Kirby Doyle
Encyclopedia
Kirby Doyle born Stanton Doyle, was an American
poet. He was featured in the New American Poetry
anthology, with the so-called "third generation" of American modernist poets. He was one of the San Francisco Renaissance
poets who laid the groundwork for Beat
poetry in San Francisco. Doyle also wrote novels.
. A United States Army
veteran, Doyle was pursuing art and culinary studies at San Francisco State University
when he published several poems in the school's literary magazine. This led to his association with Robert Duncan
, Lew Welch
, and Kenneth Rexroth
. But Doyle stressed the directness of the spoken word over formal poetry.
In the late 1950s, Doyle wrote Sapphobones, a collection of playful and evocative love poems, which cemented his literary reputation (Words like mad exotic birds fluttering / from my thorax / whipping my speech -- moist and gaudy feathers / gone from my lips upward...). His work appeared alongside that of Jack Kerouac
, Lawrence Ferlinghetti
, and Allen Ginsberg
in the Spring, 1958 issue of Chicago Review, which was devoted to "San Francisco Renaissance" writers. Several of his poems were published on broadsheets by the Communication Company, the publishing arm of the Diggers
.
Although his work maintained the directness of colloquial speech, it could also be lyrical and rhapsodic. Doyle's poems were sometimes humorous. He was a Romantic at heart. He adored the works of John Keats, Emily Dickinson; and the great 'projective verse' of Charles Olson.
He was a mainstay of the North Beach literary scene in San Francisco from the late seventies until his incarceration in Laguna Honda hospital for dementia and the effects of diabetes. Prior to that he had lived for long stretches of time on commune
s near Mount Tamalpais
. The poet Michael McClure
said of him: "He was a handsome, big-smiled Irish American rascal. He was an original Beat, loose-jointed, with a great laugh. His poetry was beautiful stuff."
(Happiness Bastard,like Kerouac's "On the Road", was produced
on one continuous scroll of paper run through a typewriter,
and the sole copy is in the Kirby Doyle Archive in the possession
of Tisa Walden which also includes the unpublished Opus
"Pre American Ode", and other handwritten papers.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
poet. He was featured in the New American Poetry
The New American Poetry 1945-1960
The New American Poetry 1945–1960 was a poetry anthology edited by Donald Allen, and published in 1960. It aimed to pick out the "third generation" of American modernist poets, and included quite a number of poems fresh from the little magazines of the late 1950s. In the longer term it attained a...
anthology, with the so-called "third generation" of American modernist poets. He was one of the San Francisco Renaissance
San Francisco Renaissance
The term San Francisco Renaissance is used as a global designation for a range of poetic activity centered on San Francisco and which brought it to prominence as a hub of the American poetic avant-garde. However, others The term San Francisco Renaissance is used as a global designation for a range...
poets who laid the groundwork for Beat
Beat generation
The Beat Generation refers to a group of American post-WWII writers who came to prominence in the 1950s, as well as the cultural phenomena that they both documented and inspired...
poetry in San Francisco. Doyle also wrote novels.
Biography
Doyle was born in San Francisco, CaliforniaSan Francisco, California
San Francisco , officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the financial, cultural, and transportation center of the San Francisco Bay Area, a region of 7.15 million people which includes San Jose and Oakland...
. A United States Army
United States Army
The United States Army is the main branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for land-based military operations. It is the largest and oldest established branch of the U.S. military, and is one of seven U.S. uniformed services...
veteran, Doyle was pursuing art and culinary studies at San Francisco State University
San Francisco State University
San Francisco State University is a public university located in San Francisco, California. As part of the 23-campus California State University system, the university offers over 100 areas of study from nine academic colleges...
when he published several poems in the school's literary magazine. This led to his association with Robert Duncan
Robert Duncan (poet)
Robert Duncan was an American poet and a student of H.D. and the Western esoteric tradition who spent most of his career in and around San Francisco. Though associated with any number of literary traditions and schools, Duncan is often identified with the poets of the New American Poetry and Black...
