Space Suits: the Empirical Tradition in Robert Creeley’s «A Day Book»

[para. 1]: "Since his death in March 2004 at sunrise in Odessa, Texas, much has been written on Robert Creeley’s contribution to poetry and poetics. Testaments to his generosity, kind attention, and his ability to connect poets with one another have surfaced in articles in print and on the web, revealing the myriad ways in which this great American poet touched the lives of many. He was a remarkable man, contributing a persistent and able voice that will be evaluated for years to come. Right now, however, I want to look not at Creeley’s contribution to other poets, but to his understanding of the poem as a tool for communication. Creeley’s sense of the common place is seen in his use of the poem as a tool for the communication of individual experience, and through poetry he arrives at a consensual understanding of human relationships that comes from a philosophical affinity for empirical observation. Writing, for Creeley, was an active process that did not aim for representational product. Composition led him toward a greater self-engagement within the diverse environments he inhabited by giving shape to the impressions he received. Moreover, the emotive force and bearing he brought to composition made definitive arguments about the nature of his experience, the force of which invites others to compare their life experience with his. Through such associations a rich and contextual extension of meaning crosses from subjective experience toward a more cohesive communal exchange, providing depth and content for human participation in a world frequently manipulated by other political and social agendas. Creeley judged his experience carefully, and through its extension in narrative he invited others to consider their own experience with his. Surprisingly, perhaps, the skeptical philosophy of David Hume helps reveal a greater context in which to consider Creeley’s approach to poetry, for as with Hume, Creeley’s faith in consensus as a way to engage and understand the world gives meaning to experience by connecting the particular perceptions and feelings of an individual life with the common place acts and social interactions of every day."