Tear it Down

Published in 1994, “Tear It Down” by Jack Gilbert first appeared in his poetry collection The Great Fires: Poems 1982-1992. Gilbert, though praised and awarded for his contributions to contemporary poetry, chose to exist outside the literary scene. He did not ascribe to any poetic movement, though in his early career, he engaged with poets of the Beat generation.

“Tear It Down” covers various overarching themes of the poet’s work: Love, marriage, and mortality. It stands as a prime example of the poems Gilbert tirelessly worked to create, focusing less on prescriptions of form and working instead on “finding the poem,” as he describes in a 1962 interview with his editor, Gordon Lish (Gilbert, Jack, and Gordon Lish. “Jack Gilbert, Interviewed by Gordon Lish, 1962 (from Issue One of Genesis West).” UNSAID, Unsaid Magazine, 20 Nov. 2012, unsaidmagazine.wordpress.com/2012/11/16/jack-gilbert-interviewed-by-gordon-lish-1962-from-issue-one-of-genesis-west-part-one/). Rich in imagery and connotative diction, “Tear It Down” insists the reader move beyond initial impressions for a more fully realized understanding of the world around them.

Poet Biography

Born in 1925 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Jack Gilbert is a celebrated—yet elusive—lyrical poet. He attended the University of Pittsburgh and began writing poetry after meeting fellow poet Gerald Stern.