18 pages • 36 minutes read
The Bear
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Further Reading & Resources
Related Poems
“Another Night in Ruins” by Galway Kinnell (1966)
In this poem the speaker is on a walk at evening. He recalls his brother saying you have to “throw yourself [into the bonfire] to make it burn.” He concludes his walk by asking how long it will take to realize that humans are not like the phoenix who rises from ashes but rather like the flame itself. Like “The Bear,” this poem is written as a journey. It meditates on natural powers and man’s connection to the elements.
“Blackberry Eating” by Galway Kinnell (1980)
This is a much shorter poem of Kinnell’s that also explores the human connection with nature. It depicts a man who is eating off the land and ends with a comparison between nature and language. For the poet it is clear that poetry and nature itself are chief sources of nourishment.
“Wait” by Galway Kinnell (1980)
Kinnell has said in interviews that he wrote this poem for a student who was contemplating suicide. It is advice about waiting through suicidal ideation and having hope that you will one day desire to live again. It is one of Kinnell’s most famous poems, and it shows the versatility of his writing abilities and the multi-dimensionality of his themes.
Further Literary Resources
“Deeper Than Personality: A Conversation with Galway Kinnell” edited by Philip J. Gerber and Robert Gemmett (1970)
In this interview in the Iowa Review, Galway Kinnell discusses his book Body Rags (1968) and specifically “The Bear.” He says that although it is a poem he gets asked about frequently, he doesn’t know what it is “about.” He discusses his experience writing it, its genesis, its source material from the story of an Inuit hunter, and just knowing intuitively that it was complete in the final lines. Kinnell also says he is open to listening to the interpretations of other people who analyze his poems.
This article gives an overview of traditional Inuit hunting techniques and how they have changed over time. Inuit rely predominantly on hunting to get food. They hunt seal, caribou, fish, and the biggest game of all is bear. Unlike in “The Bear” Inuit hunters bring along their dogs instead of hunting alone. Today they use snow mobiles and guns.
A Celebration of the Life in Poetry of Galway Kinnell (August 7, 2014)
This event was produced by Back Roads Readings and was filmed at the Montpellier State House in Vermont. Several well-known poets pay tribute to Kinnell by reading his most well-known poems and discussing how his poems have affected them personally. This recording was made six months before his death in October of the same year.
Listen to Poem
This video comes from Thomas Jefferson College’s first poetry festival, held in the spring of 1973. In this video Kinnell comments on the fact that he is asked to read the poem so often he believes he should have it memorized and then proceeds to recites the 93 lines of “The Bear” from memory.
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By Galway Kinnell
