Historical Context
The concept of personal enlightenment through theology is not a recent phenomenon in America. As early as the nineteenth century, various Oriental religious sects began weaving themselves into the fabric of the United States. Buddhism made its entrance when two priests arrived in San Francisco in 1898, establishing a foothold on the West Coast that has since spread nationwide. In 1893, Hinduism crossed the ocean with Swami Vivekananda, who showcased its tenets at the World’s Parliament of Religions in Chicago. The Self-Realization Fellowship, a more accessible interpretation of Hinduism, emerged in 1920, advocating for the empowerment of individuals through peace of mind and robust health. The 1960s witnessed a resurgence of interest in Hinduism, particularly among the counterculture youth, drawn by the teachings of Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, who captivated thousands as the head of the International Meditation Society. Meanwhile, Bahaism, a less recognized theology with roots in the nineteenth century, proposed the formation of a universal religion. Its leaders draw from the wisdom of Christianity, Judaism, and Islam, emphasizing the unifying themes of these great traditions. Today, despite the diverse array of sects embraced by Americans of both Eastern and non-Eastern origins, Zen Buddhism stands out as the most popular among a wide demographic.
Zen Buddhism, a branch that sprouted in Japan after Buddhism migrated from India to China, spreading across Asia over two millennia ago, remained largely in the Far East for centuries. Yet, contemporary times have witnessed an expansive spread across the globe. The allure it held for young Americans, among them Hirshfield, in the 1960s and 1970s, who flocked to California to delve into its teachings, likely stemmed from Zen's profound philosophy of personal transformation and achieving harmony with the universe. Central to Zen is the practice of deep meditation, often embraced in solitude, though Zen centers bring together large groups for communal meditation. Many adherents, whether they consider it a religion or a philosophy, commit to lifelong meditation practices. Others, like Hirshfield, dedicate substantial periods, such as eight years, to Zen study before incorporating its lessons into their daily existence. Zen's influence permeates the actions and words of its practitioners, from the smallest chores to pivotal life choices, free from philosophical jargon or dogma. Indeed, it is Zen's absence of rigid doctrine that attracts many Americans, seeking personal insight amidst the socio-political and emotional upheaval of the late twentieth and early twenty-first centuries. This quest for understanding does not necessarily reject traditional worship or belief in a higher power but rather seeks deeper personal realization in turbulent times.
Given that the U.S. Census Bureau no longer tracks religious affiliation, precise numbers of Buddhists in America during the late 1990s remain elusive. Nevertheless, the allure of Zen Buddhism has been unmistakable, with current estimates ranging between two and three million practitioners. Amidst presidential scandals, ongoing Middle Eastern conflicts, volatile stock market fluctuations, and sensational murder cases splashed across nightly news—from a football icon to a young beauty queen—the final decade of the twentieth century left many yearning for spiritual solace and intellectual clarity. For some, this manifested in strengthened family ties and a return to traditional church attendance. For others, it meant pausing to reflect and cherish life's fundamental values. While many turned to Christianity and Judaism, others found solace in Zen Buddhism, Islam, or less conventional sects, as well as in personalized approaches to understanding the world around them. Although Hirshfield penned “Three Times My Life Has Opened” and other poems for The Lives of the Heart before the September 11, 2001 tragedy, the yearning for peace of mind and personal enlightenment remains as crucial today—perhaps...
(This entire section contains 603 words.)
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even more so.
Literary Style
Unveiling the Art of Free Verse
Hirshfield's deft hand crafts contemporary free verse, weaving lines that seamlessly straddle the boundary between prose and poetry. "Three Times My Life Has Opened" defies conventional meter and rhyme, yet it resonates with vivid imagery and artfully placed pauses, imbuing it with a compelling poetic essence. Each image cloaked in mystery tends to elude full comprehension, yet it sparks vivid visions and captivates the imagination. As a result, ten different eyes might envision ten distinct scenes when pondering a life unfolding "into darkness and rain" or "the fire that holds all," yet all ten experience a vivid tapestry of images.
Hirshfield masterfully employs tangible images of a maple tree nearing the end of autumn, its leaves either fallen or fluttering to earth as winter looms. Here, ten observers are likely unified in their mental portrayal, as this is a scene familiar to many. Similarly, the imagery of a woman gently releasing her silk lingerie to the floor and a lone crimson leaf reemerging in spring, having endured the biting winter, is stark and contrasts beautifully with the more cryptic elements.
