The Last Oblivion: Best Fantastic Poems of Clark Ashton Smith (Hippocampus Press, January 13, 2021)

January 13 will mark the 132nd natal anniversary of the great Clark Ashton Smith, accomplished writer of weird fiction, horror, and poetry; visionary illustrator, painter, and sculptor. Smith’s tales of Averoigne, Atlantis, Hyperborea, and Zothique have fascinated me for years. Smith was incredibly gifted, writing tales fantasy, terror, science fiction, and the supernatural.

He also is considered one of the greatest poets of the twentieth century. The Last Oblivion contains a wonderful selection of his poetic works. Smith’s exotic language and fertile imagination are unparalleled in these weird, supernatural, and otherworldly poems. I highly recommend it if you’re looking for something different yet evocative.

“The Door to Saturn” is one of my favorite Smith tales written. It is part of his Hyperborea Cycle, which is a principal inspiration for my tabletop role-playing game of the same name.

This tale, presented in audio by HorrorBabble, displays all the characteristics typical of CAS: lyrical, smart, clever, dark, witty, ironic, mysterious, and ingenious. The reader does a wonderful job, too. If you are a fan of H.P. Lovecraft, you should be reading Smith, too.

Clark Ashton Smith

Smith’s cycles, such as Averoigne, Poseidonis, Xiccarph, and of course Hyperborea, have had an incredible impact on me and my own creative works.

Here, below, is one of his fine poems, called “Enchanted Mirrors,” which you can find in many of his collected poetry books.

These are enchanted mirrors that I bring,
By demons wrought from metals of the moon
To burnished forms of lune or plenilune:
Therein are faery faces vanishing,
And warm Pompeiian phantoms lovelier
Than mortal flesh or marble; and the gleam
Of suns that from Saturnia rose in dream
And sank on golden worlds that never were.
Therein you shall behold unshapen dooms,
And ghoul-astounding shadows of the tombs;
Oblivion, with eyes like poppy-buds,
Or love, with blossoms plucked in Devachan,
In stillness of the santal-pillared woods;
But nevermore the moiling world of man.

And check out the Clark Ashton Smith short story discussion I had on Rollin’ Bones with Ryan Gregory Howard August 21st of this year. We discussed a wonderful selection of Clark Ashton Smith stories:

Horror Story

“The Devotee of Evil”

Xiccarph Story

“The Flower Women”

Averoigne Stories

“The Satyr”
“Mother of Toads”

Zothique Stories

“The Charnel God”
“The Isle of the Torturers”

Hyperborea Stories

“The Tale of Satampra Zeiros”
“The Seven Geases”

It was a blast! We discussed the content of these stories, our thoughts, read some comments, and more. You can read any of these stories right now at a website called The Eldritch Dark.

If you already are a Smith fan, what is your favorite story that he wrote?

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Jeffrey P. Talanian’s last article for Black Gate was a look at the classic TSR module Conan Unchained! RPG. He is the creator and publisher of the Hyperborea sword-and-sorcery and weird science-fantasy RPG from North Wind Adventures. He was the co-author, with E. Gary Gygax, of the Castle Zagyg releases, including several Yggsburgh city supplements, Castle Zagyg: The East Mark Gazetteer, and Castle Zagyg: The Upper Works. Read Gabe Gybing’s interview with Jeffrey here, and follow his latest projects on Facebook and at www.hyperborea.tv.