Charles Olson’s Historical Vision in “The Kingfishers

Abstract

Charles Olson (1910–1970) is an American poet whose understanding of the poetic process is influenced by a broader perceptive of history. Trained primarily as a historian rather than as a literary scholar, he displayed much interest in cultural and historical issues. In his poem, “The Kingfishers” (1953), Olson takes on the role of the historical researcher. He tries to outline the historical and political dimensions of Western civilization. Olson’s poem is a detailed exploration of a historically critical subject which is the deterioration of the glory of the ancient cultures at the hand of the Western conquerors. It sheds light on the vanity of the perfection of European civilization. Olson attempts to create a new vision in which poetry appears as a vivid reflection of history

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