without taking itself too seriously. He was also
featured in the famous 2 nd edition of Barney
Rosset’s “Evergreen review” alongside Everson
and others. Another critic David Kherdian writes
“Whalen…is not concerned with revolutions and
social panaceas”. Adding to this, Whalen was
another example of a marginal poet like Spicer
etc… and his poem “Chanson d’outre Tombe”
addresses this in more detail. Through his poems,
Whalen manages to stay with the principles of Zen
Buddhism while affirming life. Whalen tranquilly
references man’s insatiable quest for knowledge
when he states in “The Slop Barrel”…”We must
see, We must know…What’s the name of that
star?”. Here, in typical shamanic fashion, he deals
with a universal theme. He reiterates this theme
when he states “Gods demand a great deal, this
coming war…It will rid the earth of human
wickedness”. Like Snyder and McClure, Whalen is
conscious of the animism or oneness present in
nature, particularly between man and animal. He
demonstrates this, in the same poem, when he
states “Both man and beast gassed out of their
minds”.
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