Robert Bly was an American poet born in 1926. He passed away in November 2021 after a lifetime of literary accomplishments and activism. He won the 1968 National Book Award for his poetry collection The Light Around the Body. He is considered to be part of the “deep image” movement.
Robert Bly’s ‘Driving to Town Late to Mail a Letter’ is about a speaker who meditates upon snowy nature while driving to a town to mail his letter. It is filled with rich imagery and striking symbolism.
‘Snowfall in the Afternoon’ by Robert Bly is an interesting and multilayered poem. It uses natural imagery to describe a particular view of the world.
Published in Robert Bly’s award-winning collection, The Light Around the Body (1967), ‘The Great Society’ satirizes the set of domestic programs launched by Democratic President Lyndon Baines Johnson in 1964-65 by presenting contrasting imagery from contemporary American society.
‘The Yellow Dot,’ written in remembrance of poet Jane Kenyon, is about the inevitability of death and God’s despotic ruling over humankind. It was published in Robert Bly’s best-known collection, Morning Poems (1997).
Robert Bly’s ‘Waking from Sleep’ is a symbolic poem about the awakening from the deep slumber of ignorance and thralldom. It evokes the imagery of a “harbor at dawn” in order to present this theme.