Tag Archives: Poetry

A Year in Books/Day 154: The Portable Dorothy Parker

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  • Title: The Portable Dorothy Parker
  • Author: Dorothy Parker (with an introduction by Brendan Gill)
  • Year Published: This Edition-1976 (Penguin Books)
  • Year Purchased: 2005
  • Source: The Book Loft, Columbus, Ohio
  • About: I’d like to think that Dorothy Parker needs no introduction, so I am not writing one. She engenders fierce loyalty in readers or, for those of a different mind-set, strong distaste. If you are known to curl up your tongue at her superior wit, and excellent writing, well, at least we know up front that we are from two different planets. Continue reading →

Shopping for the Bookworm: Dorothy Parker Edition

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We’ll let Dorothy Parker’s wit speak for itself, in the form of these Etsy goodies. Enjoy!

Dorothy Parker Poster by Kayci Wheatley

Dorothy Parker Poster by Kayci Wheatley-$22.00

I love the graphic pink and white design of this poster. It is a nice contrast to Parker’s acerbity. Continue reading →

A Year in Books/Day 153: Tennyson’s Poems

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  • Title: Tennyson’s Poems
  • Author: Alfred, Lord Tennyson
  • Year Published: Unknown, but it is fairly old (Thomas Y. Crowell & Co.)
  • Year Purchased: 1990s
  • Source: Columbus Public Library sale
  • About: How many times have you had your metaphorical heart broken? One, three, five? How many times, in the quickening of your pain, has someone attempted to dress your ripening wound with the phrase  ‘Tis better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all?  Although it has been degraded from over-use to the level of cheap platitude, it actually represents two lines from Tennyson’s IN MEMORIAM A.H.H. , which took the poet 17 years to write. A one-time Poet Laureate, his work remains popular. This book is a complete edition, and features a striking blue cover with an embossed Art Noveau design. The poet’s name on the spine is on a  deep gold background. It is one of the prettiest volumes in my library.
  • Motivation: The opportunity to get poetic kicks on the cheap, in the form of a lovely old volume, made this too good to pass up.
  • Times Read: Cover-to-cover: 1/Random poems: countless
  • Random Excerpt/Page 17: “Vex not thou the poet’s mind /With thy shallow wit:/Vex not thou the poet’s mind; For thou canst not fathom it.”
  • Happiness Scale: 8
    Carbon print of Alfred Lord Tennyson, 1869, pr...

    Carbon print of Alfred Lord Tennyson, 1869, printed 1875/79 (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

     

A Year in Books/Day 143: Longfellow’s Poems

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  • Title: Longfellow’s Poems
  • Year Published: 1900/This Edition: 1901 (A.L. Burt Company, Publishers)
  • Year Purchased: Unknown
  • Source: My Step-grandmother
  • About: Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, the great American poet of the 19th century, is remembered for Evangeline, Paul Revere’s Ride, and The Song of Hiawatha.
  • Motivation: This is another book that I ended up with after my Step-grandmother’s death nearly 20 years ago; it was given to her by her mother, who had been a school teacher during The Great War. This beautifully preserved volume was, I thought then, something of a reward for having been frightened by my stepfather’s severe (yet kindly enough) Grandmother Doris. During the few years that I knew her, when she was in her nineties, she was every inch the prim, dour school marm. Each encounter with her was like an inspection, where I was assessed head to foot then grilled about my school work. In her presence, I instinctively knew not to speak until spoken to; fortunately, simply being in the same room with her cowed me (and my natural chattiness) to the point of panicky muteness.
  • Times Read: 1
  • Random Excerpt/Page vii: “The reader observes also the absence of the wit and humor which is almost universal in poets. While Longfellow was always cheerful, he was never droll.”
  • Happiness Scale: 7 1/2

    English: Engraving of American poet Henry Wads...

    English: Engraving of American poet Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, presumably after a portrait by Samuel Lawrence. From the book The Song of Hiawatha, Moscow, 1931. Published by OGIZ. Sepia. Русский: Генри Лонгфелло. Портрет. “Песнь о Гайавате”. ОГИЗ – Молодая гвардия – 1931. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Daily Diversion #9: Emily Dickinson

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I'm nobody, who are you?

I’m nobody, who are you?

This literary paper doll was a birthday gift from my mom about 5 years ago. She lives on a shelf in my studio, staring at me from behind a glazed ceramic urn full of Tardis dessert flags.

Beauty is not caused. It is.

Beauty is not caused. It is.

Her deceptively simple poetry quickens the mind, the heart, the blood, the creativity that dwells within us all, hidden yet frantic to escape.

 

A Year in Books/Day 112: Louise Bogan A Portrait

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  • Title: Louise Bogan A Portrait
  • Author: Elizabeth Frank
  • Year Published: 1985 (Alfred A. Knopf)
  • Year Purchased: 2000
  • Source: The Book Harbor, Westerville, Ohio
  • About: Louise Bogan was the fourth Poet Laureate of the United States. That’s probably news to all but the most passionate poetry fans. This needs to change*; although more than a quarter century old, this biography is a fine start for anyone wanting to learn more. This fascinating, meticulous study was my crash course on the life and work of the New England poet. Prior to that, she was merely a name and a footnote to the more famous greats of twentieth century literature. Whatever your approach to the subject-as a fan of poetry, literary or social culture, history, women’s studies-you will find much to admire in the sad yet triumphant voice and life of this too-neglected talent.
  • Motivation: At the time I bought this book, I was just beginning to write about one of my now-favourite subjects: female wordsmiths of the first half of the last century.
  • Times Read: 1
  • Random Excerpt/Page 5: “In 1884, when May was only nineteen, a son, Charles Joseph, was born. The years between his birth and Louise’s are a blank, except that in between there was a second boy, named Edward, born nobody knows what year, who died at the age of four or five months.”
  • Happiness Scale: 10
    Louise Bogan (1897–1970), US-american Poet

    Louise Bogan (1897–1970), US-american Poet (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

    *Nameberry.com recently listed their choices for the best poet-based names for 2012 babies. First on the list? Bogan.