“The poetics of such a situation / are yet to be found out”: Charles Olson and Alfred North Whitehead

Charles Olson referred to Alfred North Whitehead as “my master” and “the companion of my poems,” and critics agree on the significance of Whitehead’s influence on Olson, yet Olson rarely refers to Whitehead directly in his poetry or prose. This essay traces the origins of Olson’s encounter with White-head, offers a brief account of Whitehead’s philosophy, and then presents close readings of the two Maximus poems in which Whitehead figures significantly, “ Maximus to Gloucester, Letter 27 [withheld]” and “A Later Note on Letter # 15.”