Reflections on Maximus Poems

I have tried to approach Olson's sizable work generously and charitably. Some of his lines are wonderful such as these:

All night long

I was a Eumolpidae

as I slept

putting things together

which had not previously

fit

(Olson 327)

Unfortunately much of the work in IV, V, VI tires and I wish he had given many of his allusions and associations more substance, perhaps more eloquence. When he does provide a great deal of substance to his reference, such as in the section Maximus, From Dogtown-IV], much of his writing fails to inspire and seems less worthwhile, meaningful, or well scripted as, say, Hesiod's Theogony itself.

On the whole, his writing contains many interesting experiments and rich pockets of verse, but most of it gives me mild headaches if I run through it for long.

Can I learn about poetics and style from Olson? Certainly, but I still want to speed through most of the landscape of his opus.