Collected Poems: With Notes Toward the Memoirs

by Djuna Barnes, Phillip Herring (Editor), Osias Stutman (Editor)

This groundbreaking edition compiles many of the late unpublished works of American writer Djuna Barnes (1892?1982). Because she published only seven poems and a play during the last forty years of her life, scholars believed Barnes wrote almost nothing during this period. But at the time of her death her apartment was filled with multiple drafts of unpublished poetry and notes toward her memoirs, both included here for the first time. Best known for her tragic lesbian novel Nightwood , Barnes has always been considered a crucial modernist. Her later poetry will only enhance this reputation as it shows her remarkable evolution from a competent young writer to a deeply intellectual poet in the metaphysical tradition. With the full force of her biting wit and dramatic flair, Barnes’s autobiographical notes describe the expatriate scene in Paris during the 1920s, including her interactions with James Joyce and Gertrude Stein and her intimate recollections of T. S. Eliot. These memoirs provide a rare opportunity to experience the intense personality of this complex and fascinating poet.

Genres: Poetry

306 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2004

About the author

Djuna Barnes was an artist, illustrator, journalist, playwright, and poet associated with the early 20th-century Greenwich Village bohemians and the Modernist literary movement.

Barnes has been cited as an influence by writers as diverse as Truman Capote, William Goyen, Isak Dinesen, John Hawkes, and Anaïs Nin. Bertha Harris described her work as "practically the only available expression of lesbian culture we have in the modern western world" since Sappho.

Barnes played an important part in the development of 20th century English language modernist writing and was one of the key figures in 1920s and 30s bohemian Paris after filling a similar role in the Greenwich Village of the teens. Her novel Nightwood became a cult work of modern fiction, helped by an introduction by T. S. Eliot. It stands out today for its portrayal of lesbian themes and its distinctive writing style. Since Barnes's death, interest in her work has grown and many of her books are back in print.

Reviews

[Laura Taltavull · Rating 4 out of 5]

Llegir na Djuna és el més proper a presenciar un miracle o a estar hipnotitzat; por, certesa i dubte. M'entreg amb ella al llarg viatge a la nit perquè també som una nina petita que cau de cara a terra mentre juga, som l'abandonada i la que abandona, qui desitja a Déu i qui li reclama.

[Lucas Sierra · Rating 2 out of 5]

OBRA EN CURSO: RITO DE PRIMAVERA

El hombre no puede purgarse de su tema
Como puede el gusano de seda con la fluida hebra
Hilar un sudario para re-considerarse en él. (96)

Por algún motivo, Djuna Barnes aparecía en mi memoria como una deuda. No sé de dónde, no sé por qué. Quizás, en realidad, el engaño consistía en haber visto su nombre anteriormente, y que la combinación atípica de D y J causase impresión duradera.

En esta, su Poesía reunida no he encontrado espacio para resonar. Pocos ecos quedan después de su lectura y es probable que el olvido cultive y recoja frutos intensos. Siento, siguiendo la estela de T. S. Eliot, una poesía cargada de símbolos religiosos, incubada para ser descifrada. Por otra parte, a diferencia de Eliot, creo que en Barnes el símbolo, la comprensión del símbolo, es necesaria para la experiencia del poema. Ahí un primer problema: no creo que sea necesario comprender para admirar, y la literatura debe ser, ante todo, una experiencia estética (quizás niegue esto luego, poco importa).

El hermetismo, aquí, no oculta sólo el significado, sino que se vale de significantes toscos, poco efectivos, comunes y gastados. Por momentos, mientras avanzaba en la lectura, me encontraba pensando en Gonzalo Arango y el primer nadaismo: necesidad de escandalizar, figurativismo del ritual religioso, y poco más.

Tal vez, en una relectura, encuentre nuevos brillos entre la reiterativa poesía de Barnes. Pero me tomaré mi tiempo, largo, antes de releer.

[Kevin Andrés Garnica Mojica · Rating 5 out of 5]

magnífico.