For the Century's End: Poems 1990-1999

by John Meade Haines

"I have always sought a poetry that . . . can include the public events of our time and do so in a way that makes them at once contemporary and unavoidably linked with humanity's long and troubled history."--John Haines, Preface Poet and essayist John Haines has forged, in his long career a body of work noted both for its austere lyric beauty, anchored in the solitude and spaciousness of his early years as a homesteader in the Alaskan wilderness, and for its penetrating responsiveness to the human condition. The generous selection of poems in For the Century's End conveys, in form and substance, the singular and exhilarating power of Haines's poetry of the past decade, underscoring his role as one of the major writers of our time. "I am the one who touches fire,/ who rakes the leaves to watch them burn," Haines writes in his introductory poem. This subtle yet vivid juxtaposition of the temporal and eternal is characteristic of the book's method and unwavering passion. Organized into five sections, the poems in each group arc from the mythic to the personal, as does the central, twelve-part poem "In the House of Wax." Their journey incorporates both anguish over the state of the present-day world, and an abiding, forward-looking spiritual resolve. Individual poems deal with subjects as wide ranging as the cave petroglyphs of the ancient Chumash Indian culture of southern California to contemporary explorations of outer space and our attempts to find some new ground in the solar system. Throughout, Haines taps into an ancient environmental wisdom that links us all.

Genres: Poetry

Hardcover

First published October 1, 2001

About the author

Born in Norfolk, Virginia, in 1924, John Haines studied at the National Art School, the American University, and the Hans Hoffmann School of Fine Art. The author of more than ten collections of poetry, his recent works include At the End of This Summer: Poems 1948-1954 (Copper Canyon Press, 1997); The Owl in the Mask of the Dreamer (1993); and New Poems 1980-88 (1990), for which he received both the Lenore Marshall Poetry Prize and the Western States Book Award.

He has also published a book of essays entitled Fables and Distances: New and Selected Essays (1996), and a memoir, The Stars, the Snow, the Fire: Twenty-five Years in the Northern Wilderness (1989).

Haines spent more than twenty years homesteading in Alaska, and has taught at Ohio University, George Washington University, and the University of Cincinnati. Named a Fellow by The Academy of American Poets in 1997, his other honours include the Alaska Governor's Award for Excellence in the Arts, two Guggenheim Fellowships, an Amy Lowell Travelling Fellowship, a National Endowment for the Arts Fellowship, and a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Library of Congress. John Haines lives in Helena, Montana.
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Reviews

[Sophie · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was interesting. I am trying to get back into poetry because I have always found it interesting. Some of these poems were deeper and heavy; however, I was very surprised how many of the poems can still reflect on today's world. Interesting read if you like poems.

[Kathleen · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book of poetry especially "In the House of Wax," "Notes on the Capitalist Persuasion," and "The Last Election." My favorite line from "Notes on the Capitalist Persuasion" is "In my acclaim is your remaindering."

[Sandra · Rating 5 out of 5]

In this collection of new poems, Haines is writing longer poems. I especially like “In the House of Wax,” which depicts history with a good hard stare.