it; it's really good (I think).
OK,
j
OK,
j
October 23, 2010
While this book is old, and it addresses some absurd poetry, such as Lorca's, the concept remains a true tenant in writing poetry. Bly's concept of leaping in poetry is something that serves as a creative fulcrum, in my opinion.
March 13, 2013
I read the 1972 version and still found most of Bly's insights helpful. His examples of leaping poets and their work did a good job of displaying his central points so the reader can latch onto them. Overall, I would recommend this book to other poets.
October 30, 2013
This is really just "an idea," more poetry collection than a study. Though I liked the concept of the leap, I thought Bly's explanation of it was limited, and I was turned off by the many typos in the Spanish poems.
December 15, 2007
Yes, I know the criticisms, that the translations aren't terrific, that Bly is irritating etc etc.
But I love this little book & have found it terrifically inspirational over the years.
But I love this little book & have found it terrifically inspirational over the years.
March 28, 2009
Have read references to this seminal work over the years; it was good to read the actual book. Oddly my intellect responds to these arguments but not my emotions; rather an unexpected response.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 33 reviews