Charles Olson, the poet who coined the word postmodern and helped shape the generation that would emerge under its mantle, is known for the immense range of his intellectual and poetic reach. In this selection of some 70 poems, Robert Creeley has sought to present a personal, essential reading of Charles Olson's decisive and inimitable work.

Selected Poems -- Charles Olson -- Edited by Robert Creeley -- Contents -- Preface -- Ifrom Collected Poems -- Move Over -- La Chute -- The Kingfishers -- At Yorktown -- In Cold Hell, in Thicket -- For Sappho, Back -- The Moon Is the Number 18 -- To Gerhardt, There, Among Europe's Things of Which He Has Written Us in His -- "Brief an Creeley und Olson" -- The Ring of -- An Ode on Nativity -- The Thing Was Moving -- Merce of Egypt -- The Death of Europe -- A Newly Discovered 'Homeric' Hymn -- "The chain of memory is resurrection à" -- As the Dead Prey Upon Us -- Variations Done for Gerald Van De Wiele -- The Librarian -- Moonset, Gloucester, December 1, 1957, 1:58 am -- The Song -- The Distances -- Crossed-Legged, the Spider and the Web -- May 31, 1961 -- The Lamp -- "As snow lies on the hill à" -- "the Heart is a clock à" -- IIfrom The Maximus Poems -- Maximus, to himself -- The Twist a Plantation a beginning -- Maximus, to Gloucester -- Some Good News -- John Burke -- April Today Main Street -- MAXIMUS, FROM DOGTOWN-I -- Maximus to Gloucester, Letter 27 [withheld] -- Maximus Letter # whatever -- Maximus, at the Harbor -- A Later Note on Letter # 5 -- CHRONICLES -- THE GULF OF MAINE -- "And now let all the ships come in à" -- 'at the boundary of the mighty world' à" -- "I looked up and saw à" -- Main Street / is deserted à" -- "Imbued / with the light à" -- West Gloucester -- Stevens song -- Maximus to himself June 1964 -- COLE'S ISLAND -- Maximus in Gloucester Sunday, LXV -- "Swimming through the air, in schools upon the highways à" -- Maximus of Gloucester -- "I have been an ability-a machine à" -- "Bottled up for days à" -- Got me home, the light snow gives the air, falling -- "When do poppies bloom à" -- "The hour of evening à" -- "The boats' lights in the dawn now going swiftly à" -- "Out of the light of Heaven à" -- Hotel Steinplatz, Berlin, December 25 (1966) -- Celestial evening, October 1967 -- The Telesphere -- "Added to / making a Rebublic à" -- "Wholly absorbed à" -- "I live underneath / the light of day à" -- "the Blow is Creation à" -- Index of First Lines.