Dr. Michael Delahoyde
Washington State University

Robinson Jeffers:
"Science"


Man, introverted man, having crossed
In passage and but a little with the nature of things this
     latter century
Has begot giants; but being taken up
Like a maniac with self-love and inward conflicts can-
     not manage his hybrids.
Being used to deal with edgeless dreams,
Now he's bred knives on nature turns them also inward:
     they have thirsty points though.
His mind forebodes his own destruction;
Actaeon who saw the goddess naked among leaves and
     his hounds tore him.
A little knowledge, a pebble from the shingle,
A drop from the oceans: who would have dreamed this
     infinitely little too much?


Works Cited

Jeffers, Robinson. "Science." 1925. Selected Poems. NY: Vintage Books, 1965. 39.


Science Fiction
Literature