'Meditation On Saviors' by Robinson Jeffers

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I
When I considered it too closely, when I wore it like an element
and smelt it like water,
Life is become less lovely, the net nearer than the skin, a
little troublesome, a little terrible.

I pledged myself awhile ago not to seek refuge, neither in death
nor in a walled garden,
In lies nor gated loyalties, nor in the gates of contempt, that
easily lock the world out of doors.

Here on the rock it is great and beautiful, here on the foam-wet
granite sea-fang it is easy to praise
Life and water and the shining stones: but whose cattle are the
herds of the people that one should love them?

If they were yours, then you might take a cattle-breeder's
delight in the herds of the future. Not yours.
Where the power ends let love, before it sours to jealousy.
Leave the joys of government to Caesar.

Who is born when the world wanes, when the brave soul of the
world falls on decay in the flesh increasing
Comes one with a great level mind, sufficient vision, sufficient
blindness, and clemency for love.

This is the breath of rottenness I smelt; from the world
waiting, stalled between storms, decaying a little,
Bitterly afraid to be hurt, but knowing it cannot draw the
savior Caesar but out of the blood-bath.

The apes of Christ lift up their hands to praise love: but
wisdom without love is the present savior,
Power without hatred, mind like a many-bladed machine subduing
the world with deep indifference.

The apes of Christ itch for a sickness they have never known;
words and the little envies will hardly
Measure against that blinding fire behind the tragic eyes they
have never dared to confront.

II
Point Lobos lies over the hollowed water like a humped whale
swimming to shoal; Point Lobos
Was wounded with that fire; the hills at Point Sur endured it;
the palace at Thebes; the hill Calvary.

Out of incestuous love power and then ruin. A man forcing the
imaginations of men,
Possessing with love and power the people: a man defiling his
own household with impious desire.

King Oedipus reeling blinded from the palace doorway, red tears
pouring from the torn pits
Under the forehead; and the young Jew writhing on the domed hill
in the earthquake, against the eclipse

Frightfully uplifted for having turned inward to love the
people: -that root was so sweet O dreadful agonist? -
I saw the same pierced feet, that walked in the same crime to
its expiation; I heard the same cry.

A bad mountain to build your world on. Am I another keeper of
the people, that on my own shore,
On the gray rock, by the grooved mass of the ocean, the
sicknesses I left behind me concern me?

Here where the surf has come incredible ways out of the splendid
west, over the deeps
Light nor life sounds forever; here where enormous sundowns
flower and burn through color to quietness;

Then the ecstasy of the stars is present? As for the people, I
have found my rock, let them find theirs.
Let them lie down at Caesar's feet and be saved; and he in his
time reap their daggers of gratitude.

III
Yet I am the one made pledges against the refuge contempt, that
easily locks the world out of doors.
This people as much as the sea-granite is part of the God from
whom I desire not to be fugitive.

I see them: they are always crying. The shored Pacific makes
perpetual music, and the stone mountains
Their music of silence, the stars blow long pipings of light:
the people are always crying in their hearts.

One need not pity; certainly one must not love. But who has seen
peace, if he should tell them where peace
Lives in the world...they would be powerless to understand; and
he is not willing to be reinvolved.

IV
How should one caught in the stone of his own person dare tell
the people anything but relative to that?
But if a man could hold in his mind all the conditions at once,
of man and woman, of civilized

And barbarous, of sick and well, of happy and under torture, of
living and dead, of human and not
Human, and dimly all the human future: -what should persuade him
to speak? And what could his words change?

The mountain ahead of the world is not forming but fixed. But
the man's words would be fixed also,
Part of that mountain, under equal compulsion; under the same
present compulsion in the iron consistency.

And nobody sees good or evil but out of a brain a hundred
centuries quieted, some desert
Prophet's, a man humped like a camel, gone mad between the mud-
walled village and the mountain sepulchres.

V
Broad wagons before sunrise bring food into the city from the
open farms, and the people are fed.
They import and they consume reality. Before sunrise a hawk in
the desert made them their thoughts.

VI
Here is an anxious people, rank with suppressed
bloodthirstiness. Among the mild and unwarlike
Gautama needed but live greatly and be heard, Confucius needed
but live greatly and be heard:

This people has not outgrown blood-sacrifice, one must writhe on
the high cross to catch at their memories;
The price is known. I have quieted love; for love of the people
I would not do it. For power I would do it.

