George Sterling: Master Poet of Symbolism
1)George Sterling's Suicide (Poet's Suicide)
George Sterling committed suicide in 1926, perhaps he wrote close to 14-books in his life time. Some say he committed suicide after becoming sick and unable to reach his goal of being awarded the poet of the United States. That may have played a part in it, but if any one has done a search on Mr. Sterling, it would show there were more variables than that. First of all, his long time friend and tutor was dead, either by his own hands, or killed in some skirmish in Mexico or South America, Ambrose Bierce. Second, his long time friend, Jack London had died of Alcoholism, of which George was two of the characters in his books. Third, he was tutoring up coming poet, Clark A. Smith, who seemed to be advancing faster than he, for his style of poetry, dealing mostly with imagery was fading, and the new Robinson Jeffers was taking the glory, if there is any, behind the scenes. Jeffers had adjusted to the time. All three hand what you might call their long poem: which seems to be the cornerstone to poetic fame. CAS, wrote the ‘Hashish Eater’ plus he was going more into the cosmic fantasy area, with short stories (Sterling was not having any luck with short stories at all), thus having two avenues for CAS, where Sterling failed in short stories completely, CAS did not; Sterling was now 58-years old, it was past middle age for those folks back then (old age you might add) and life was nearing it end anyhow; Bierce once acclaimed Sterling to have written the best poem ever written in imagery to be his ‘The Wine of Wizardry.” Still at this time (1925) Jeffers’ “Tamar,” came out, and the world liked it. Thus, Sterling was feeling he was being put on the shelf. And when that happens, like so many poets, they take their own lives one way or another. You have to know your time is now, not past. Although times change, and so does the appetite for literature, George did not feel he had the time to wait. Plus, he was almost penniless. His contributors were few.
Perhaps alcohol was a contributing factor also; like the poet, novelist Robert Howard, committed suicide after his mother died, life is harder to live than death sometimes. Things become sour for H.P. Lovecraft as well, as his cancer took over his life. All of Sterling’s friends and colleagues were changing, and change plays a solid part in depression—slowly does it, or it becomes too unbearable.
So when someone says, George Sterling killed himself because he did not win the gold he was after, it was not because of that alone, it was according to him, his time: perhaps he was braver than we all give him credit for.
In Sterling’s letters we can see a pattern of depression developing; a loss of hope, despair. He didn’t want to live as a has-been, he wanted to live as a great poet. Some have criticized his poetry as well, saying they don’t or didn’t ever understand it. In poetry you must understand the poet a little, what does he want to do, bring you. He necessary is not writing for you, but for another reason, and the groups that will appreciate it are few. Only a poet can critique a poet properly. First find out what his objective is: perhaps there is no theme, and you want one, Robert Frost may be your link. Fancy and macabre, it might be Clark A. Smith, or Poe, or Baudelaire.
George did what he was created to do, show the beauty of words put together, and hung out to dry under a sun called ‘Imagery.’ He could not adjust to anything else; it was too much a selected poet.
2) Sterling's Mirage [Dedicated to George Sterling & Nora May French]
I hear the brittle poetry of the day...
What pensive poetry holds me?
Perhaps Imagery (it’s hard to say).
I find the glitter in the vanished past:
Its array: worlds of blues, whites and grays;
In far-off distant seas, under moon beams.
Ah! but my friend they could not rest: in the
Winds, and stars on the ocean's breast—;
Thus, they left, they just up and left (kind of)
To a land where they have no iron walls, no fence.
So brave and passionate they were; he was
Swept back to his “…cool, gray city of love,”
For everything else was simply a mirage!
—by Dennis L. Siluk
Comments: Although George Sterling was not from San Francisco, originally, once he visited the city, he remained there, it became his home, away from home one might say. A poet he was, to his dying day, even though he wrote other things, plays, and etcetera.
