H. D., “Oread”
H. D., “Oread” Whirl up, sea –whirl your pointed pines,splash your great pineson our rocks,hurl your green over us,cover us … Continue Reading H. D., “Oread”
H. D., “Orchard”
H. D., “Orchard” I saw the first pearas it fell –the honey-seeking, golden-banded,the yellow swarmwas not more fleet than I,(spare … Continue Reading H. D., “Orchard”
Amy Lowell, “Thompson’s Lunch Room—Grand Central Station”
Amy Lowell, “Thompson’s Lunch Room—Grand Central Station” STUDY IN WHITES Wax-white—Floor, ceiling, walls.Ivory shadowsOver the pavementPolished to cream surfacesBy constant … Continue Reading Amy Lowell, “Thompson’s Lunch Room—Grand Central Station”
Amy Lowell, “The Pike”
Amy Lowell, “The Pike” In the brown water,Thick and silver-sheened in the sunshine,Liquid and cool in the shade of the … Continue Reading Amy Lowell, “The Pike”
Charles Reznikoff, “Millinery District”
Charles Reznikoff, “Millinery District” The clouds, piled in rows like merchandise, become dark; lights are lit in the lofts; the … Continue Reading Charles Reznikoff, “Millinery District”
Delmore Schwartz, “The Heavy Bear Who Goes With Me”
Delmore Schwartz, “The Heavy Bear Who Goes With Me” “the withness of the body” The heavy bear who goes with … Continue Reading Delmore Schwartz, “The Heavy Bear Who Goes With Me”
Delmore Schwartz, “In the Naked Bed, in Plato’s Cave”
Delmore Schwartz, “In the Naked Bed, in Plato’s Cave” In the naked bed, in Plato’s cave, Reflected headlights slowly slid … Continue Reading Delmore Schwartz, “In the Naked Bed, in Plato’s Cave”
Walt Whitman, “A Sight in Camp in the Daybreak Gray and Dim”
Walt Whitman, “A Sight in Camp in the Daybreak Gray and Dim” A sight in camp in the daybreak gray … Continue Reading Walt Whitman, “A Sight in Camp in the Daybreak Gray and Dim”
T. S. Eliot, “Preludes”
T. S. Eliot, “Preludes” I The winter evening settles down With smell of steaks in passageways. Six o’clock. The burnt-out … Continue Reading T. S. Eliot, “Preludes”
Thom Gunn, “On the Move”
Thom Gunn, “On the Move” “Man, you gotta Go.” The blue jay scuffling in the bushes follows Some hidden purpose, … Continue Reading Thom Gunn, “On the Move”
Thom Gunn, “No Speech from the Scaffold”
Thom Gunn, “No Speech from the Scaffold” There will be no speech from the scaffold, the scene must be its … Continue Reading Thom Gunn, “No Speech from the Scaffold”
Yvor Winters, “Time and the Garden”
Yvor Winters, “Time and the Garden” The spring has darkened with activity. The future gathers in vine, bush, and tree: … Continue Reading Yvor Winters, “Time and the Garden”
Yvor Winters, “The Slow Pacific Swell”
Yvor Winters, “The Slow Pacific Swell” Far out of sight forever stands the sea, Bounding the land with pale tranquillity. … Continue Reading Yvor Winters, “The Slow Pacific Swell”
Czeslaw Milosz, “My Faithful Mother Tongue”
Czeslaw Milosz, “My Faithful Mother Tongue” Faithful mother tongue, I have been serving you. Every night, I used to set … Continue Reading Czeslaw Milosz, “My Faithful Mother Tongue”
Eavan Boland, “The Mother Tongue”
Eavan Boland, “The Mother Tongue” The old pale ditch can still be seen less than half a mile from my … Continue Reading Eavan Boland, “The Mother Tongue”
Genevieve Taggard, “To One Loved Wholly Within Wisdom”
Genevieve Taggard, “To One Loved Wholly Within Wisdom” Someone will reap you like a field, Pile your gathered plunder, Garner … Continue Reading Genevieve Taggard, “To One Loved Wholly Within Wisdom”
Genevieve Taggard, “To the Powers of Desolation”
Genevieve Taggard, “To the Powers of Desolation” O mortal boy we cannot stop The leak in that great wall where … Continue Reading Genevieve Taggard, “To the Powers of Desolation”
Archibald MacLeish, “Voyage West”
Archibald MacLeish, “Voyage West” There was a time for discoveries — For the headlands looming above in the First light … Continue Reading Archibald MacLeish, “Voyage West”
The Best of Albert Camus’s Notebooks
A random scattering, some barely aphorisms, from the first two volumes of the notebooks of Albert Camus. They are gold: … Continue Reading The Best of Albert Camus’s Notebooks
20th Century Poetry #4: Laurence Binyon
One way to understand where poetry is now is to see where it was a hundred years ago. Every … Continue Reading 20th Century Poetry #4: Laurence Binyon
William Blake Chooses Eternity
