James Wright (December 13, 1927 – March 25, 1980) was a Pulitzer Prize-winning American poet who happens to have been born and raised in Martins Ferry, Ohio. Back then, Matins Ferry was one of the many steel-producing towns along the heavily industrialized Upper Ohio River Valley. The town borders West Virginina. Today, Martins Ferry is a dilapidated forlorn town struggling to survive.
About fifteen years ago I discovered James Wright and have been a fan ever since. Here are two of his best known poems.
Just off the highway to Rochester, Minnesota,
Twilight bounds softly forth on the grass.
And the eyes of those two Indian ponies
Darken with kindness.
They have come gladly out of the willows
To welcome my friend and me.
We step over the barbed wire into the pasture
Where they have been grazing all day, alone.
They ripple tensely, they can hardly contain their happiness
That we have come.
They bow shyly as wet swans. They love each other.
There is no loneliness like theirs.
At home once more,
They begin munching the young tufts of spring in the darkness.
I would like to hold the slenderer one in my arms,
For she has walked over to me
And nuzzled my left hand.
She is black and white,
Her mane falls wild on her forehead,
And the light breeze moves me to caress her long ear
That is delicate as the skin over a girl’s wrist.
Suddenly I realize
That if I stepped out of my body I would break
Into blossom.
A Blessing
Just off the highway to Rochester, Minnesota,
Twilight bounds softly forth on the grass.
And the eyes of those two Indian ponies
Darken with kindness.
They have come gladly out of the willows
To welcome my friend and me.
We step over the barbed wire into the pasture
Where they have been grazing all day, alone.
They ripple tensely, they can hardly contain their happiness
That we have come.
They bow shyly as wet swans. They love each other.
There is no loneliness like theirs.
At home once more,
They begin munching the young tufts of spring in the darkness.
I would like to hold the slenderer one in my arms,
For she has walked over to me
And nuzzled my left hand.
She is black and white,
Her mane falls wild on her forehead,
And the light breeze moves me to caress her long ear
That is delicate as the skin over a girl’s wrist.
Suddenly I realize
That if I stepped out of my body I would break
Into blossom.
Lying in a Hammock at William Duffy’s Farm
in Pine Island, Minnesota
Over my head, I see the bronze butterfly,
Asleep on the black trunk,
Blowing like a leaf in green shadow.
Down the ravine behind the empty house,
The cowbells follow one another
Into the distances of the afternoon.
To my right,
In a field of sunlight between two pines,
The droppings of last year’s horses
Blaze up into golden stones.
I lean back, as the evening darkens and comes on.
A chicken hawk floats over, looking for home.
I have wasted my life.
So back in 1997 after I had just finished studying Wright’s collected poems, I wrote the following tribute poem. It was actually published, but the publisher wanted me to annotate it so the annotations are included.
In Ohio
Yesterday, I sat alone
Affronting a candled cake,
Knowing that
Extinguishing the flames
Was saying good-bye to you,
James Wright.
One titanic year,
Your collection I lugged
In my bag
In my ghost:
Three pills a day
for a toothless addict. *1
Three tiny teals
under a poplar tree,
Resurrecting anew with the sun.
I broke their necks with my paws
Swallowing nearly all,
Raw and naked. *2
under a poplar tree,
Resurrecting anew with the sun.
I broke their necks with my paws
Swallowing nearly all,
Raw and naked. *2
Neglecting horses
and envying drunks,
I secretly watched little innocent girls
Lick the dew off the Ohio River jungle weed
and cried. *3
The industrial soot
of old Youngstown
Now displays my
tennis shoe print
And I am ashamed.
It doesn’t belong there,
Beside my father’s worn boot.
I did not burn rods
in that filthy shop
forty-seven years.
Still, I am too little
Still, I am too little
for his singed flannel,
To see through the black glass
To see through the black glass
of his hood. *4
James, you have become my horse,
Cantering ankle deep through
The muddy Ohio river towns.
They are too in me.
They are the branch
which will not break. *5
Staring at my disheveled
James, you have become my horse,
Cantering ankle deep through
The muddy Ohio river towns.
They are too in me.
They are the branch
which will not break. *5
Staring at my disheveled
freshmen English class
from the lectern,
from the lectern,
I stand alone.
