Does anyone have any recommendations for further reading/scholarship/criticism on Hart Crane? I love "The Air Plant," but I feel like I don't quite understand it. The last stanza in particular is where I'm struggling the most. (a little of my background: I studied a little of the modernists in college, but that's about it. I've read some Crane, but not very much and not for a long time.)
In the last stanza he's addressing the air plant itself. ("Angelic Dynamo! Ventriloquist of the Blue!") then imagining the air plant is almost like a grammatical object that the wind can attach conjunctions to. Only the hurricane can blow it away, but it will just land at a different location.
In 1927 HC wrote to Yvor Winters and included "The Air Plant" as part of his "Carib Suite" to get off the Bridge for a while.
You might find this essay I wrote interesting, where I looked into this issue of HC plagiarism:
!! Thank you so much for this reply! This helps. I still feel like I'm still not quite there with Crane, but then again, I often feel that way when I encounter a single poem without the benefit of having read more of the poet's work, you know? I haven't yet had the right experience for "the words [to] accumulate the necessary connotations to complete their connection," which is a perfect way of putting that; thank you for the link to his letters to Monroe! (Love that HC's response to Monroe's questions is to "counter a question [...] with a question"--that just made me laugh, it's like the most Poet possible thing he could've said.)
I think I'm also hung up on the line "While beachward creeps the shark-swept Spanish Main"--what's the "shark-swept Spanish Main" got to do with it? And why is the Spanish Main "shark-swept"? But perhaps I'm getting too distracted by curiosity here.
Thanks for the reminder to return to HC! Haven't thought about him in some time. And thank you for your essay as well, not surprisingly I've never heard of Samuel Greenberg, but that's really fascinating, if somewhat dismaying. And I love the Tom Lux poem at the end!
"Spanish Main" refers to parts of the Spanish Empire that were on the mainland of the Americas and had coastlines on the Caribbean Sea or Gulf of Mexico, such as Key West or Cuba. These places were and are "shark-swept." On April 27, 1932, Crane, while drunk, either jumped or was pushed off the steamship USS Orizaba and into the Gulf of Mexico and drowned or was eaten by sharks
All a pleasure to read. I esp. liked the Roberson, a poet new to me. Rexroth completely understands the kiss. Dickinson's last line astounds. Thank you.
Does anyone have any recommendations for further reading/scholarship/criticism on Hart Crane? I love "The Air Plant," but I feel like I don't quite understand it. The last stanza in particular is where I'm struggling the most. (a little of my background: I studied a little of the modernists in college, but that's about it. I've read some Crane, but not very much and not for a long time.)
HC is one of my favorite poets, but he can be very tricky. He got into a long debate through letters about this issue with Harriet Monroe, the editor of Poetry magazine (which you can read here: https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poetrymagazine/browse?volume=29&issue=1&page=46)
In the last stanza he's addressing the air plant itself. ("Angelic Dynamo! Ventriloquist of the Blue!") then imagining the air plant is almost like a grammatical object that the wind can attach conjunctions to. Only the hurricane can blow it away, but it will just land at a different location.
In 1927 HC wrote to Yvor Winters and included "The Air Plant" as part of his "Carib Suite" to get off the Bridge for a while.
You might find this essay I wrote interesting, where I looked into this issue of HC plagiarism:
https://seansinger.substack.com/p/craft-samuel-greenberg-did-hart-crane?utm_source=publication-search
!! Thank you so much for this reply! This helps. I still feel like I'm still not quite there with Crane, but then again, I often feel that way when I encounter a single poem without the benefit of having read more of the poet's work, you know? I haven't yet had the right experience for "the words [to] accumulate the necessary connotations to complete their connection," which is a perfect way of putting that; thank you for the link to his letters to Monroe! (Love that HC's response to Monroe's questions is to "counter a question [...] with a question"--that just made me laugh, it's like the most Poet possible thing he could've said.)
I think I'm also hung up on the line "While beachward creeps the shark-swept Spanish Main"--what's the "shark-swept Spanish Main" got to do with it? And why is the Spanish Main "shark-swept"? But perhaps I'm getting too distracted by curiosity here.
Thanks for the reminder to return to HC! Haven't thought about him in some time. And thank you for your essay as well, not surprisingly I've never heard of Samuel Greenberg, but that's really fascinating, if somewhat dismaying. And I love the Tom Lux poem at the end!
"Spanish Main" refers to parts of the Spanish Empire that were on the mainland of the Americas and had coastlines on the Caribbean Sea or Gulf of Mexico, such as Key West or Cuba. These places were and are "shark-swept." On April 27, 1932, Crane, while drunk, either jumped or was pushed off the steamship USS Orizaba and into the Gulf of Mexico and drowned or was eaten by sharks
Thank you for this explanation! I'm really glad I took the time to comment, and thank you for being so generous with your time as well.
Or I guess, alternately/additionally, would anyone like to puzzle over it with me?
All a pleasure to read. I esp. liked the Roberson, a poet new to me. Rexroth completely understands the kiss. Dickinson's last line astounds. Thank you.