Freedom of the Poet

Less than a year before his death in 1972, John Berryman signed a contract with his publisher for a book of prose, The Freedom of the Poet, for which he had made a selection from his published and unpublished writings. In his draft of a prefatory note, he acknowledged the influence of Eliot, Blackmur, Pound, and Empson on his critical thought, pointing out that "e;my interest in critical theory has been slight,"e; and concluding: "e;But I have also borne in mind throughout: remarks by Franz Kafka ('the story came out of me like a real birth, covered with slime and blood') and Joseph Conrad: 'All the great creations of literature have been symbolic, and in that way have gained in complexity, in power, in depth and in beauty.'"e; There are thirty-six pieces in all, including not only such justly famous writings on Elizabethan figures as "e;Shakespeare at Thirty"e; and "e;Thomas Nashe and The Unfortunate Traveller"e; but also "e;Shakespeare's Last Word"e; and "e;Marlowe's Damnations,"e; published for the first time; essays on American writers like Dreiser, Crane, James, Lardner, Fitzgerald, and Bellow, and on poets like Hardy, Pound, Ransom, Eliot, Thomas, Lowell, and Williams; unpublished essays on Cervantes, Whitman's "e;Song of Myself,"e; Conrad, and Anne Frank; "e;Thursday Out,"e; an account of a trip to India, and stories, published and unpublished, including "e;Wash Far Away,"e; "e;The Lovers,"e; "e;All Their Colours Exiled,"e; and "e;The Imaginary Jew."e;The poet's "e;freedom"e; in Berryman's definition is not license but escape, release--even death. The title piece--the second part of his essay on The Tempest--confirms this with his statement about Prospero: "e;This longing--for release, for freedom--...is neither disillusioned nor frightening. It is radiant and desirous."e;This final book which John Berryman himself prepared exhibits his erudition and scholarship, his critical insight and empathy, and a first-rate poet's powerful prose.