Olsons Gloucester

In the context of a post-war America that was witnessing radical

changes, the reader of Olsens Maximus Poems, would be surprised by the
poets choice of Gloucester as the focus of his writing.
At least, I was myself intrigued by this choice, for that Gloucester is not a
typical example for describing a nation that was back in that time
imposing itself on a worldwide scale.
Yet, Olson does not, a priori, seek to explain his choice of Gloucester and
puts up with presenting this small community of fishermen of New England
by describing its change at that era.
This out of time choice suggests a disillusioned or a nostalgic return
to the origins. In fact, despite its appearance, Gloucester is actually a
place that has something to say about Americas roots. It was the first
English colony of a New England that had been the institutional and
literary cradle of the nation. In a more trivial fashion, it was the place
where Olson spent his childhood. As such, it could be assumed that the
poet had intended to survive his own past.
Paradoxically, it could be thought that Olsons choice of Gloucester
emanates from the poets feeling that his status of writer was threatened
by history. Through the Maximus, Olson renounces to recognize a
predetermined world. His poetry resists the establishment of linguistic

filiations throughout history. In The Fate of Place: A Philosophical History,

Edward Casey writes Perhaps it is true that in the beginning was the
Word. But is it not equally likely that in the beginning was a Place the
place of creation itself? Should we assume that the Word precedes Place
and brings it into being? Or does not the Word itself presuppose Place?
Hence, his focus on Gloucester is evidence to his resistance to
acknowledge the existence of an authentic historical bond between
language and place. In Letter 9 of the Maximus, Olson states :
Its the condition in men
(we know what spring is)
brings such self-things about
which interests me
as I loll today
where I used to,
atop Bonds Hill
With both the inner, and
The outer, harbor,
the Atlantic, back of
the back-shore,
all out before me in one

view (Olson, 1983, 47)

There could be another interpretation to Olsons feeling of threat.

Olson reminds his reader that the work of the poet is not fundamentally
distinguished from that of the fishermen, in the sense that they are
threatened by the mysteries of the ocean and that they risk their lives at
each instant. Thus, Olson delivers a belief that writing itself can encounter
some unpredictable forces, and that the process of writing can be
assimilated to taking a risk or a will to endeavor a challenge.