Robert Bly’s status as a literary legend cannot be overstated. He is Minnesota’s first Poet Laureate, and has published numerous books, including poetry, translations, essays and anthologies. You may have heard of his book Iron John: A Book About Men, possibly the seminal tome of the men’s movement (yes, that Robert Bly). His latest is a book of poetry, Talking into the Ear of a Donkey, and on this occasion he appeared Monday, May 9 at Plymouth Congregational Church in Minneapolis as part of the Literary Witnesses reading series. The evening was co-sponsored by The Loft Literary Center, with book sales by Birchbark Books.
The church with choir loft holds about 1200 people, and for this performance, it was about three-quarters full. The crowd was reverent at times, and appreciative always. The 84-year-old poet invites audience participation, often asking at the end of a particularly wise line, “Is this true?” At one point the response was weak, after the line “Everywhere people are longing for a deeper life,” and Bly repeated, “Is this true?” And then, “If it’s true, say yes!”
He was introduced at the beginning by long-time friend and poet Louis Jenkins. Bly walked slowly to the center chair and seated himself. Slowly, the crowd rose and ended up greeting him with a wonderful standing ovation. This would be repeated at the end of the evening. Check the On Books blog by Laurie Hertzel for a snippet of video from last night.
The evening was framed and threaded through with a soundtrack of tabla and sitar, with Marcus Wise on tabla and David Whetstone on sitar. They have been playing with Bly for at least 30 years (at one point they were trying to determine how long, but the result was not definitive). It’s clear they have a rapport, picking up on cues from Bly to go slower or play softer. A given poem will be greeted with a given drumbeat. All Bly has to do is say the name. Bly sweetly enjoyed the music, bobbing his head in time and waving his hand to the beat, tapping his leg, or sometimes just watching the musicians play for a moment. At one point he claimed, “Anybody’s poetry would sound good with this [music].”
Bly may be a legend, but he is not above self-deprecating humor. He started the evening reading from some of his favorite Indian poets, saying, “I have to read my heroes before I read anything of my own.” Then, “Well, we have to be stuck with my poems now, I guess,” as the audience clamored to hear them. While reading from the poem “I Have Daughters and I Have Sons,” he stopped to turn the page. As he paused, the audience broke into applause (the evening was punctuated by applause between almost every poem). He said, “Maybe I should have quit there, but I went on.” And without missing a beat, he continued reading the poem.
As you might expect from a poet, Bly relishes the play of words. Lines like this, from “Starting a Poem” – “This word has relatives” – explain how the words take over your life, like a marriage. And repeating the line, “When the words all agree to point in the same direction,” underscores what a wonderful thing that is. He often repeated a line that he felt was strong, such as, “Marriage brings the moth close to the candle flame,” from “My Sentence Was a Thousand Years of Joy,” then saying, “Mmmm. That’s a good line,” and reading it again.
You’d be hard pressed to find a bad line. His poetry evokes visuals, but it is the lyrical quality that makes it stand out, and he recognizes that. He repeated a line, “Love audible in water falling,” because it had “great vowels.” He played with ways to read, employing a brogue-y inflection reminiscent of Tolkien at times, emphasizing the best lines by repetition and reading a poem with and without the musical accompaniment, just to see how it sounded. Watching Robert Bly read for an evening is one of the best ways I can think of to enjoy poetry. While he may think the music can make anybody’s poetry sound good, the truth is that Bly reading a poem can make nearly any poem sound good.
The Literary Witnesses reading series is curated by volunteer James Lenfestey (editor of Low Down and Coming On) and features many writers of national acclaim. Past visitors have included Ted Kooser, Gary Snyder and many others. The next Literary Witnesses event will welcome Bill Moyers in June. The events are always free and open to the public.
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