Josh Bartee

A terrifying and dark poem. Jeffers considered it to be his "Faust," but most critics have never liked it very much, and it represents his first major slump, following upon the trilogy of early narrative poems that launched his career: "Tamar," "Roan Stallion," and "The Tower Beyond Tragedy." Those poems share a classical unity that "The Women at Point Sur" departs from. Jeffers's linguistic power is as strong here as anywhere else, though, and the tragedy will shock your average modern reader.