"I have always sought a poetry that . . . can include the public events of our time and do so in a way that makes them at once contemporary and unavoidably linked with humanity's long and troubled history."--John Haines, Preface Poet and essayist John Haines has forged, in his long career a body of work noted both for its austere lyric beauty, anchored in the solitude and spaciousness of his early years as a homesteader in the Alaskan wilderness, and for its penetrating responsiveness to the human condition. The generous selection of poems in For the Century's End conveys, in form and substance, the singular and exhilarating power of Haines's poetry of the past decade, underscoring his role as one of the major writers of our time. "I am the one who touches fire,/ who rakes the leaves to watch them burn," Haines writes in his introductory poem. This subtle yet vivid juxtaposition of the temporal and eternal is characteristic of the book's method and unwavering passion. Organized into five sections, the poems in each group arc from the mythic to the personal, as does the central, twelve-part poem "In the House of Wax." Their journey incorporates both anguish over the state of the present-day world, and an abiding, forward-looking spiritual resolve. Individual poems deal with subjects as wide ranging as the cave petroglyphs of the ancient Chumash Indian culture of southern California to contemporary explorations of outer space and our attempts to find some new ground in the solar system. Throughout, Haines taps into an ancient environmental wisdom that links us all.

For the Century's End: Poems 1990-1999 (The Pacific Northwest Poetry Series)

Literature & Fiction

Haines, John Meade

Poetry

Univ of Washington Pr

Other Days

Graywolf Press

New Poems: 1980-88

A collection of poetry by the naturalist, poet, and critic offers a unique vision of wilderness, the United States, and the world

Story Line Press

Rain country

Mad River Press

The author describes the joys and hardships of homesteading on the Alaskan wilderness

The Stars, the Snow, the Fire: Twenty-Five Years in the Alaska Wilderness (Graywolf Memoir)

Biographies & Memoirs

Professionals & Academics

A collection of poems taken from the author's eight previous books looks at humans' relationship with each other and with the natural world

The Owl in the Mask of the Dreamer: Collected Poems

Fables and Distances showcases the full spectrum of the genius of John Haines. Through essays and letters, he reflects on the craft and value of poetry, the arts and their influence in public life, the creative spirit in art and literature, and wilderness and nature. Together, these pieces act as an homage and tribute to this singular force in literature.

Fables and Distances: New and Selected Essays

Essays & Correspondence

In this wilderness classic, the quintessential Alaskan frontiersman relates his experiences from over twenty years as a homesteader. As New York Newsday has said of his work, If Alaska had not existed, Haines might well have invented it.

The Stars, the Snow, the Fire: Twenty-Five Years in the Alaska Wilderness

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Books by Haines, John Meade