Eating the Honey of Words: New and Selected Poems

by Robert Bly

Book Overview

"Bly's imaginative prose poems radiate witty delight." -- Library Journal

A brilliant collection spanning half a century, from one of America's most powerful poets.

Robert Bly had many roles in his illustrious career. He was a chronicler and mentor of young poets, was a leader of the antiwar movement, founded the men's movement, and wrote the bestselling book Iron John, which brought the men's movement...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0060930691
• ISBN13: 9780060930691
• Release Date: May 2000
• Publisher: Harper Perennial
• Length: 288 Pages
• Weight: 0.74 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.9" x 5.4" x 8.1"

Customer Reviews

Great overview of Bly's poetry

Bly may be better known among many as founder and leader of the so-called men's movement, but he is first and foremost a great poet. This is an excellent retrospective of his work over the years - work that remains quite consistent in style and quality across the decades. I was especially moved by the poems that dealt with the death of his father, and the long poem about Vietnam. The latter was written at the height of that war, and really brought back the sense of intense anger and emotion that gripped the country in those days. This book is highly recommended both for lovers of poetry and those who aren't sure whether they are or not - something for everyone here.

Great works from a master poet

Being a follower of Robert Bly's work maybe I am a bit biased but this is a great collection of old and new poems. He has reached a pinnacle only to make you realize it's just his beginning.

Hundreds of knots of wild energy ...

In my opinion, Bly will be remembered first and foremost as a poet, long after his Vietnam protests and even men's movement activities are forgotten. He has probably inspired more young poets than any other American poet in the second half of this century, or perhaps the entire century.This book is an oasis of bold and vivid, yet refreshingly open and readable, poetry in a desert of bland workshop poetry and oblique, obscure academic poetry. The mystical and spiritual dimensions of Bly's work will frighten some, as will his use of highly-charged, "leaping" imagery, but those readers who prize the open flow of psychic energy over irony and detachment will find this book a startling departure from much of what is published these days. If there is any flaw with this book, it is the absence of the short essays such as were included in his previous Selected Poems. Bly's commentary is almost as good as his poems, and such commentary would have been welcome here. There is such a range of material here, that interested readers might do well to also seek out the above-mentioned volume, as well as various critical overviews of Bly's work.If you aren't familiar with Bly's work, this is a good place to start; if you are, you will find the new poems and the revised versions of older poems well worth the price of purchase.In other words, I liked this book ...

Bly Shares His Genius with Us Once Again

Poet Robert Bly has once again graced us with his words, beautiful poems from his heart to ours. How can one read these and not be touched by his humanity, romance and wonder. A wonderful, wise book!