The Distances (Masterplots II: Poetry, Revised Edition)
At a glance:
- Author: Charles Olson
- First Published: 1960
- Type of Work: Meditation
- Genres: Poetry, Meditation
- Subjects: Mythology or myths, France or French people, Love or romance, Alienation, Gods or goddesses, Human behavior, Loneliness, Greece or Greek people
The Poem
“The Distances” is a meditation on love and human alienation, but the poem does not present its argument or define its terms in a straightforward way. The poem begins, “So the distances are Galatea,” with the conjunction “so” suggesting that the reader has walked into the middle of a conversation. Something has been left out, and this is typical of Olson’s poetry—he often juxtaposes fragments so that the reader must draw the connections or attempt to fill in the blanks. The reader may wonder what kind of “distances” the speaker has in mind and how...
[The entire page is 1449 words long]
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