
Season of Loss
Jim Barnes(Author)
Purdue University Press
Published on 30. January 1985
Book
Paperback/Softback
66 pages
978-0-911198-75-1 (ISBN)
Description
Bone Yard, the first section of this collection of poems by Jim Barnes, speaks heavily of the past - fictional and historical. A bone yard is a place where bleached relics speak to those who have an attuned ear. The richness of place - landscape, weather, individuals - together with the speaker's own particular use of language grabs hold of our memory, of our sense of loss, and we are there. Dog Days, the second section, through its title, suggests a stagnation, heavy days when there is little movement of body and soul. Many of the poems bear this out. But the stagnation is not total, only periodic. The extreme joy that ends "Dirge," for example, speaks far beyond the despair that is felt by the persona through most of the poem. Memory of the past, knowledge of what has been, affirmation of the loss - these stand as tangibles with which the persona would shore himself against the threatening waves of extinction. Significantly, he says in "Heartland," with a slight nod to Robert Frost, "there is something that will not let / a space be given solely to grass. / The aura holds . . .
Reviews / Votes
The success of A Season of Loss. Jim Barnes' third volume of poetry, lies in his ability to be part of two worlds. As a Choctaw Indian he is aware of Native American history and beliefs. As a college professor he is also influenced by the traditions and convention of English literature . . . .This is a poet who is trying to make his work accessible without compromising the language . . . . Barnes has a unique and strong voice that deserves to be heard."-Oberlin ReviewMore details
Language
English
Place of publication
West Lafayette
United States
Target group
College/higher education
Professional and scholarly
Dimensions
Height: 229 mm
Width: 152 mm
Thickness: 7 mm
Weight
172 gr
ISBN-13
978-0-911198-75-1 (9780911198751)
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Schweitzer Classification
Person
Jim Barnes is author of four other collections of poems: A Season of Loss, The American Book of the Dead, The Fish on Poteau Mountain, and This Crazy Land. In 1980, Colombia University awarded him a translation prize for Summons and Sign: Poems by Dagmar Nick. Barnes is also editor of The Chariton Review.