Robert Bly Kabir: Ecstatic Poems

Originally published in 1976, with more than 75,000 copies in print, this collection of poems by fifteenth-century ecstatic poet Kabir is full of fun and full of thought. Columbia University professor of religion John Stratton Hawley has contributed an introduction that makes clear Kabir’s immense importance to the contemporary reader and praises Bly’s intuitive translations.By making every reader consider anew their religious thinking, the poems of Kabir seem as relevant today as when they were first written.“Robert Bly earns the thanks of us all. I, for one, will reread (Bly’s Kabir] often.” —Paul Carroll, American Poetry Review“Kabir’s poems give off a marvelous radiant intensity that never fails . . . they have exactly the luminous depth that permits and invites many rereadings.” —Hayden Carruth, New York Times Book Review“Without Bly, modern American poetry would be unrecognizable in its current form. Without his poems, his translations, and his devotion to poetry, American literature would have taken a different turn in its rich and influential history.” —Ray González, The Bloomsbury ReviewRobert Bly has earned many honors for his original poems, which include The Winged Energy of Delight, and for his translations of twenty-two poets, including Kabir. He is the author of the bestseller Iron John, and with Jane Hirshfield has published a new translation of Mirabai (Beacon / 6386-6 / $16.00).
Originally published in 1976, with more than 75,000 copies in print, this collection of poems by fifteenth-century ecstatic poet Kabir is full of fun and full of thought. Columbia University professor of religion John Stratton Hawley has contributed an introduction that makes clear Kabir's immense importance to the contemporary reader and praises Bly's intuitive translations.By making every reader consider anew their religious thinking, the poems of Kabir seem as relevant today as when they were first written.