Tristram

by Edwin Arlington Robinson

1927. Robinson was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for poetry three times in the 1920's, a record exceeded only by Robert Frost. Tristram is the third of Robinson's long Arthurian-related poems, preceded by Merlin and Lancelot. See other titles by this author available from Kessinger Publishing.

Genres: Poetry

212 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1927

About the author

Works of American poet Edwin Arlington Arlington include long narratives and character studies of New Englanders, including "Miniver Cheevy" (1907).

Edwin Arlington Robinson won three Pulitzer Prizes for his work. His family moved to Gardiner, Maine, in 1870. He described his childhood as "stark and unhappy."

Early difficulties of Robinson led to a dark pessimism, and his stories dealt with "an American dream gone awry."

In 1896, he self-published his first book, "The Torrent and the Night Before", paying 100 dollars for 500 copies. His second volume, "The Children of the Night", had a somewhat wider circulation.

Edwin Arlington Robinson won the Pulitzer Prize for poetry in 1922 for his first "Collected Poems," in 1925 for "The Man Who Died Twice," and in 1928 for "Tristram."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edwin_Ar...

Reviews

[Illiterate · Rating 4 out of 5]

A naturalistic version of the legend. Love and/as fate disrupts stability and/as tranquility - a storm at sea.

[Lauren · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved this old, forgotten work of poetry that I found, nearly hidden, in a corner of a labyrinthine used bookshop. It's not for everyone - I can imagine Tristram being described by some as sickeningly sentimental, overly dramatic. And certainly, Tristram evokes the hopeless romanticism of the 1920s that seems to haunt similar relics of the time period (here's to the Greta Garbo and Erich von Stroheim silents!). But, as I've always been one of those hopeless romantics chasing after the ghosts of psyche past, I adored this retelling of the Arthurian Tristram and Iseult. This is a tale of love and fate - fate that simultaneously gives one wings and places one in a cage (- albeit a 'golden' one).

I was particularly captivated by how Robinson tells of both sides - we know what it is to be on the inside, to be Tristram and Isolt, but also to be an outsider, always watching and never understanding the tragedy of great love. This aspect in particular, I think, makes this work still breathtaking a century later because experiencing a passionate romance is a deeply held wish-fantasy for many. I'm reminded of James Hillman who once cautioned that love is not, in fact, about fulfillment, safety and satisfaction but rather painful vulnerability, terrible hunger and heartbreak. What gets sacrificed in love is love- as TS Eliot said, "Costing no less than everything".

To those who insist that Robinson's Tristram is nothing but turgid sentimentality, I paraphrase King Mark, uncle to Tristram, husband of Isolt, and the supposed antagonist of this story: perhaps you do not know these darknesses.

And for us hopeless romantics:
"I am not one
Who must have everything, yet I must have
My dreams if I must live, for they are mine.
Wisdom is not one word and then another,
Till words are like dry leaves under a tree;
Wisdom is like a dawn that comes up slowly
Out of an unknown ocean."

[Bryan Lucas · Rating 5 out of 5]

I always am led to my next read in the most unexpected ways. I discovered this book, because of the last book I read: Aldo Leopold’s A Sand County Almanac. In it, he quotes a line from Tristram that seems to sum up Leopold’s own views on conservationism and mankind:
“Whether you will it or not
You are a king, Tristram, for you are one
Of the time-tested few that leave the world
When they are gone, not the same place as it was.
Mark what you leave. “

This really stuck with me and I had never heard of Edwin Arlington Robinson. But boy am I glad I have now.
This little book spoke to me on so many levels. From my love of Arthurian lore, to his sensational poetry and word choice. Its a beautifully crafted and haunting take on the tale.

One of my favorite passages:
“If we had seen,
If we had known — when there was all that time!
But no, there’s nothing in that. We have known since then
All that we know today. Was it enough?
How shall we measure and weigh these lives of ours?
You said once that whatever it is that fills
Life up, and feels that full, it is not time.
You told my story when you said that to me,
But what of yours? Was it enough, Tristram?
Was it enough to fly so far away
From time that first season time forgot us?
You said so, once. Was it too much to say?”

[Robert · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is my first book-length poem - and I'm very surprised to find that I like it quite a lot. Robinson won the first Poetry Pulitzer prize in 1922 for Collect Poems and then won again in 1925 for The Man Who Died Twice, and here we are in 1928 and he has just won again for Tristram. Quite amazing. I'm reading the Pulitzer Prize winners in chronological order and I've gotten through 1928. The next one up is also a book-length volume by Stephen Vincent Benet - John Brown's Body. Pray for me.

[Abigail N · Rating 4 out of 5]

Tragedy in epic form.

[simone · Rating 5 out of 5]

i was a little thrown off by the deviations from the legend but this was just gorgeous, wow. i have never felt so keenly for tristan and iseult since bédier. wow. wow.

[Linda · Rating 3 out of 5]

Again, it was OK, but I just can't get into these long Arthurian saga poems of E.A.R.'s as they seem so pointless and endless and not particularly moving, despite the occasional nice banter between friends and lovers and whatnot. I am unable to grasp either why E.A.R. wrote this or why it won a Pulitzer. I'm not especially into book- length poems to begin with, but when they come from 20th century writers it's just like, why??!?

[Kate · Rating 4 out of 5]

Looooooved this book in high school after finding a tattered copy in the library. I'm not sure what exactly was so compelling at the time. It's time to re-read it, for sure.

Although this won the Pulitzer in the 1920's, it's sadly fallen out of favor and is now out of print.