The myth of nature in Robinson Jeffers’ inhumanist poetry
The myth of nature in Robinson Jeffers’ inhumanist poetry

Summary/Abstract: The present article attempts to explore both theory and practice of Robinson Jeffers’ inhumanist nature poetry. Jeffers’ ideas (presented mostly on the basis Jeffers’ original preface to his 1948 volume of poetry The Double Axe) are placed in the context of Joseph Hillis Miller’s concept of “the poetry of reality.” Miller’s chief contention was that the poetry of reality embraced reality and focused on things as they are, which constituted a radical break from the nineteenth century forms and ideas, shaped by romantic dualism (mind vs. body, spirit vs matter, ego vs. the world). Since Miller emphasizes the ethical dimension of this way of writing, various controversies related to Jeffers’ moral position cannot be omitted from discussion. This problem will be discussed in the context of Czesław Miłosz’s critique of Jeffers’ poetry. The article discusses to what extent Jeffers’ nature poetry fulfills the criteria of Miller’s poetry of reality. I conclude that rather than write about nature without imposing any ideas on it, Jeffers creates a powerful myth which is clearly a projection of human desires.

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