Robert Bly

Biography

Robert Bly is the author of more than thirty books of poetry, including Stealing Sugar from the Castle: Selected Poems (Norton, 2013). His selected translations, The Winged Energy of Delight, appeared in 2004 from HarperCollins. He is also the author of a number of nonfiction books, including Iron John: A Book about Men (1990). His honors include Guggenheim, Rockefeller, and National Endowment for the Arts fellowships as well as the Robert Frost Medal from the Poetry Society of America.

See Work

POETRY / Spring 2005

After Reading “The Sleepers”

By Robert Bly

I am amazed, there is nothing you can do for me, I am content.
I see my mother and father, the night pervades them and enfolds them.  
Everything I’ve said about them, I take back, and yet I still maintain what I have said.

POETRY / Spring 2004

A Week on the Oregon Coast

By Robert Bly

Being born at all amounts to peering out from a cliff
Over the sea. The great jellyfish who spread their arms
Out on the sea tell us how deep our ignorance is.

POETRY / Spring 2004

The Horses Coming Up Behind

By Robert Bly

Have you noticed the horses galloping past us?
Perhaps they are horses with no riders at all.
Perhaps they are riders who have turned into horses.

POETRY / Summer 1986

Remaining Asleep

By Robert Bly

On a clear day, the jealous
Are jealous of ash leaves,
Flies, all jewelry of air.

POETRY / Summer 1986

The Hawk

By Robert Bly

The hawk sweeps down from his aerie,
dives among swallows,
turns over twice in the air,