Polyphony and ecology: The green world in Robert Bringhurst’s New World Suite No. 3

Abstract

Canadian poet Robert Bringhurst found inspiration for New World Suite No. 3, a complex poem for three voices in four movements, in the natural polyphony of the Earth and in the vast world of polyphonic music. This article examines the elementary lessons this poet-philosopher learnt from musicians and the world to be able to produce a polyphonic poetry which is intellectually alert to the damage that the human species is doing to the ecosphere. It analyses the role of nature in the Suite and looks into polyphony as a poetic strategy designed to capture the multifariousness of a green world that is being constantly assailed by greed-driven capitalism and the practices of neo-liberalism. Concerned with preserving the integrity of the Earth, the Suite is ultimately a denunciation of an anthropocentric logic of domination and a reminder that dwelling on Earth with responsibility is simply a moral imperative.