Robinson Jeffers: Poetic Responses to a Cosmological Revolution

Abstract

Robinson Jeffers is considered one of the few twentieth-century poets who include contemporary scientific astronomical observations and theory as not merely an image vehicle but as an interpretive element in their work. He uses scientific terminology and refers to what were advanced theories regarding the nature of the universe and humankind's place in it. It is suggested that his brother, Hamilton, an astronomer working at the Lick Observatory, may have been one of the sources and a stimulant for his inspiration and ruminations on the mysteries of the cosmos. Jeffers' use of novel astronomical ideas as well as personal observations of celestial phenomena lends a potent veracity to his work as he develops a poetic response to the cosmological revolution led by Einstein and punctuated by Hubble.