The Collected Poems of Jean Toomer

This volume is the only collected edition of poems by Jean Toomer, the enigmatic American writer, Gurdjieffian guru, and Quaker convert who is perhaps best known for his 1923 lyrical narrative Cane. The fifty–five poems here — most of them previously unpublished — chart a fascinating evolution of artistic consciousness.

The book is divided into sections reflecting four distinct periods of creativity in Toomer’s career. The Aesthetic period includes Imagist, Symbolist, and other experimental ...