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Morning
A crow on the sidewalk, reflected in the rainAn auspicious signSo the gods, if I listen, whisper
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The Collected Works of Billy the Kid: Left Handed Poems by Michael Ondaatje
I just finished reading The Collected Works of Billy the Kid: Left Handed Poems (1970) by Michael Ondaatje. It is a combination of poetry and prose poetry; it’s often referred to as a novel in verse. Most of it is written from the fictional perspective of Billy the Kid. Some sections are written from the…
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Su Tung-p’o: Selections From a Sung Dynasty Poet
The following is an old book jot from December 2021: I just finished reading Su Tung-p’o: Selections From a Sung Dynasty Poet, translated and with an introduction and notes by Burton Watson (1965). This book is a selection of poems by Su Shi, also known by his literary name of Su Tung-p’o, and contains poems…
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Chatsky (or The Misery of Having a Mind) by Alexander Griboyedov
I finished reading Chatsky (or The Misery of Having a Mind), a play in verse written in 1823 by Alexander Griboyedov (translated by Joshua Cooper). It’s also known as Woe from Wit in some English translations. It is a satirical look at Russian society, especially the prejudices and preoccupations of the aristocracy. Although humorous, there…
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Journey of the Magi
Here are a few lines from a wonderful poem by T. S. Eliot: At the end we preferred to travel all night,Sleeping in snatches,With the voices singing in our ears, sayingThat this was all folly. Read the full poem here: poets.org
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Echoes
A world forsooth where wrong and right are blent,A world that teems with war, a world that reeksWith countless crime, where evermore the ploughLacks its due honour, and the hind is forcedFar from his desolate fields, and reaping-hooksAre straightened into swords. -Virgil, The Georgics (translated by Lord Burghclere)
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The Poetry of Thomas Hardy
I have been dipping into this great selection of poems by Thomas Hardy. I have loved his poetry for years and this is a great volume to have at one’s disposal. Long ago, I read A Trampwoman’s Tragedy while traveling in Hardy’s homeland. I remember reading The Convergence of the Twain in a college class.…
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The soul’s dark cottage…
I am trying to create a habit of reading a poem every day. I just this evening read Of the Last Verses in the Book by Edmund Waller (1606-1687). Here is an excerpt, a line I particularly enjoy: “The soul’s dark cottage, battered and decayed,Lets in new light through chinks that time has made.”
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Sonnet by Percy Bysshe Shelley
I read a sonnet by Percy Bysshe Shelley today. It was unfamiliar to me; I came across it in the book Five Hundred Years of English Poetry: Chaucer to Arnold edited by Barbara Lloyd-Evans. The text I read in the book does not include the word ‘painted’ in the first line, but all the examples…
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Rain (Lluvia)
Here is an excerpt from a poem a read recently; Rain (Lluvia) by Federico Garcia Lorca, translated by Stanley Appelbaum. My soul has the sadness of the calm rain, a resigned sadness for something unattainable; on my horizon I have a blazing star but my heart keeps me from running to gaze at it. Mi…