It would seem, there was this special group of poets and writers), in California around the turn of the century (1900), many commited sucide like George Sterling would (1926), and his wife did previous to his death, and Nora May French (1881-1907), a young poet of 26+ who for her own reasons commitded sucide in Carmel (at Sterlings home); Ms Austin thought both George and Nora were outstanding poets, as also she thought Jack London(who drank himself to death at age 40) was outstanding in his field. Nora wrote well, and I quote: "...all sensible people will be damned." Sometimes I think she is wrote, I've known people who write, who fit the discription quite well.
#1339 5/4/06
“The Step Ladder”
George Sterling died in 1926, in 1927, “The Step Ladder,” a Monthly Journal, offered what was known as “The George Sterling Memorial Prize” $100-dollars to the best poem published in its pages during the year 1927. In the issue Volume XIII, for the first time in this book journal [magazine] Clark Ashton Smith’s poetry was published, by the efforts of George Sterling. Also, in this issue or journal, Helene Margaret wrote a poem offered up to Mr. Sterling:
Is this your message? You who bore the light
And gathered rhythm from the symphonies
Of earth, who ravelled colors from the breeze
And wove them into shadows of the night?
Your sense of darkness should have been but slight,
For you found pulsing life in all of these,
More opalescent than the changing seas,
More lyrical than swallows in their flight.
And yet, the shadows of your life grew thick,
And fell like shrouds of dusk upon our thought,
Until your sensate soul was madly sick
Of life and all the strangling gloom it brought.
And though you’ve passed, the wondrous argosies
Your fancy formed shall sail the centuries.
It might be noteworthy here to mention: in the summer of 1926, George Sterling got Clark Ashton Smith’s poetry published in Braithwaite’s 1926, Anthology, where Sterling had nice compliments to say about CAS. At this time Smith lived in Auburn, California. The selections the Step Ladder put into its magazine, were taken from Smith's books: “Ebony and Crystal,” and “Sandalwood.” Such poems like: The Barrier, Query, Deleted Love, The Crucifixion of Eros, Quest, A fragment, Love is not Yours, Love is not Mine, The Love Potion, Maya, Beauty Implacable, Ave Atque V Ale, Incognita, Semper Eadem, and several more.
1)George Sterling's Suicide (Poet's Suicide)
George Sterling committed suicide in 1926, perhaps he wrote close to 14-books in his life time. Some say he committed suicide after becoming sick and unable to reach his goal of being awarded the poet of the United States. That may have played a part in it, but if any one has done a search on Mr. Sterling, it would show there were more variables than that. First of all, his long time friend and tutor was dead, either by his own hands, or killed in some skirmish in Mexico or South America, Ambrose Bierce. Second, his long time friend, Jack London had died of Alcoholism, of which George was two of the characters in his books. Third, he was tutoring up coming poet, Clark A. Smith, who seemed to be advancing faster than he, for his style of poetry, dealing mostly with imagery was fading, and the new Robinson Jeffers was taking the glory, if there is any, behind the scenes. Jeffers had adjusted to the time. All three hand what you might call their long poem: which seems to be the cornerstone to poetic fame. CAS, wrote the ‘Hashish Eater’ plus he was going more into the cosmic fantasy area, with short stories (Sterling was not having any luck with short stories at all), thus having two avenues for CAS, where Sterling failed in short stories completely, CAS did not; Sterling was now 58-years old, it was past middle age for those folks back then (old age you might add) and life was nearing it end anyhow; Bierce once acclaimed Sterling to have written the best poem ever written in imagery to be his ‘The Wine of Wizardry.” Still at this time (1925) Jeffers’ “Tamar,” came out, and the world liked it. Thus, Sterling was feeling he was being put on the shelf. And when that happens, like so many poets, they take their own lives one way or another. You have to know your time is now, not past. Although times change, and so does the appetite for literature, George did not feel he had the time to wait. Plus, he was almost penniless. His contributors were few.
Perhaps alcohol was a contributing factor also; like the poet, novelist Robert Howard, committed suicide after his mother died, life is harder to live than death sometimes. Things become sour for H.P. Lovecraft as well, as his cancer took over his life. All of Sterling’s friends and colleagues were changing, and change plays a solid part in depression—slowly does it, or it becomes too unbearable.
