were an important source of income for local
residents.
For early settlers, the Blue Ridge provided
wealth from lumber and mining operations. Agri-
culture and moonshine (illegally made alcohol)
productions were also important industries. Once
the commercial lumber was gone, the Chattahoo-
chee National Forest was established. During
the Great Depression, the Civilian Conservation
Corps, which created jobs to bring down the high
unemployment rate, built camping grounds and
other facilities on the Blue Ridge Parkway and
the Appalachian Trail. The Parkway, the nation’s
first and longest of its kind, turned into a half-
century project and was to celebrate its 75th
anniversary in 2010. It is the National Park Serv-
ice’s biggest attraction with around 20 million
visitors each year. The area offers whitewater
rafting, horseback riding, driving tours, fishing,
canoeing, and other recreational activities as well
as quaint lodges, rustic farms with split-rail fen-
ces, and multiple historic sites. In short, the Blue
Ridge Mountains are a beautiful national treas-
ure worthy of awed description in literature.
CRITICAL OVERVIEWThe accolades for Wright from the critics con-
tain phrases such as ‘‘the best’’ and ‘‘the greatest’’
of his generation. His numerous awards and his
classification by poetry organizations and the
Library of Congress as ‘‘classic’’ or ‘‘essential’’
indicate his revered position in American poetry.
The publication ofBuffalo Yogain 2004 elicited
continuing praise for his talent.
Brian Henry, in an essay on Wright’s tech-
niques for theVirginia Quarterly Review, noted
that the ‘‘most significant stylistic element of
Buffalo Yogais also the most common: Every
poem in the book employs the low rider as an
integral element not only of the poems’ styles but
of their meanings.’’ ‘‘Words Are the Diminution
of All Things’’ has several instances of the low
rider, or stepped line, all of which effectively add
weight and direction to the message of the poem.
Donnas Seaman, longstanding reviewer for
Booklist, calledBuffalo Yogaan ‘‘elegantly con-
templative collection’’ and noted that it ‘‘reflects
on the most familiar of Wright subjects—sun,
moon, wind, clouds, trees.’’ Her superlatives for
the book included phrases such as ‘‘penetrating
and ravishingly gorgeous lyrical poems,’’ ‘‘clas-
sically philosophical and freshly revealing,’’ and
‘‘illuminates and exalts.’’ Seaman’s appreciation
stemmed from the way that Wright meshes
human and divine in his search for the intercon-
nectivity between the two, and the relationship
of this life and the afterlife. In his meditations on
time and the spectrum of existence, Seaman
stated that Wright is ‘‘a profoundly yogic poet.’’Turkey vulture in flight(Image copyright Rich Lindie, 2009. Used under license from Shutterstock.com)
Words Are the Diminution of All Things