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No Boats
- GenresPoetry
12 pages, Chapbook
First published January 1, 1991
7 people want to read
About the author
Ursula K. Le Guin
1,050 books30.5k followersUrsula K. Le Guin published twenty-two novels, eleven volumes of short stories, four collections of essays, twelve books for children, six volumes of poetry and four of translation, and has received many awards: Hugo, Nebula, National Book Award, PEN-Malamud, etc. Her recent publications include the novel Lavinia, an essay collection, Cheek by Jowl, and The Wild Girls. She lived in Portland, Oregon.
She was known for her treatment of gender (The Left Hand of Darkness, The Matter of Seggri), political systems (The Telling, The Dispossessed) and difference/otherness in any other form. Her interest in non-Western philosophies was reflected in works such as "Solitude" and The Telling but even more interesting are her imagined societies, often mixing traits extracted from her profound knowledge of anthropology acquired from growing up with her father, the famous anthropologist, Alfred Kroeber. The Hainish Cycle reflects the anthropologist's experience of immersing themselves in new strange cultures since most of their main characters and narrators (Le Guin favoured the first-person narration) are envoys from a humanitarian organization, the Ekumen, sent to investigate or ally themselves with the people of a different world and learn their ways.
She was known for her treatment of gender (The Left Hand of Darkness, The Matter of Seggri), political systems (The Telling, The Dispossessed) and difference/otherness in any other form. Her interest in non-Western philosophies was reflected in works such as "Solitude" and The Telling but even more interesting are her imagined societies, often mixing traits extracted from her profound knowledge of anthropology acquired from growing up with her father, the famous anthropologist, Alfred Kroeber. The Hainish Cycle reflects the anthropologist's experience of immersing themselves in new strange cultures since most of their main characters and narrators (Le Guin favoured the first-person narration) are envoys from a humanitarian organization, the Ekumen, sent to investigate or ally themselves with the people of a different world and learn their ways.
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
October 31, 2025
A nice, short, impactful poetry chapbook, which I read in the Modern Library anthology. I'd like to see the original print someday, with the poet's illustrations.
Le Guin works through common themes of silence vs. sound, aging, womanhood, and natural time. Some memorable ones are the McKenzie River series, and "Neko at 20."
"At Cannon Beach" is as much of a haiku as any poem in English can be (the meter of a haiku is irrelevant in translating the concept). It's perhaps a perfect example of that.
Le Guin works through common themes of silence vs. sound, aging, womanhood, and natural time. Some memorable ones are the McKenzie River series, and "Neko at 20."
"At Cannon Beach" is as much of a haiku as any poem in English can be (the meter of a haiku is irrelevant in translating the concept). It's perhaps a perfect example of that.
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February 10, 2024Read as part of the collected poetry of Ursula Le Guin.
July 20, 2025
4.24 boats 🛶
The day goes out grey
with the low tide,
still, cold: twilight
colorless under cloud.
I have not said a word
aloud all day.
Sounds cease.
Silence, solitude,
peace.
The day goes out grey
with the low tide,
still, cold: twilight
colorless under cloud.
I have not said a word
aloud all day.
Sounds cease.
Silence, solitude,
peace.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews