Who was Charles Olson?

Charles Olson (1910-1970) was an American poet and literary theorist associated with the Black Mountain poets. He is often credited with using the term postmodern to describe postwar American poetry. Olson joined the faculty of Black Mountain College in 1947, eventually serving as rector until its closure in 1957. His landmark essay, "Projective Verse" (1950), described poetry as energy transferred from the poet to the reader. Olson used the duration of a human breath as the measure of a poetic line. His magnum opus was The Maximus Poems .

What kind of poetry did Charles Olson write?

Charles Olson is credited with coining the term postmodern to describe postwar American poetry, though the honor may belong to Randall Jarrell. Olson moved beyond the subjectivism and symbolism of Romantic and late 19th-century poetry, which he considered artificial. He also moved beyond the Modernism of poets such as Ezra Pound and T.S. Eliot, whose work Olson felt was too dependent upon European tradition. Olson developed the concept of "Projective Verse," where poetry becomes energy transferred from the poet to the reader. Rejecting conventional poetic meter, Olson advocated for an "open field" that organically emerges from the poem’s content and the poet’s interaction with their environment. He used the duration of a human breath as the measure of a poetic line. His major work, The Maximus Poems , exemplifies his projective poetics.

What is Charles Olson best known for in the world of poetry?

Charles Olson is best known for his association with the Black Mountain poets and for significantly influencing the generation of American poets after World War II. He is widely credited with using the term postmodern to discuss American poetry. Olson developed "projective verse," believing poetry should be energy transferred from the poet to the reader. He proposed an "open field" that organically "projects" from the poem’s content and used the duration of a human breath as the measure of a poetic line. His magnum opus, The Maximus Poems , embodies his projective poetics. Olson's other works include In Cold Hell, in Thicket (1953), The Distances (1960), and Letters for Origin, 1950–1956 (1969).

What is 'projective verse,' and how did Charles Olson use this idea?

"Projective verse," as defined in Charles Olson's 1950 essay, is poetry as "energy transferred from where the poet got it" to the reader. Olson distinguished this "open field" composition from conventional "closed form" poetry. He believed the poem should organically project from the poet’s perception as an integral part of their immediate environment. Olson used the duration of a human breath as the measure of a poetic line, conveying a poet’s vital energy. His magnum opus, The Maximus Poems , exemplifies his projective poetics through letter poems and ruminations attributed to “Maximus of Gloucester,” Olson’s alter ego.

How did Charles Olson influence other poets and writers?

Charles Olson significantly impacted the poets of the 1950s and 1960s. His "projective poetics" inspired the Black Mountain poets , including Robert Duncan and Robert Creeley, who taught and studied at Black Mountain College . Olson's influence extended to experimental poets like Denise Levertov, who was published in The Black Mountain Review , and Beat poets Allen Ginsberg and Michael McClure. Olson's poetics, drawing from mythology, Gloucester's history, and Alfred North Whitehead's process philosophy, connected poetic creation to human existence. His landmark essay, "Projective Verse" (1950), described poetry as "energy transferred from where the poet got it" to the reader, advocating for an "open field" that organically "projects" from the poem’s content, using the duration of a human breath as the measure of a poetic line.

What are some important works written by Charles Olson, and what themes do they explore?

Charles Olson gained recognition for Call Me Ishmael (1947), analyzing the literary influences on Melville’s Moby Dick . His landmark essay, "Projective Verse" (1950), introduced his theory that poetry is energy transferred from the poet to the reader. Olson's magnum opus, The Maximus Poems (1960, 1968, 1975, published as a whole in 1983), embodies his "projective poetics," comprising letter poems and reflections by "Maximus of Gloucester," Olson’s alter ego. Olson's work drew from mythology, Gloucester's history and geography, and Alfred North Whitehead's process philosophy. He moved beyond the subjectivism and symbolism of Romantic and 19th-century poetry, as well as the Modernism of Ezra Pound and T.S. Eliot, who he felt relied too heavily on European tradition.

Charles Olson

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In full:: Charles John Olson

Born:: December 27, 1910, Worcester, Massachusetts, U.S.

Died:: January 10, 1970, New York, New York (aged 59)

Notable Works:: “A Nation of Nothing but Poetry: Supplementary Poems”; “Collected Prose”; “The Distances”; “In Cold Hell, in Thicket”; “Letters for Origin, 1950-1956”; “Projective Verse”; “The Maximus Poems”

Movement / Style:: Black Mountain poets

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Charles Olson

American poet

Also known as: Charles John Olson

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Matt Stefon

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History

Background and education

Olson was born into a working-class family. He spent summers with his parents in the seaside city of Gloucester, Massachusetts, which would later become both his adopted hometown and the inspiration for much of his work. He was educated at Wesleyan University (B.A. 1932; M.A. 1933) in Middletown, Connecticut. He taught at Clark University in his native Worcester, Massachusetts, for two years. In 1936 he entered Harvard University, teaching while completing coursework toward a Ph.D. He left three years later after receiving a Guggenheim Fellowship to expand his M.A. thesis on Herman Melville into a book. During World War II Olson worked in the Office of War Information; he left government work in 1944, disgruntled with party politics.

The Black Mountain movement and “Projective Verse”

Olson first gained recognition for Call Me Ishmael (1947), a reworked version of his previous study of the literary influences on Melville’s Moby Dick. About that time Olson joined the faculty of Black Mountain College, an experimental liberal arts school in Black Mountain, North Carolina, that housed such innovative figures as the architect R. Buckminster Fuller and the composer John Cage. Olson served first as an instructor and then as rector until the college closed in 1957. Afterward he devoted much of his life to his craft, living primarily in Gloucester while occasionally accepting visiting professorships at various institutions, including the State University of New York at Buffalo (now called the University at Buffalo) and the University of Connecticut at Storrs.

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Illustration of "The Lamb" from "Songs of Innocence" by William Blake, 1879. poem; poetry

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A Study of Poetry

Olson is often credited with coining the term postmodern in reference to postwar American poetry, although that honor likely belongs to the poet Randall Jarrell. Whatever the origin of the term, Olson clearly heralded an American poetry that was “postmodern” in the sense that its authors moved beyond not only the subjectivism and symbolism of Romantic and late 19th-century poetry, which he thought was artificial, but also beyond the Modernism of American poets such as Ezra Pound (who greatly influenced Olson and corresponded with him) and T.S. Eliot, whose work Olson felt was too dependent upon European tradition.

“A poem is energy transferred from where the poet got it (he will have some several causations), by way of the poem itself to, all the way over to, the reader.”—from “Projective Verse” (1950) by Charles Olson

In developing his poetics, Olson drew from a wide array of influences, including mythology, the history and geography of Gloucester, and the process philosophy of Alfred North Whitehead. Olson believed that the act of poetic creation should be connected to a primordial dimension of human existence. He wrote in his landmark essay “Projective Verse” (1950) that poetry was a form of “energy transferred from where the poet got it” to the reader. In distinction from the “closed form” of conventional poetic meter, Olson proposed an “open field” that “projects” organically from the poem’s content—i.e., the perception of the poet who interacts with and yet is an integral part of the poet’s immediate environment. Olson used the duration of a human breath, a basic human function that conveyed a poet’s vital energy, as the measure of a poetic line. His magnum opus and testament to his projective poetics was The Maximus Poems (various volumes published in 1960, 1968, and 1975; first published as a whole in 1983), a long work comprising letter poems and ruminations attributed to “Maximus of Gloucester,” Olson’s alter ego.

Olson exerted tremendous influence on the poets of the 1950s and ’60s. His projective poetics was an inspiration to the so-called Black Mountain poets—a loose movement of teachers, such as Robert Duncan and Robert Creeley, and students at Black Mountain College—as well as other experimental poets such as Denise Levertov, who was published in The Black Mountain Review (which Creeley edited), and also Beat poets Allen Ginsberg and Michael McClure.

Other works

Among Olson’s works apart from The Maximus Poems are In Cold Hell, in Thicket (1953), The Distances (1960), and Letters for Origin, 1950–1956 (1969). Posthumous collections of Olson’s work include A Nation of Nothing but Poetry: Supplementary Poems, edited by George F. Butterick (2000), and Collected Prose, edited by Donald Allen and Benjamin Friedlander (1997).

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