Charles Wright’s poetry is most notably recognized by his longer poems that sprawl split stanzas and phrases across the page and in resemblance of the components and spaciousness of landscapes. Subject matter is often imaginative descriptions of the natural world with focus being upon Wright’s immediate sense during the composing of the poetry rather than recollections, presence of the here and now, but, also while incorporating subjective emotional states within the descriptions, which would include personal memories. Lastly to the compositions, Wright quietly adds philosophical concepts on language and time, Eastern and Western theological traditions, and death-- lots of death, as a working contrast to being, presence, creation, individuality, relationships, etc.

Wright’s general stylistic goal was to create poetry which could spread out with the breadth of Walt Whitman while also employing the conciseness of Emily Dickinson. While the critics and academics will have fun with this for some time to come, to an average reader, Wright has accomplished his goal as he simultaneously writes from an immense vision of being with the microcosm of the individual self. I would also add that there is a lot of Hopkins’ sprung rhythm bobbing along in Wright’s lines as well as a reliance upon visual imagery, giving a painterly aspect to his poems.

I’ve been reading Wright for sometime, but only his more recent books. So last week I decided to enter in his earlier collections. First was Country Music, Selected Early Poems (60‘s and 70‘s, preview available at google books), which didn’t grab me too much. Not that I had any specific problem with the poetry, but only that it lacked what has distinguished Wright as a major American poet, the lack of development endemic to any other poet in their less formed stages. Although, it was interesting to see the early beginnings of the concepts and styles which Wright later became known for. Next up was The World of the Ten Thousand Things, Poems 1980-1990 (preview not available at google books), which generally consists of the “Wright poem” (described above), although the language was not as sharp and imaginative as his collections from 1990 onward. In his most recent books, I really find he bends language into new realms, which brings an artistry to the poems that anyone can appreciate, as opposed to being limited to those that are aligned with his spirtual vision. From one of my favorite Wright poems, Buffalo Yoga:



Wind whirls, and dust flies up in eddies,
Flowers rise up and fall,
……………………trees buckle, and rise back up and fall.
Summer saddens and grows hot.

Bull snipe cackles in marsh mud.
Hawk corkscrews above the meadow,
………………………………............then dwindles out in the overcast.
Sun back, then swallowed for good.



Wright’s publications from the last 15 or years are widely available at any bookstore and samples of his poetry can be found at poets.org, the Poetry Foundation and Modern American Poetry.