Hayden Carruth and “The Norfolk Poems”

By Francesca Turchiano

The New York Times obituary of Hayden Carruth noted that his “spare, precise, impassioned verse took myriad forms and stamped him as one of the most wide-ranging and intellectually ambitious poets of his generation.” He died at his home near Syracuse, New York on September 29 at 87. Early in Carruth’s adult life, following a breakdown that resulted severe debilitation, he was befriended by James Laughlin, the renowned founder of New Directions Press and father of Leila Javitch. “The Norfolk Poems,” published in 1962, were written during those years. Carruth also wrote extensively on jazz and reluctantly wrote an autobigraphy titled “Reluctantly.” Many of his works are in The Norfolk Library. From “In Tobey Woods” by Hayden Carruth: At noontime under the very tall pines Heat is a half-light and nothing moves Unless it is one deathly shell-white moth Futtering, fluttering. And the woods are very quiet, unless It is one vireo idiotically tzekking, Tzekking. Stillness; the deep stillness.