While deep in the Ohio River
flows old Youngstown,
And my father
And my father
leisurely walks
on her clouded surface
Leading a haltered horse
to Kentucky.
And I know,
I, too,
have wasted my life. *6
*1 I was introduced to James Wright by poet, Terry Hermsen who spent a week working with my students on the writing of poetry. I picked up Wright's Collected Poems and spent the following year reading and studying three a day. Thus the birthday symbolically ends a year with Wright poetry. Toothless addict refers to
Wright's interest in the beat people of the streets. The speaker is alone because Wright loves to use this type of line to begins his poems. He will typically begin with a solitary speaker, move to imagery, and then return to the speaker's response to the imagery.
*2 A teal is a small duck. The word is used by Wright in one of his later poems, "Blue Teal's Mother." Poplar tree is a favorite nature image for Wright. There are three teals a day for I studies three poems a day. Raw and naked refers to Wright himself and his style which is both raw and naked.
*3 Wright loves horses and horse imagery in his poetry. The reference to drunks refers to Wright's alcoholism which he often refers to in his poetry. Watching little girls by the Ohio River is a typical Wright scenario. He likes to set up his poems with isolated speakers sadly
watching and being moved. Wright was from the river town of Martin's Ferry thus the reference to the river.
*4 Here the poem turns personal. Wright wrote much about family. Especially fathers. Thus here is the speaker's home town, the father, the metal-worker, and the speaker's awkward fit into the picture.
*5 As stated Wright is from an Ohio river town and he loved horse imagery. Canter is used by Wright in his poem "Mary Bly" which is about the birth of Robert Bly's daughter. Wright and Bly were great friends. The speaker has also lived near South-Eastern Ohio river towns. The Branch Will Not Break is the title of one of
Wright's poetry collections and the last line in his poem, "Two Hangovers."
*6 Here is the return to the solitary speaker and the speaker's response. Wright and the father are leaving the speaker, Ohio, and are both walking on the river which is the basis of both their lives. The halter is symbolic of
the speaker realizing that by understanding his own father, he will also better understand Wright. The last line is Wright's most famous line. It ends his well-known poem, "Lying in a Hammock at William Duffy's Farm in Pine Island, Minnesota."
Leading a haltered horse
to Kentucky.
And I know,
I, too,
have wasted my life. *6
*1 I was introduced to James Wright by poet, Terry Hermsen who spent a week working with my students on the writing of poetry. I picked up Wright's Collected Poems and spent the following year reading and studying three a day. Thus the birthday symbolically ends a year with Wright poetry. Toothless addict refers to
Wright's interest in the beat people of the streets. The speaker is alone because Wright loves to use this type of line to begins his poems. He will typically begin with a solitary speaker, move to imagery, and then return to the speaker's response to the imagery.
*2 A teal is a small duck. The word is used by Wright in one of his later poems, "Blue Teal's Mother." Poplar tree is a favorite nature image for Wright. There are three teals a day for I studies three poems a day. Raw and naked refers to Wright himself and his style which is both raw and naked.
*3 Wright loves horses and horse imagery in his poetry. The reference to drunks refers to Wright's alcoholism which he often refers to in his poetry. Watching little girls by the Ohio River is a typical Wright scenario. He likes to set up his poems with isolated speakers sadly
watching and being moved. Wright was from the river town of Martin's Ferry thus the reference to the river.
*4 Here the poem turns personal. Wright wrote much about family. Especially fathers. Thus here is the speaker's home town, the father, the metal-worker, and the speaker's awkward fit into the picture.
*5 As stated Wright is from an Ohio river town and he loved horse imagery. Canter is used by Wright in his poem "Mary Bly" which is about the birth of Robert Bly's daughter. Wright and Bly were great friends. The speaker has also lived near South-Eastern Ohio river towns. The Branch Will Not Break is the title of one of
Wright's poetry collections and the last line in his poem, "Two Hangovers."
*6 Here is the return to the solitary speaker and the speaker's response. Wright and the father are leaving the speaker, Ohio, and are both walking on the river which is the basis of both their lives. The halter is symbolic of
the speaker realizing that by understanding his own father, he will also better understand Wright. The last line is Wright's most famous line. It ends his well-known poem, "Lying in a Hammock at William Duffy's Farm in Pine Island, Minnesota."
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