A wonderful paragraph from Peter Ackroyd’s biography of William Blake, where he shows how the poet slowly came to accept … Continue Reading William Blake Chooses Eternity
20th Century Poetry #3: W. H. Davies
One way to understand where poetry is now is to see where it was a hundred years ago. Every Saturday … Continue Reading 20th Century Poetry #3: W. H. Davies
20th Century Poetry #2: A. E. Housman
One way to understand where poetry is now is to see where it was a hundred years ago. Every Saturday … Continue Reading 20th Century Poetry #2: A. E. Housman
The Poet Speaks #14: Kafka Tries Again & Again
Here are some bits from Kafka’s Diaries, trying & failing to harmonize his writing life with his family and work … Continue Reading The Poet Speaks #14: Kafka Tries Again & Again
The Poet Speaks #13: Richard Wilbur & John Berryman: “The artist is extremely lucky who is presented with the worst possible ordeal which will not actually kill him”
Even though I’ve never read a word of his poetry, John Berryman has been haunting me lately. Two friends who … Continue Reading The Poet Speaks #13: Richard Wilbur & John Berryman: “The artist is extremely lucky who is presented with the worst possible ordeal which will not actually kill him”
The Poet Speaks #12: Ralph Ellison, Anthony Burgess, James Dickey
If the Negro, or any other writer, is going to do what is expected of him, he’s lost the battle … Continue Reading The Poet Speaks #12: Ralph Ellison, Anthony Burgess, James Dickey
The Poet Speaks #11: George Eliot, Ernest Hemingway, Philip Levine, Stephen King, Seamus Heaney: “struggling erring human creatures”
George Eliot, on empathy: The greatest benefit we owe to the artist, whether painter, poet, or novelist, is the extension … Continue Reading The Poet Speaks #11: George Eliot, Ernest Hemingway, Philip Levine, Stephen King, Seamus Heaney: “struggling erring human creatures”
The Poet Speaks #9: Geoffrey Hill, Robert Frost, Allen Ginsberg, James Merrill, Ursula K. Le Guin: “We are difficult”
On the supposed “difficulty” of his poetry: We are difficult. Human beings are difficult. We’re difficult to ourselves, we’re difficult … Continue Reading The Poet Speaks #9: Geoffrey Hill, Robert Frost, Allen Ginsberg, James Merrill, Ursula K. Le Guin: “We are difficult”
The Poet Speaks #8: Patti Smith, Toni Morrison, T. S. Eliot, Hart Crane: “I shall make every sacrifice toward that end”
As even “nerd culture” and all the rest just becomes another snobby fad and pop culture corner to hide in, … Continue Reading The Poet Speaks #8: Patti Smith, Toni Morrison, T. S. Eliot, Hart Crane: “I shall make every sacrifice toward that end”
The Poet Speaks #7: Bronowski, Bloom, Munro, Gilbert, Trevor
On why he turned from more specialized to more popular writing on science and culture: Because of that [the use … Continue Reading The Poet Speaks #7: Bronowski, Bloom, Munro, Gilbert, Trevor
The Poet Speaks #6: Yeats & Blake
Some great quotes from W. B. Yeats and William Blake, chosen almost at random from two good biographies of them; … Continue Reading The Poet Speaks #6: Yeats & Blake
The Poet Speaks #5: Hughes, Auden, Hall, Pinsky, Collins
On why he wrote about animals so much: I suppose because they were there at the beginning. Like parents. Since … Continue Reading The Poet Speaks #5: Hughes, Auden, Hall, Pinsky, Collins
The Poet Speaks #4: O’Connor, Campbell, Merwin, Walcott, van Gogh
Flannery O’Connor responds to questions from academics and their students about her short stories: Week before last I went to … Continue Reading The Poet Speaks #4: O’Connor, Campbell, Merwin, Walcott, van Gogh
The Poet Speaks #3: Snodgrass, Beethoven, Hollander, Kunitz, Milosz
Advice to aspiring poets: If you can, get out. Everything else in the world pays better. Everything else in the … Continue Reading The Poet Speaks #3: Snodgrass, Beethoven, Hollander, Kunitz, Milosz
The Poet Speaks #2: Leonardo, Williams, Bishop, Meredith, Ashbery
Quotes from all over on art & creativity: [Leonardo] was always less concerned with the finishing of a picture than … Continue Reading The Poet Speaks #2: Leonardo, Williams, Bishop, Meredith, Ashbery
The Poet Speaks #1: Fitzgerald, Larkin, Paz, Lowell, Aiken
A new series of quotes from everywhere on writing and creativity: I was in the Navy, and I worked at … Continue Reading The Poet Speaks #1: Fitzgerald, Larkin, Paz, Lowell, Aiken
