Deep beneath the earth in caves in France, Clayton Eshleman found meaning.
The well-traveled poet, translator and teacher has spent 25 years studying the primitive images hidden in 40 caves scattered throughout the Dordogne region and the Pyrenees Mountains. He thinks of these drawings, sculptures, paintings and etchings, some of which date back 32,400 years, as the origins of poetry.
"These are the earliest imitations I think we have of a muse, or of a figure within who helps the human being create an alternative world and not simply reproduce actuality," he said.
In short, he believes the images are examples of the beginnings of human expression, and were created at a time, as he wrote, when imagination began to emerge.
His years of research and experience have been gathered into "Juniper Fuse: Upper Paleolithic Imagination & the Construction of the Underworld." The book is a collection of poetry, prose pieces and essays that Eshleman compiled as he explored the primitive art galleries displayed in the caves of southwestern France.-á
Eshleman will be speaking at Ball State University Wednesday, Jan. 21. He'll discuss his book, theories and experiences. Also, he'll perform a reading of "Notes on a Visit to Le Tuc d'Audoubert," a poetic, six-page passage from "Juniper Fuse." With this piece, he recounts his experience of traveling to this difficult cave in the Pyrenees, which he endured a six-hour, 800-meter crawl to explore.
Peter Davis is an instructor in the writing program at Ball State and arranged Eshleman's visit. "He'll bring an intelligent and unique perspective," Davis said. "He's not a casual observer; he's been to the Dordogne every year for almost 30 years and he has something to say about it."
Born in Indianapolis, Eshleman studied music and business at Indiana University in the early 1950s, but it was his discovery of poetry that would define his life.
"I feel that all of my literary activity ... has been done out of a poetic core. I have attempted to live the life of a poet, but to think and orient the use of my mind primarily through poetry," he said. "I don't think I would have ended up in the Dordogne if I hadn't been a poet."
His study of the caves in the Dordogne region, he said, enabled him to discover what he calls a back wall, which is the point at which no artistic image of the world had been translated into a presentation, like a drawing or sculpture.
"I think (the back wall) is one of the crucial human breakthroughs that is involved with what we understand is our humanity, or our imagination today," he said. "It's almost like going into an alternate universe and finding how beautifully it is tied in to the best aspects of our own."
He started exploring in the spring of 1974 after a friend urged him to see the area. Upon discovering all the writing on the Dordogne had been done by archeologists, he decided to give the caves his treatment as a poet.
Eventually, in the early 1980s, Eshleman realized his notes and poems formed the nucleus that would turn into "Juniper Fuse." He began compiling his work into a 650-page manuscript. After extensive trimming, the book was finished.
"His book has both analyses and poetry," Davis said. "It's an imaginative look at the cave paintings from a variety of academic disciplines."
As a poet, Eshleman's interest in the images of the Dordogne caves comes from his search for a sense of place, for meaning and for origin. After 25 years of study, Eshleman realized he -- as well as other poets -- is tied to these primitive artists.
"The caves have given me a feeling of belonging, a feeling that I am participating in a pre-tradition involving the earliest nights and days of soul-making," he said.
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