At times, free verse poetry leans on enjambment to achieve a stylistic flourish, allowing thoughts to flow from one line to the next without a pause. Yet, Hirshfield punctuates nearly half the lines with full stops, crafting concise sentences and frequent intermissions. When read aloud, each pause orchestrates a slow, deliberate rhythm, almost meditative in its cadence. Although lacking a defined metric structure, the poet effectively echoes its influence, guiding readers to extract the poem's full depth and resonance.
Media Adaptations
In the year 1999, the eloquent Bill Moyers embarked on a journey to capture the voices and wisdom of eleven poets, all of whom graced the 1998 Geraldine R. Dodge Poetry Festival held in the charming Waterloo Village, New Jersey. These conversations and readings, meticulously woven into a series of nine videocassettes, each running a precise twenty-seven minutes, are collectively titled Sounds of Poetry. This creative endeavor comes to life under the banner of Public Affairs Televisions, Inc. Among the luminous poets featured are the celebrated Hirshfield, the profound Lucille Clifton, the venerable Stanley Kunitz, and the former U.S. Poet Laureate, Robert Pinsky, along with several others.
In a distinct recording, Hirshfield lent her voice to over twenty-five of her poems, drawn from three of her collections. This forty-eight-minute tape, succinctly titled Reader: Jane Hirshfield, was captured in 1995 and can be accessed through the esteemed Poetry Center and American Poetry Archives at San Francisco State University. For those eager to explore further, detailed information is available online at http://www.sfsu.edu/~poetry/ (last accessed June 13, 2002).
Bibliography and Further Reading
Sources
Bolick, Katie, “Some Place Not Yet Known: An Interview with Jane Hirshfield,” in Atlantic Unbound, http://www .theatlantic.com/unbound/bookauth/jhirsh.htm (September 18, 1997; last accessed: March 19, 2002).
Harris, Peter, “About Jane Hirshfield,” in Ploughshares, Vol. 24, No. 1, Spring 1998, pp. 199–205.
Hoey, Adam, “Hirshfield, Jane (B.),” in Contemporary Women Poets, St. James Press, 1998, pp. 166–68.
Hirshfield, Jane, The Lives of the Heart, HarperCollins, 1997.
—, “The Myriad Leaves of Words,” in Nine Gates: Entering the Mind of Poetry, HarperCollins, 1997, pp. 82–106.
—, “Poetry and the Mind of Indirection,” in Nine Gates: Entering the Mind of Poetry, HarperCollins, 1997, pp. 107–26.
Kaufman, Ellen, Review of The Lives of the Heart, in Library Journal, Vol. 122, No. 16, October 1, 1997, p. 86.
Moore, Judith, “Jane Hirshfield in Conversation with Judith Moore,” in Poetry Daily, Poetry Daily Association, 2002.
Seaman, Donna, Review of The Lives of the Heart, in Booklist, Vol. 94, No. 1, 1997, p. 53.
Whipple, Elizabeth, “Writers Talk about the Literary Life,” in Library Journal, Vol. 122, No. 10, June 1, 1997, p. S18.
Further Reading
Brown, Kurt, ed., Facing the Lion: Writers on Life and Craft, Beacon Press, 1996. This is a collection of recorded lectures given by poets and fiction writers at various writing conferences across the country, including one by Hirshfield. The editor saw fit to title the entire collection after Hirshfield’s “Facing the Lion: The Way of Shadow and Light in Some Twentieth-Century Poems,” as it metaphorically addresses the “lions” that many writers face in trying to make language as effective and important as possible.
Hirshfield, Jane, Given Sugar, Given Salt, HarperCollins, 2001. This is Hirshfield’s latest poetry collection, and, like those before it, the work has been praised for its accessibility to all readers as well as its richness in imagery and creative insights. It reads almost as a continuation to The Lives of the Heart.
—, Nine Gates: Entering the Mind of Poetry, Harper- Collins, 1997. Published at the same time as The Lives of the Heart, this collection of essays by Hirshfield makes a useful “companion piece” to the poetry book. The essays provide detailed insight into her “ideas about the art of poetry and its workings,” as she describes in the preface.
—, ed., Women in Praise of the Sacred: 43 Centuries of Spiritual Poetry by Women, HarperCollins, 1994. This collection includes poems, prayers, and songs by women throughout history from a wide variety of religious backgrounds. Hirshfield provides biographies and insightful commentary to accompany the poems, and her selection of poets serves to illuminate the values she incorporates in her own work.
