Robert creeley the language of literature

One of the biggest thematic threads in all of Creeley's work is language. His poems are constantly moving through events with words, trying to capture things as they are on the verge of occurring.

This subject is tackled in the poem "The Language." The speaker of the poem is unable to fully express the meaning of the phrase "I love you" but tries to do so over the course of the poem: "I / love you / again, / then what / is emptiness / for.

Robert creeley the language of literature

To / fill, fill. / I heard words / and words full / of holes / aching. Speech / is a mouth." He is attempting to find a fitting descriptor for this feeling while seeing the inadequacy of his words. The poem is not a romantic ode; it is a writer working over language, trying to piece together something that works.

Here, Creeley comes off like a painter with "rough" brushstrokes, writing in a way that makes the process visible while still making careful use of his craft.

Another poem that engages with this theme is "The Answer." Here, Creeley d