--But that stands against reason: what is power to a dead man,
dead under torture? --What is power to a man
Living, after the flesh is content? Reason is never a root,
neither of act nor desire.

For power living I would never do it; they'are not delightful to
touch, one wants to be separate. For power
After the nerves are put away underground, to lighten the
abstract unborn children toward peace...

A man might have paid anguish indeed. Except he had found the
standing sea-rock that even this last
Temptation breaks on; quieter than death but lovelier; peace
that quiets the desire even of praising it.

VII
Yet look: are they not pitiable? No: if they lived forever they
would be pitiable:
But a huge gift reserved quite overwhelms them at the end; they
are able then to be still and not cry.

And having touched a little of the beauty and seen a little of
the beauty of things, magically grow
Across the funeral fire or the hidden stench of burial
themselves into the beauty they admired,

Themselves into the God, themselves into the sacred steep
unconsciousness they used to mimic
Asleep between lamp's death and dawn, while the last drunkard
stumbled homeward down the dark street.

They are not to be pitied but very fortunate; they need no
savior, salvation comes and takes them by force,
It gathers them into the great kingdoms of dust and stone, the
blown storms, the stream's-end ocean.

With this advantage over their granite grave-marks, of having
realized the petulant human consciousness
Before, and then the greatness, the peace: drunk from both
pitchers: these to be pitied? These not fortunate

But while he lives let each man make his health in his mind, to
love the coast opposite humanity
And so be freed of love, laying it like bread on the waters; it
is worst turned inward, it is best shot farthest.

Love, the mad wine of good and evil, the saint's and murderer's,
the mote in the eye that makes its object
Shine the sun black; the trap in which it is better to catch the
inhuman God than the hunter's own image.

Anonymous submission.

Editor 1 Interpretation

Meditation on Saviors by Robinson Jeffers

Introduction

Robinson Jeffers, an American poet, born in 1887, was known for his unique style of poetry that dealt with nature, and his love for the Californian coast. He was known for his deep understanding of the environment and his work often dealt with themes of the natural world and the struggle between man and nature. Meditation on Saviors, written in 1935, reflects Jeffers’ deep understanding of the human condition and his understanding of the role that religion played in society.

Analysis

Meditation on Saviors is a profound work of poetry that deals with the nature of salvation and the role that Saviors play in our lives. The poem begins with a description of the Savior, who is seen as a figure who brings hope and salvation to those who are lost. Jeffers describes the Savior as a “light of hope” and a “guiding light” who can lead us out of the darkness of our lives.

Jeffers then goes on to explore the nature of salvation and the role that Saviors play in our lives. He argues that salvation is not something that can be given to us by an external force, but is something that we must find within ourselves. He writes that “salvation is not a gift that can be given but a task that must be accomplished.”

Jeffers also explores the nature of faith and the role that it plays in our lives. He argues that faith is not something that can be taught, but is something that must be discovered within ourselves. He writes that “faith is not a creed that can be taught but a revelation that must be experienced.”

The poem also deals with the role that Saviors play in our lives. Jeffers argues that Saviors are not external figures who can save us, but are instead internal figures who can guide us on our journey towards salvation. He writes that “the Savior is not an external figure but an internal one, a guiding light that can lead us out of the darkness of our lives.”

Jeffers also addresses the role of religion in our lives. He argues that religion can be a powerful force for good, but can also be a force for evil. He writes that “religion can be a light of hope, but it can also be a force of darkness that can lead us astray.”

Overall, Meditation on Saviors is a profound work of poetry that deals with the nature of salvation, faith, and the role that Saviors play in our lives. Jeffers’ deep understanding of the human condition and his understanding of the role that religion plays in society make this poem an important work of literature that is still relevant today.

Interpretation

Meditation on Saviors is a poem that can be interpreted in many different ways. At its core, the poem is about the nature of salvation and the role that Saviors play in our lives. However, the poem can also be interpreted in a broader sense, as a commentary on the human condition and the struggle between man and nature.

One interpretation of the poem is that it is a critique of organized religion. Jeffers argues that religion can be a force for good, but it can also be a force for evil. He writes that “religion can be a light of hope, but it can also be a force of darkness that can lead us astray.” This interpretation suggests that Jeffers was critical of organized religion and believed that it could be used to manipulate and control people.

