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Set in the small-town, pre-civil rights South, The Hawk and the Sun
is the story of one day in the life of Dandelion, a physically
impaired man who is the sole black resident in the town of Tilden.
Set in the small-town, pre-civil rights South, The Hawk and the Sun
is the story of one day in the life of Dandelion, a physically
impaired man who is the sole black resident in the town of Tilden.
Years before, the birth of a mixed-race child to a white prostitute
had precipitated an outpouring of hatred against Tilden's black
citizens, all of whom but Dandelion had been driven from town. In
this atmosphere of smoldering self-righteousness, Dandelion
survives on handouts and what little he can earn from odd jobs.
Finally, the town turns against him as well. Seen hurrying from the
house of the neurotic Miss Ella as her screams fill the air of an
August morning, Dandelion is apprehended and falsely accused of
rape. Before the day's end, he is tortured and lynched. In his
rendering of Dandelion, of those who murdered him, of those who
looked the other way, and of the lone white man who stood futilely
against the mob, Byron Herbert Reece brings his readers face to
face with the horrifying spectacle of collective fear and racism.
Collected here are poems by one of Georgia's most intriguing and
talented poets of the twentieth century. Byron Herbert Reece was
born in Union County, Georgia, in 1917 and authored four volumes of
poems and two novels during his short lifetime. Until now, many of
his poems, originally published in the 1940s and 1950s, have been
out of print. Reece, who faithfully assumed responsibility for his
family's farm when his parents became ill, was never a poet of the
academic ivory tower. Indeed, he rebelled against the rising New
Criticism associated with the Vanderbilt Fugitives, the elite of
southern poetry at that time. Reece's work reflects both the
devastating impact of his parents' death from tuberculosis and his
own affliction with the disease, which caused him to distance
himself from others: ""A solitary thing am I / Upon the roads of
rust and flame / That thin at sunset to the air."" Reece was also
preoccupied with his ambivalence toward the farm, which sustained
his solitude yet took time away from his writing: ""In the far,
dark woods go roving / And find there to match your mood / A
kindred spirit moving / Where the wild winds blow in the wood.""
Reece's poetry is resonant and contemplative, and Jim Clark has
included here works that speak for the true grace of Reece's
talent. In addition, Clark's attentive introduction should bring
increased interest to this notable southern poet.
A generous selection of poems by a unique and influential
twentieth-century Georgia poet; Collected here are poems by one of
Georgia's most intriguing and talented poets of the twentieth
century. Byron Herbert Reece was born in Union County, Georgia, in
1917 and authored four volumes of poems and two novels during his
short lifetime. Until now, many of his poems, originally published
in the 1940s and 1950s, have been out of print. Reece, who
faithfully assumed responsibility for his family's farm when his
parents became ill, was never a poet of the academic ivory tower.
Indeed, he rebelled against the rising New Criticism associated
with the Vanderbilt Fugitives, the elite of southern poetry at that
time. Reece's work reflects both the devastating impact of his
parents' death from tuberculosis and his own affliction with the
disease, which caused him to distance himself from others: ""A
solitary thing am I/Upon the roads of rust and flame/That thin at
sunset to the air."" Reece was also preoccupied with his
ambivalence toward the farm, which sustained his solitude yet took
time away from his writing: ""In the far, dark woods go roving/And
find there to match your mood/A kindred spirit moving/Where the
wild winds blow in the wood."" Reece's poetry is resonant and
contemplative, and Jim Clark has included here works that speak for
the true grace of Reece's talent. In addition, Clark's attentive
introduction should bring increased interest to this notable
southern poet.
First published in 1950, "Better a Dinner of Herbs" is a
compellingly dramatic tale of twisted, often violent human
relationships. Taking its title from a biblical passage dealing
with the power of love and hate within a household, the novel
counterbalances its grim narrative with a poetic prose that evokes
a reverence for the rhythm of the seasons and the continuity of
life.
Byron Herbert Reece situates the story in the isolated hills of
the agrarian South where he spent most of his life, but it could
have occurred in any rural setting at any time. An unmarried girl
dies in childbirth. Her brother, swearing revenge on the father of
the child, sells the family farm and turns toward the open world
with his nephew. In search of a wife and a different livelihood, he
chances to encounter his enemy. An intentional act of brutality
symbolizes an end to his passion and summons him again away from
all that he cherishes.
Born at the foot of Blood Mountain in north Georgia and reared
in the isolated mountain area near Blairsville, Byron Herbert Reece
(1917-1958) was the author of four volumes of poetry and two novels
that are tied deeply to the spirit and traditions of Appalachia.
Journalist Bill Shipp has called Reece "perhaps the greatest
balladeer of the Appalachians." His first volume of poems was
published in 1945 to wide critical acclaim, and the publication of
his remaining work brought him recognition far beyond north
Georgia.
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