Of Robinson Jeffers

My engagement with Jeffers began with his short form works. These single-paged poems are overflowing with allusion to the final reconciliation of reality: physics.

The key to reading Jeffers is calibrating to the time horizon of his thought. He illuminates the sublime—a simultaneous pairing of the wonder and disorientation of existence—in his presentation of the finite facing the infinite; the man-devouring stars. His poems span epochs, the fiery birth and blackened death of planets and suns.

Interest is recursive, where a single poem resulted in my reading his selected poems in erratic order; to a biography; to a longer format of his selected works. Where "that on which we focus grows", my interest with Jeffers was primed for a visit.

Stone, wood, glass; the elements of Tor House. I retraced his steps from the shore up the hill and studied his volumes for a glimpse into his influences. His prose introductions to his works provided needed context for the further understanding of his works; in my view, his dedication to not telling lies in verse; the most remarkable aspect of the man.

"Remember that truth is the greatest thing in the world. If you will be great, you will be true." — Jack London

I read his works where he wrote them and perceived the endless cycle of Carmel-by-the-Sea with the waves below and the sun above.

My second visit months later afforded solitude in the cottage, and a deeper dive into the letters and environment of the Tor House. Surrounded by modernity, the property upholds moments of the pristine condition which Robinson and Una found themselves at the start. These mere seconds are enough to imagine the years of stillness. I drove south in the night, a retreat from the light pollution, to stare above at the endless skies, trying to avoid being devoured.

"Not at home before 4pm", reads the sign at the base floor of Hawk Tower. As the village grew, so did the noise of society. Robinson and Una experienced California's coast in simplicity and solitude, elements of which are included with all that is, and eroded with time. A visit to Tor House is distinctly American, which is, influenced by cultures worldwide. The scattered artifacts represent the diversity of thought expressed from the mind of Robinson.

Through his form, and resulting from his familiarity with antiquity, I believe Jeffers met his objective in reclaiming old freedoms, and for this reader, has laid bare the puzzling structure of reality and presented his thesis to be proved with time: where art fails, nature remains.