, Lew Welch
Lew Welch
Lewis Barrett Welch, Jr. was an American poet associated with the Beat generation of poets, artists, and iconoclasts.Welch published and performed widely during the 1960s...
, and Kenneth Rexroth
Kenneth Rexroth
Kenneth Rexroth was an American poet, translator and critical essayist. He is regarded as a central figure in the San Francisco Renaissance, and paved the groundwork for the movement...
. But Doyle stressed the directness of the spoken word over formal poetry.
In the late 1950s, Doyle wrote Sapphobones, a collection of playful and evocative love poems, which cemented his literary reputation (Words like mad exotic birds fluttering / from my thorax / whipping my speech -- moist and gaudy feathers / gone from my lips upward...). His work appeared alongside that of Jack Kerouac
Jack Kerouac
Jean-Louis "Jack" Lebris de Kerouac was an American novelist and poet. He is considered a literary iconoclast and, alongside William S. Burroughs and Allen Ginsberg, a pioneer of the Beat Generation. Kerouac is recognized for his spontaneous method of writing, covering topics such as Catholic...
, Lawrence Ferlinghetti
Lawrence Ferlinghetti
Lawrence Ferlinghetti is an American poet, painter, liberal activist, and the co-founder of City Lights Booksellers & Publishers...
, and Allen Ginsberg
Allen Ginsberg
Irwin Allen Ginsberg was an American poet and one of the leading figures of the Beat Generation in the 1950s. He vigorously opposed militarism, materialism and sexual repression...
in the Spring, 1958 issue of Chicago Review, which was devoted to "San Francisco Renaissance" writers. Several of his poems were published on broadsheets by the Communication Company, the publishing arm of the Diggers
Diggers (theater)
The Diggers were a radical community-action group of activists and Improv actors operating from 1966–68, based in the Haight-Ashbury neighborhood of San Francisco. Their politics were such that they have sometimes been categorized as "left-wing." More accurately, they were "community anarchists"...
.
Although his work maintained the directness of colloquial speech, it could also be lyrical and rhapsodic. Doyle's poems were sometimes humorous. He was a Romantic at heart. He adored the works of John Keats, Emily Dickinson; and the great 'projective verse' of Charles Olson.
He was a mainstay of the North Beach literary scene in San Francisco from the late seventies until his incarceration in Laguna Honda hospital for dementia and the effects of diabetes. Prior to that he had lived for long stretches of time on commune
Commune (intentional community)
A commune is an intentional community of people living together, sharing common interests, property, possessions, resources, and, in some communes, work and income. In addition to the communal economy, consensus decision-making, non-hierarchical structures and ecological living have become...
s near Mount Tamalpais
Mount Tamalpais
Mount Tamalpais is a peak in Marin County, California, United States, often considered symbolic of Marin County. Much of Mount Tamalpais is protected within public lands such as Mount Tamalpais State Park and the Mount Tamalpais Watershed.-Geography:...
. The poet Michael McClure
Michael McClure
Michael McClure is an American poet, playwright, songwriter, and novelist. After moving to San Francisco as a young man, he found fame as one of the five poets who read at the famous San Francisco Six Gallery reading in 1955 rendered in barely fictionalized terms in Jack Kerouac's Dharma Bums...
said of him: "He was a handsome, big-smiled Irish American rascal. He was an original Beat, loose-jointed, with a great laugh. His poetry was beautiful stuff."
-
-
- Poem To A Mountain Girl
-
- ...and in your sleep I awake here,
- have eaten an orange
- have gone to the creek and bathed
- listening to its thin and liquid speech
- its joy to run so free and clean
- Now, returning to this ragged tent
- sanctuary to your sleep, your real sleep,
- I wish for you waking
- so that we together could take cool pause
- at the hidden pond I found down stream
- our bodies quick and chilled
- by the water,
- our bodies breathing - holding
- Now, as pen point and shadow
- touch this page
- I look up almost stunned to
- know that from your sleep you have loved me.
