Sacramental Acts: The Love Poems of Kenneth Rexroth

by Kenneth Rexroth, Sam Hamill (Editor), Elaine Laura Kleiner (Editor)

A collection of metaphysical and erotic verse by one of the twentieth century's most influential poets expresses a passionate, yet calm, state of connection between lovers in which both are transformed into something larger than the two of them. Original. IP.

Genres: Poetry

156 pages, Paperback

First published October 1, 1997

About the author

Kenneth Rexroth was an American poet, translator, and critical essayist.

He is regarded as a central figure in the San Francisco Renaissance, and paved the groundwork for the movement. Although he did not consider himself to be a Beat poet, and disliked the association, he was dubbed the "Father of the Beats" by Time magazine.

Largely self-educated, Rexroth learned several languages and translated poems from Chinese, French, Spanish, and Japanese. He was among the first poets in the United States to explore traditional Japanese poetic themes and forms.

Rexroth died in Santa Barbara, California, on June 6, 1982. He had spent his final years translating Japanese and Chinese women poets, as well as promoting the work of female poets in America and overseas.

Reviews

[Edita · Rating 4 out of 5]

...I lie alone in an alien
Bed in a strange house and morning
More cruel than any midnight
Pours its brightness through the window -
Cherry branches with the flowers
Fading, and behind them the gold
Stately baubles of the maple,
And behind them the pure immense
April sky and a white frayed cloud,
And in and behind everything,
The inescapable vacant
Distance of loneliness.

[Sam · Rating 2 out of 5]

wow i did not like this

[James · Rating 4 out of 5]

Rexroth is one of my favorite poets to read. These love poems are a mix of sensuous love poems to women who have shared his bed, translations of soft love poetry from mostly Oriental sources, and familial love poems to his daughter. Surprisingly, I who am childless, was most moved by the latter. Those poems are lush and personal and often draw upon the celestial to evoke his feelings for the female beside him. Often it is late in the poem before we realize that female is his five-year-old daughter.

Love tributes to his intimates and his intimacy with nature. His is a voice that always speaks to me.

[EIJANDOLUM]

Superbly erotic. A pleasant discovery.

[Sandra · Rating 5 out of 5]

Translations of Chinese and Japanese poetry. He has a feel for these languages.

[Anna · Rating 2 out of 5]

~2.75

[David Rullo · Rating 5 out of 5]

"Sacramental Acts" is perhaps the finest collection of love poems by any American writer; surpassed, perhaps, and I emphasize perhaps, only by Pablo Neruda's "20 Love Poems."

Filled with love poems to Rexroth's wives, ex-wives, children, father, etc. the collection veers from the erotic to the touching to the achingly beautiful. The writing is amazingly pure, direct and simple and the forms are a masterclass for anyone interested in writing poetry. Even the translations cut to the heart of love.

I can not recommend this collection enough.

[Riley Dawson Hushak · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is my favorite book of poetry to date, and as a literature major I feel safe in saying I read at least a little poetry. Rexroth's style is impeccably beautiful, unique to himself, and well-suited to love poetry. The translations from the Japanese poetry are well-done, but the major appeal of this collection is his original poetry, such as "When we with Sappho" and "She is Away."

[stephanie roberts · Rating 3 out of 5]

...I will allow only
My lord to possess my sacred
Lotus pond, and every night
You can make blossom in me
Flowers of fire.

closing, TO THE TUNE "SOARING CLOUDS" – Huang O (1948-1569) translated from the Chinese

[Mike James · Rating 5 out of 5]

Rexroth is a life long favorite. In this book he shows why he was one of the finest love poets and lyric poets of all time.