So when someone says, George Sterling killed himself because he did not win the gold he was after, it was not because of that alone, it was according to him, his time: perhaps he was braver than we all give him credit for.
In Sterling’s letters we can see a pattern of depression developing; a loss of hope, despair. He didn’t want to live as a has-been, he wanted to live as a great poet. Some have criticized his poetry as well, saying they don’t or didn’t ever understand it. In poetry you must understand the poet a little, what does he want to do, bring you. He necessary is not writing for you, but for another reason, and the groups that will appreciate it are few. Only a poet can critique a poet properly. First find out what his objective is: perhaps there is no theme, and you want one, Robert Frost may be your link. Fancy and macabre, it might be Clark A. Smith, or Poe, or Baudelaire.
George did what he was created to do, show the beauty of words put together, and hung out to dry under a sun called ‘Imagery.’ He could not adjust to anything else; it was too much a selected poet.
2) Sterling's Mirage [Dedicated to George Sterling & Nora May French]
I hear the brittle poetry of the day...
What pensive poetry holds me?
Perhaps Imagery (it’s hard to say).
I find the glitter in the vanished past:
Its array: worlds of blues, whites and grays;
In far-off distant seas, under moon beams.
Ah! but my friend they could not rest: in the
Winds, and stars on the ocean's breast—;
Thus, they left, they just up and left (kind of)
To a land where they have no iron walls, no fence.
So brave and passionate they were; he was
Swept back to his “…cool, gray city of love,”
For everything else was simply a mirage!
—by Dennis L. Siluk
Comments: Although George Sterling was not from San Francisco, originally, once he visited the city, he remained there, it became his home, away from home one might say. A poet he was, to his dying day, even though he wrote other things, plays, and etcetera.
It would seem, there was this special group of poets and writers), in California around the turn of the century (1900), many commited sucide like George Sterling would (1926), and his wife did previous to his death, and Nora May French (1881-1907), a young poet of 26+ who for her own reasons commitded sucide in Carmel (at Sterlings home); Ms Austin thought both George and Nora were outstanding poets, as also she thought Jack London(who drank himself to death at age 40) was outstanding in his field. Nora wrote well, and I quote: "...all sensible people will be damned." Sometimes I think she is wrote, I've known people who write, who fit the discription quite well.
#1339 5/4/06
“The Step Ladder”
George Sterling died in 1926, in 1927, “The Step Ladder,” a Monthly Journal, offered what was known as “The George Sterling Memorial Prize” $100-dollars to the best poem published in its pages during the year 1927. In the issue Volume XIII, for the first time in this book journal [magazine] Clark Ashton Smith’s poetry was published, by the efforts of George Sterling. Also, in this issue or journal, Helene Margaret wrote a poem offered up to Mr. Sterling:
Is this your message? You who bore the light
And gathered rhythm from the symphonies
Of earth, who ravelled colors from the breeze
And wove them into shadows of the night?
Your sense of darkness should have been but slight,
For you found pulsing life in all of these,
More opalescent than the changing seas,
More lyrical than swallows in their flight.
And yet, the shadows of your life grew thick,
And fell like shrouds of dusk upon our thought,
Until your sensate soul was madly sick
Of life and all the strangling gloom it brought.
And though you’ve passed, the wondrous argosies
Your fancy formed shall sail the centuries.
It might be noteworthy here to mention: in the summer of 1926, George Sterling got Clark Ashton Smith’s poetry published in Braithwaite’s 1926, Anthology, where Sterling had nice compliments to say about CAS. At this time Smith lived in Auburn, California. The selections the Step Ladder put into its magazine, were taken from Smith's books: “Ebony and Crystal,” and “Sandalwood.” Such poems like: The Barrier, Query, Deleted Love, The Crucifixion of Eros, Quest, A fragment, Love is not Yours, Love is not Mine, The Love Potion, Maya, Beauty Implacable, Ave Atque V Ale, Incognita, Semper Eadem, and several more.
posted by Dennis and Rosa Siluk at 6:07 PM
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