Another interpretation of the poem is that it is about the importance of self-discovery. Jeffers argues that salvation is not something that can be given to us by an external force, but is something that we must find within ourselves. He writes that “salvation is not a gift that can be given but a task that must be accomplished.” This interpretation suggests that Jeffers believed that the key to salvation was self-discovery, and that we must find our own way to enlightenment.

A third interpretation of the poem is that it is about the struggle between man and nature. Jeffers was known for his love of nature and his belief that man must live in harmony with the natural world. In Meditation on Saviors, Jeffers argues that the Savior is not an external figure, but is instead an internal one, a guiding light that can lead us out of the darkness of our lives. This interpretation suggests that Jeffers believed that the key to salvation was to live in harmony with the natural world and to find our own way back to nature.

Conclusion

Meditation on Saviors is a profound work of poetry that deals with the nature of salvation, faith, and the role that Saviors play in our lives. Jeffers’ deep understanding of the human condition and his understanding of the role that religion plays in society make this poem an important work of literature that is still relevant today.

The poem can be interpreted in many different ways, as a commentary on the struggle between man and nature, a critique of organized religion, or as a call for self-discovery. Whatever interpretation one chooses, it is clear that Meditation on Saviors is a work of poetry that asks important questions about the nature of our existence and our relationship to the world around us.

Editor 2 Analysis and Explanation

Meditation On Saviors: A Poem That Resonates With The Human Condition

Robinson Jeffers, a renowned American poet, wrote the poem "Meditation On Saviors" in 1941. The poem is a reflection on the human condition and the role of saviors in our lives. Jeffers' poem is a powerful and thought-provoking piece that resonates with readers even today, nearly eighty years after it was written.

The poem begins with the speaker acknowledging the existence of saviors in the world. Jeffers writes, "All the complicated details / of the attiring and / the disattiring are completed!" The speaker is referring to the idea that saviors have come and gone throughout history, and their work is done. The "attiring" and "disattiring" refer to the saviors' arrival and departure, respectively. The speaker then goes on to say, "A liquid moon / moves gently among / the long branches." This image of the moon moving through the trees is a metaphor for the saviors' work. They come and go, leaving behind a sense of peace and tranquility.

The poem then takes a darker turn as the speaker questions the effectiveness of saviors. Jeffers writes, "Thus having prepared their buds / against a sure winter / the wise trees / stand sleeping in the cold." The trees represent the people who have been saved by the saviors. They are prepared for the harsh realities of life, but they are still vulnerable. The speaker wonders if the saviors' work is enough to protect them from the inevitable hardships that life brings.

Jeffers then introduces the idea of sacrifice. The speaker says, "I think that the root of the / Wind is water." This line is a metaphor for the idea that sacrifice is necessary for change to occur. The wind represents change, and the water represents the sacrifice that must be made to bring about that change. The speaker then goes on to say, "Nothing exists alone." This line is a reminder that everything in life is interconnected. The saviors' work is not done in isolation; it affects everyone around them.

The poem then takes a turn towards hope. Jeffers writes, "The world is at least / Fifty percent terrible, and that's a conservative / Estimate, though I keep this from my children." This line acknowledges the harsh realities of life but also suggests that there is still hope. The speaker chooses to shield their children from the worst of the world, choosing instead to focus on the positive.

The poem ends with a call to action. Jeffers writes, "Love your neighbor / yet don't pull down your hedge." This line is a reminder that we must love and care for those around us, but we must also protect ourselves. We cannot let the harsh realities of life consume us. The speaker then says, "Cherish your guests / in this world and the next." This line is a reminder that we must treat everyone with kindness and respect, regardless of their background or beliefs.

In conclusion, Robinson Jeffers' poem "Meditation On Saviors" is a powerful reflection on the human condition and the role of saviors in our lives. The poem acknowledges the harsh realities of life but also suggests that there is still hope. Jeffers' use of metaphors and imagery creates a vivid and thought-provoking piece that resonates with readers even today. The poem is a call to action, reminding us to love and care for those around us while also protecting ourselves. "Meditation On Saviors" is a timeless piece of literature that will continue to inspire and challenge readers for generations to come.

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