- and from my awakening I have loved you back
List of works
- Sapphobones (Poets Press, 1966)
- Ode to John Garfield (Communication Company, 1967)
- Angel Faint (Communication Company, 1968; Deep Forest,1991)
- Happiness Bastard (Essex House, 1968; a novel).
(Happiness Bastard,like Kerouac's "On the Road", was produced
on one continuous scroll of paper run through a typewriter,
and the sole copy is in the Kirby Doyle Archive in the possession
of Tisa Walden which also includes the unpublished Opus
"Pre American Ode", and other handwritten papers.
- The Collected Poems of Kirby Doyle (Greenlight Press,1983)
- After Olson (Deep Forest,1984)
- The Questlock: Gymnopaean of A. Dianaei O'Tamal (Deep Forest,1987)
- Lyric Poems (City Lights, 1988)
- Crime, Justice & Tragedy and Das Erde Profundus (Deep Forest,1989)
- Pre American Ode (unpublished)
- White Flesh (unpublished; novel)
Recordings
- Howls, Raps & Roars: Recordings from the San Francisco poetry renaissance (compilation) (Universal Music Group, 1963; Fantasy Records 1993). Click HERE to listen to Doyle read Angel Faint from this compilation (you must have Windows Media PlayerWindows Media PlayerWindows Media Player is a media player and media library application developed by Microsoft that is used for playing audio, video and viewing images on personal computers running the Microsoft Windows operating system, as well as on Pocket PC and Windows Mobile-based devices...
).
Further reading
- Phillips, Rod. Forest Beatniks and Urban Thoreaus. Peter Lang Publishing (2000).
External links
- The Birth of Digger Batman, a prose poem Doyle wrote on the occasion of the birth of Billy "Batman" Jahrmarkt, the son of Billy Batman, a member of the DiggersDiggers (theater)The Diggers were a radical community-action group of activists and Improv actors operating from 1966–68, based in the Haight-Ashbury neighborhood of San Francisco. Their politics were such that they have sometimes been categorized as "left-wing." More accurately, they were "community anarchists"...
- Friday memorial for Kirby Doyle -- Beat writer, poet, an obituary in the San Francisco ChronicleSan Francisco Chroniclethumb|right|upright|The Chronicle Building following the [[1906 San Francisco earthquake|1906 earthquake]] and fireThe San Francisco Chronicle is a newspaper serving primarily the San Francisco Bay Area of the U.S. state of California, but distributed throughout Northern and Central California,...
- Kirby Doyle and the Snows of Yesteryear, remembrances of Doyle by Michael McClureMichael McClureMichael McClure is an American poet, playwright, songwriter, and novelist. After moving to San Francisco as a young man, he found fame as one of the five poets who read at the famous San Francisco Six Gallery reading in 1955 rendered in barely fictionalized terms in Jack Kerouac's Dharma Bums...
in the magazine Cento. - Remembrances of Kirby Doyle by McClure, Peter CoyotePeter CoyotePeter Coyote is an American actor, author, director, screenwriter and narrator of films, theatre, television and audio books. His voice work includes narrating the opening ceremony of the 2002 Winter Olympics and Apple's iPad campaign. He has also served as on-camera co-host of the 2000 Oscar...
,Tisa Walden, Philomene Long and John Thomas, and Claude Hayward. - Kirby Doyle (1932-2003), remembrance of Doyle by Jack Foley
- "Of all the poets included in the watershed..." reflections on the poetry of Doyle (August 2006) by Ron SillimanRon SillimanRon Silliman is an American poet. He has written and edited over 30 books, and has had his poetry and criticism translated into 12 languages. He is often associated with language poetry. Between 1979 and 2004, Silliman wrote a single poem, The Alphabet...
- Ode to John Garfield, a Doyle poem published by the DiggersDiggers (theater)The Diggers were a radical community-action group of activists and Improv actors operating from 1966–68, based in the Haight-Ashbury neighborhood of San Francisco. Their politics were such that they have sometimes been categorized as "left-wing." More accurately, they were "community anarchists"...
- Photo of Doyle (on right) with Billy Batman
