Sound of the Ax: Aphorisms and Poems by William Stafford

by Vincent Wixon (Editor), Paul Merchant (Editor), William Stafford

Sound of the Ax brings together for the first time over four hundred aphorisms and twenty-six aphoristic poems by one of America’s most essential poets of the twentieth century. Many readers are familiar with the trenchant nature of William Stafford’s poems, with lines such as “Justice will take us millions of intricate moves” and “Your job is to find what the world is trying to be,” but have never had the opportunity to read a sustained selection from the thousands of wise, witty, and penetrating statements he created in over forty years of daily writing in his journal. In keeping with Stafford’s varied interests, the aphorisms in Sound of the Ax explore many topics—war and peace, involvement, aging, appearances, fear, egotism, writing, nature, animals, suffering, faith, living an ethical life, and so on—with his incisive view. The poems are either made up entirely or primarily aphorisms, and range from the well-known “Things I Learned Last Week” to some never before collected. Readers will find much to enjoy and to think about here, and will return over and over to Sound of the Ax for inspiration, pleasure, and wisdom from an author noted for his integrity and mindful living.

Genres: Poetry, Nonfiction

104 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2014

Reviews

[Jan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Mám velmi rád poezii i aforismy Williama Stafforda a tento výbor není výjimkou. Bohužel hodnocení táhne dolů editorská práce. Kniha je uspořádána v pravidelném rytmu: blok aforismů - báseň - blok aforismů - báseň... Leč bloky aforismů nemají žádné deklarované (a nepodařilo se mi vypátrat ani implicitní) téma. Básně, kterými jsou proložené, mají často samy o sobě povahu zřetězených aforismů, takže rytmus mizí a splývá v řadu sentencí; a podle mého soudu většina z vybraných básní nepatří ani k tomu nejlepšímu ze Staffordovy tvorby.
A pak je tu titul a obálka... Titul se odvolává na jeden z aforismů: 'A tree is not cut down by the sound of the ax' (Strom se neskácí ze zvuku sekery) - netroufám si soudit, zda je zrovna tento tak silný, aby dal jméno celé sbírce. Zjevného kiksu se však dopustil grafický designér, který dobře si vědom rozdílu mezi anglickým 'axe' (sekera) a 'ax' (pěstní klín), vyobrazil na obálce to druhé, zcela v rozporu s obsahem titulního aforismu. Na překlepy a typografické chyby jsem v textu narazil i v dalších případech.
Osobně bych ocenil, kdyby se výběr (aforismů i básní) soustředil na některá z vláken, která jsou zde zastoupena v rozmělněné podobě: Staffordův vztah ke každodennosti a rutině, jeho vztah k jazyku (jenž velebí prostou a jednoduchou řeč, ale je si bolestně vědom zakrývající povahy jazykových automatismů), k psaní a básnění jako terapeutickému a ritualizovanému procesu. To vše by šlo vyzdvihnout a nasvítit mnohem lépe, než to tento sborník dělá. 'Poetry is prose without mistakes' říká Stafford v jiném aforismu. Kéž by tomu tak bylo.

[Shane Moore · Rating 3 out of 5]

You can tell this is a collection of assorted material from a dead person, mostly because it's disjointed and unpolished. I liked the aphorisms more than the poems. The latter seemed largely unfinished or generic. Some of the aphorisms were trite or didn't strike me as profound, but mostly they struck a good balance between specificity and applicability. Here are some of the ones that I liked the most:

"Many things true when said, the world makes untrue."

"If there is a trail, you have taken a wrong turn."

"Strange, the best part of a room is a window."

"The sky is bigger than any country."

"There are many of those who have sense enough to come in out of the rain who do not have sense enough to go out in the sun."

"My kind of faith is that most mountains won't move."

"It is not the sound of the ax that cuts down the tree."

“Kids: they dance before they learn there is anything that isn't music.”

[A. J · Rating 3 out of 5]

Was torn between “wow that’s insightful” and “dear god this man is pretentious”.

[Kate · Rating 4 out of 5]

I hadn't heard of William Stafford until fairly recently. He was Oregon's poet laureate for 15 years, and in the library where I work we celebrated his 100th birthday last January. I finally got my hands on a volume of his work, which is quite meditative. I especially enjoyed the aphorisms, but maybe that's because I've never really learned to appreciate poetry.
Some favorites:

"At first it's not much of a river."

"Strange, the best part of a room is a window."

"About the pessimists: how can they know that much?"

"Please don't turn the windmill off even at night when it creaks or the tank is full- there are some flowers by the overflow pipe."

"Can you be honest and not tell the truth? Yes- because you may not know the truth."

"If you hate other people, you are rejecting qualities you have yourself."

"Faith is easy; doubt is hard."

"Lost pioneers were the ones who found the best valleys."


Optimism

What you can make with a knife
you can mar with a knife. Lift
this one; look far ahead-
many whittled sticks, apples
quartered, a stab or two,
maybe a death. Heft it.

Why go on? Why
suffer? Well, the blade,
the fine, smooth curve of it;
and then- you know- the apples.

[Leonard · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved these aphorisms. They seem more insightful than the poems in this book, although Stafford's poetry is among the best. Some of these aphorisms are vague and others are very pointed. But even the unclear ones trigger thoughtful contemplation.

[Sarah · Rating 4 out of 5]

These aphorisms are wonderful. Lydia Davis: short stories William Stafford: poems