“to feel
Greatly, and understand greatly, and express greatly, the natural
Beauty, is the sole business of poetry.”
This idea of beauty being connected to the concept of the sole business of poetry is a running theme throughout the poetry of Jeffers and even shows up using pretty much the same language elsewhere. Taken out of context somewhat with the comma being dropped and the introductory information deleted, many essays, analyses and critiques have been written on the subject of or even under the title of “Beauty is the Sole Business of Poetry.” But notice that here, at least, that is not necessarily what Jeffers is asserting. It is not the beauty itself that is the business of poetry, but the poet’s understanding of that beauty and ability to express it in verse. The quote is far less about the business of poetry, in reality, than the business of being a poet. That may be a fine distinction, but it is very much a distinction, nonetheless.
“Consider greatness.”
“Great Men” states its purpose in this opening line. Taking a break from his obsessive analysis of the natural world in an effort to understand and express its beauty, this is poem by Jeffers the social critic. He is very much a political poet, though not didactic. This is, after all, a man who wrote a number of poems in which Hitler shows up as a character either directly or referentially. In fact, it only takes to the end of the third line of this poem for Hitler to show up as an example of how one can only truly achieve some sort of connotation of greatness by developing a following of people who have universally come to the conclusion that you are great. As he notes a little later:
“No man standing alone has ever been great;
Except, most rarely, his will, passion or intellect
Have come to posthumous power”
This is the poem; a consideration of what it takes to be great. But not, it must be noted, a consideration of what actually constitutes greatness."
“Long, lovely, liquid, glorious
Is your hair, and lustrous,
Scented with summertime.”
This quote is significant for two reasons. One, it is an illustration of the poet’s directive to see and understand natural beauty in the world. Jeffers is a poet whose body of work overflows with poems about stars, rocks, birds and various other examples of the natural world in the sense of natural growth. But a woman’s hair is a natural growth as well, yet to fully plumb the potential for its beauty, it must be nurtured and tended to. The second significant aspect also relates back to the idea of finding beauty, but more specifically the admonition that finding it is not enough; the poet must also know how to express it when he see beauty. The first and last line of this excerpt contain what may well be the poet’s go-to poetic device: alliteration. His poems are abundant with words starting with the same letter or producing the same sound. This technique is an effective substitute for those who wish to avoid the rhyme. It is musical and allows the word choice to define in a precise and coherent way what it is about Helen’s hair that that makes it a thing of beauty.
“Be angry at the sun for setting
If these things anger you.”
Although these lines repeat the title, to fully understand them they must be understood in context of what “these things” refers to. Specifically: accepting that America must accept that its leaders are destined to lie to the public just like all countries which preceded, regardless of the form of government. He goes to declare this truism to a wheel turning as he expands the geopolitical landscape to include: “This republican, Europe, Asia.” Although seeming to be a condemnation of human nature, this is not the case. A follower of Nietzsche’s philosophical perspectives, the target of the outrage here is the herd as the poem comes to a close with a strong suggestion that though boys lust for pleasure and men for power and the servile for a leader to serve, “Yours is not theirs.” It is a confession of an ultimately optimistic view toward mankind while the advice in the quote above is well-reasoned and calculated, but almost certain to be misunderstood by a great many.
