Lighting the Fire: The Poetry of Jim Morrison

Lighting the Fire: The Poetry of Jim Morrison

“The time to hesitate is through,/No time to wallow in the mire,/Try now we can only lose,/And our love becomes a funeral pyre.”

These words, whose rhyme and meter evoke images of Byron, Wordsworth and other Romantics, were not penned by a nineteenth-century poet in a top hat and a frock coat. Instead, they were written by a twentieth-century artist who, much like many of the Romantic poets before him, had his life cut short in the midst of his artistic prime; these words were written by Jim Morrison, lead singer of The Doors.

But today, on the eve of what would have been his 68th birthday, I don’t want to talk about Jim Morrison the singer, or Jim Morrison the tragic artist. Instead, I want to take a look at one of the lesser-known sides of one of America’s most iconic frontmen. I want to look at Jim Morrison the poet.

Most people recognize Jim Morrison as the singer of The Doors, but few realize that he also released two volumes of poetry before his death in 1971. These volumes of poetry, titled “The Lords” and “Notes on Vision and The New Creatures,” were both self-published by Morrison in 1969. Both volumes deal with the primal, savage and dark realities of a country and a culture in turmoil.

Lines of poetry such as “Let me tell you about heartache and the loss of god/Wandering, wandering in hopeless night/Out here in the perimeter there are no stars…/Out here we is stoned…” call upon the influence and the anger of Ginsberg, Kerouac and the rest of the Beat Generation. These images of sex, drugs, violence and disillusionment permeate Morrison’s verse and serve as a direct parallel to fast and mysterious life Morrison lead in his final days.

After his death, however, two more volumes of poetry titled “Wilderness” and “The American Life” were released in 1988 and 1990, respectively. These posthumous collections of poems possess a very different style, voice and tone from his other works. In place of the anger and frustration found in “The Lords” and “Notes on Vision and The New Creatures,” we find a sense of self discovery, reflection and even power.

In fact, in a poem aptly titled “Power,” Morrison declares, “I can make myself invisible or small./I can become gigantic & reach the/farthest things. I can change/the course of nature.” This  sense of knowledge, power and even omnipotence resembles the opening lines found in Book III of Walt Whitman’s “Leaves of Grass,” “I celebrate myself, and sing myself,/And what I assume you shall assume,/For every atom belonging to me as good belongs to you.” Many of the poems in these volumes carry this theme of knowledge and power along with the free-verse style of poetry that Whitman made famous, making them a stark contrast to the volumes he released prior to his death.

Morrison’s poems range from romantic to violent, from constrained and metered to free and rambling. Entire books can (and have been) written about Jim Morrison’s poetry without scratching the surface of his talent, but one thing is for certain: Jim Morrison was an American creative icon, and one that will inspire poets and songwriters for generations.

What do you think Studio 602 readers? Have you read any of Jim Morrison’s poetry? Sound of in the comments section!