Poem-A-Day: Mountain Pines by Robinson Jeffers

December 28, 2013 Mountain Pines by Robinson Jeffers   In scornful upright loneliness they stand,  Counting themselves no kin of anything  Whether of earth or sky. Their gnarled roots cling  Like wasted fingers of a clutching hand  In the grim rock. A silent spectral band  They watch the old sky, but hold no communing  With aught. Only, when some lone eagle's wing  Flaps past above their grey and desolate land,  Or when the wind pants up a rough-hewn glen,  Bending them down as with an age of thought,  Or when, 'mid flying clouds that can not dull  Her constant light, the moon shines silver, then  They find a soul, and their dim moan is wrought  Into a singing sad and beautiful.      Today's poem is in the public domain. About This Poem  Jeffers brought a great knowledge of literature, religion, philosophy, language, myth, and science to his poetry. One of his favorite themes was the intense, rugged beauty of the landscape set in opposition to the degraded and introverted condition of modern man. Strongly influenced by Nietzsche's concepts of individualism, Jeffers believed that human beings had developed a self-centered view of the world, and felt passionately that they should learn to have greater respect for the rest of creation.  Poetry by Jeffers The Selected Poetry of Robinson Jeffers (Stanford University Press, 2002)              Poem-A-Day Launched during National Poetry Month in 2006, Poem-A-Day features new and previously unpublished poems by contemporary poets on weekdays and classic poems on weekends. Browse the Poem-A-Day Archive.     Robinson Jeffers was an American poet, born on January 10, 1887, in Pennsylvania. Jeffers is  remembered for his short verse poetry, much of which is set in the Carmel and Big Sur regions of central California. An icon of the environmental movement, Jeffers was influential and highly regarded, despite his inhumanism, a word he coined to express his belief that mankind is too indifferent to "the beauty of things." Jeffers lived in Carmel, California, for the majority of his adult life, and died there in 1962.   Related Poems How From Politeness to the Trees  by Cecily Parks  The Lemon Trees by Eugenio Montale  What Happened at the Service? by Prageeta Sharma  __________________________ Love reading Poem-A-Day? Help support it today.     Thanks for being a part of the Academy of American Poets community. To learn about other programs, including National Poetry Month, Poem in Your Pocket Day, the annual Poets Forum, and more, visit Poets.org.

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