Composition by field opposes the traditional method of poetic composition based on received form and measure. Olson sees the challenge of the transference of poetic energy from source to poem to reader, and the way in which that energy shifts at each juncture, as particularly of concern to poets who engage in composition by field, because the poet is no longer relying on a received structure as a propulsive force.

Harnessing poet Robert Creeley’s assertion that “form is never more than an extension of content” and Edward Dahlberg’s belief that “one perception must immediately and directly lead to a further perception,” Olson argues that the breath should be a poet’s central concern, rather than rhyme, meter, and sense. To listen closely to the breath, Olson states, “is to engage speech where it is least careless—and least logical.” The syllable and the line are the two units led by, respectively, the ear and the breath:

“the HEAD, by way of the EAR, to the SYLLABLE

the HEART, by way of the BREATH, to the LINE”

Olson argues against a lazy reliance on simile and description, which can drain a poem of energy, and proposes that syntax be shaped by sound rather than sense, with nuances of breath and motion to be conveyed to the reader through typographical means.

In conclusion, Olson suggests a movement he calls “objectism,” which he defines as “the getting rid of the lyrical interference of the individual as ego, of the “subject” and his soul [. . .] For man is himself an object.” At the close of the essay Olson expresses the hope that projective verse has the increased capacity needed to carry epic works, and indeed Olson began work on his epic project, The Maximus Poems, that year.

The original text with two drawings included (stitched through the fold) and several painted fabric swatches pasted in.

email 5/11/2021:

It is a different kind of artists book, probably unique in its concept. I would put it somewhere between an altered book and an extra-illustrated book (which are accepted categories) but, ‘annotated book’ probably describes it best.

I will catalogue it under the title “Projective Verse”, mentioning Olson and with you as the book-artist.