Jack Gilbert: The Last Great Peripatetic Poet

In a time when a prolific artist is often mistaken for a great artist, Jack Gilbert, considered one of the greatest poets of the last century, has perhaps written thousands of poems but he has published only four books. The most recent is a collection of poems titled Refusing Heaven, published this month by Knopf. Although this book comes eleven years after his last release, it is shorthanded to say that Refusing Heaven is a work a decade in the making, for it is clearly the product of a lifetime.Unlike many of his contemporaries, Gilbert did not embrace the limelight of literary fame while the art of poetry was becoming more and more pop-cultured. As the beat movement gained momentum in the 1960’s, Gilbert fled from the fame that such people as Allen Ginsberg in the San Francisco were gaining through rapid publications and readings in any venue that would support them. Gilberts first collection of poetry Views of Jeopardy was published in 1962 and for the next two years, until Gilbert fled to Greece, he was pursued by publishers, poets, fans and even photographers. His motivation, as he recently told John Freeman in an interview, was that “The idea of being a professional poet bored me. When I was a boy, I used to pray when I went to sleep at night. Among my prayers was: Let me own my own time.”Looking at the flight paths of this 80 year olds life, it seems that he certainly was the master of his own time. It is for this reason that the students, faculty and community members who were at Gilbert’s reading at the Silver Cultural Arts Center on April 10 took perhaps more than the rest of the day to digest the event. Gilbert read aloud a dozen original poems. Many of which can be found in Refusing Heaven, and some that have been seen in The New Yorker magazine. In his introduction Donald Hall showed his respect for Gilbert, his work, and his lifestyle saying that “rather than settling into tenure like the rest of us, Jack became a wanderer.”It would seem that Gilbert has very high standards for what the function of poetry is and would never take it as anything less than a very serious craft. An assumption supported by a line in the poem “Metier” that reads, “…I don’t write funny poems.” In John Freeman’s recent article about Gilbert in Poets & Writers Magazine he quotes him as declaring with irritation, “We don’t know how to savor things anymore. And I feel like publishing sometimes takes the joy out of poetry.” This statement offers superb insight into Jack Gilbert’s life style and also answers the question his story begs: Why has a man regarded as so great published so little? It also explains the care with which Gilbert read his poems to the audience at Silver.Although most of the pieces he shared could be found in the pages of his new book, he read them from white computer paper, just as any amateur might have. Perhaps a symbol that the important thing is the words and not the thing they are contained in. Gilbert read with an intense focus on each word. He read dutifully, as if he were the craft of the poetry and not the other way around. For any mistake of word, rhythm or concept that he made in his reading, Gilbert would begin the line again, until satisfied that the audience had witnessed it fully and properly.Refusing Heaven, like many collections of poetry, can be read as a sort of autobiographical tale of the poet. Also, most collections have a few themes, and each theme is represented by a cluster of poems. Both of these things may be true of Gilbert’s book but it somehow, counter-intuitively counteracts this format with the completeness of the story that each poem tells, and the only vaguely chronological order of things. To dare to read even one of the poems out loud is to take a gamble. Once one of the narrow paragraphed poems is allowed the dual experience of aural and verbal experience, it’s a brakeless ride down a steep slope. Only a couple poems in the book go on for more than one page, and if read aloud the meter of the verses and the rhythm of the themes will keep the pages turning regularly until the back cover is reached. The 87 poems in this book are sure to be referenced, cherished for a long time to come. Though Jack Gilbert the man will own no property when he dies, Jack Gilbert the poet will own a piece of us all as he continues for eternity.Jack Gilbert’s visit to Plymouth was part of the Eagle Pond Author Series. The next installment of which will be a reading by Donald Hall on Sunday April 24, 2005 at 3 p.m.