More like Auden than Rilke though. For Rilke the anapest exemplified aspiration towards and hope for the transcendent. Not disgust at the immanent. That's Auden's peculiar sphere.
It is an improvement. Strong rhythms like that are very difficult to manage. God knows how Rilke did it. Auden was a lot cruder than Rilke. (But then everybody is.)
Do you read him in German then? Ich habe genug deutsch that I can read the originals side by side with translations and appreciate them, and now you’ve got me revisiting the couple of old volumes on my shelf as well as Letters to a Young Poet. I’d never read Duino Elegies but I certainly will now. And I didn’t know until recently that he wrote fairly extensively in French, which I’m trying and mostly failing to learn in the Canadian style.
Do read Duino Elegies and Sonnets to Orpheus. For some reason, I always remember this quote from Letters to a Young Poet, "“I prayed to rediscover my childhood, and it has come back, and I feel that it is just as difficult as it used to be, and that growing older has served no purpose at all.”
I read Letters when in fact I was a young poet. And Sonnets to Orpheus (my copy of which was probably swiped by some feckless book-borrower). Now that I'm decidedly old, I'm thinking "I was so much older then, I'm younger than that now" and looking forward to it!
Jonathan, I feel this. Here’s to decongesting and some tea with lemon and honey - and if you’re lucky, brandy… (thanks to my dad for highschool breakfasts when mom was away and I had a head cold)
The rampage of rhinos pounding the plains; roar of neighboring wildebeests next door is disturbing your sleep. Dreams are like that. Come an go as you rise with the sun and take another pill to get through a new day. Good show.
It is disgustingly visceral and therefore perfect!
Thanks, Stan. I can't help but grin.
More like Auden than Rilke though. For Rilke the anapest exemplified aspiration towards and hope for the transcendent. Not disgust at the immanent. That's Auden's peculiar sphere.
Good point, John, thank you. How about this as a tweak:
With the rhythms of Rilke
and Auden’s intelligent ghosts
It is an improvement. Strong rhythms like that are very difficult to manage. God knows how Rilke did it. Auden was a lot cruder than Rilke. (But then everybody is.)
Do you read him in German then? Ich habe genug deutsch that I can read the originals side by side with translations and appreciate them, and now you’ve got me revisiting the couple of old volumes on my shelf as well as Letters to a Young Poet. I’d never read Duino Elegies but I certainly will now. And I didn’t know until recently that he wrote fairly extensively in French, which I’m trying and mostly failing to learn in the Canadian style.
No. Alas I don't read German. I rely on the translations of Leishman, who devoted his whole life to translating Rilke.
Do read Duino Elegies and Sonnets to Orpheus. For some reason, I always remember this quote from Letters to a Young Poet, "“I prayed to rediscover my childhood, and it has come back, and I feel that it is just as difficult as it used to be, and that growing older has served no purpose at all.”
I read Letters when in fact I was a young poet. And Sonnets to Orpheus (my copy of which was probably swiped by some feckless book-borrower). Now that I'm decidedly old, I'm thinking "I was so much older then, I'm younger than that now" and looking forward to it!
Get well soon. Your visceral poem described it well...
Thank you, Karen. I only have a mild cold, and I am feeling quite a bit better. Glad I could channel it to make something seemingly much more dire.
Jonathan, I feel this. Here’s to decongesting and some tea with lemon and honey - and if you’re lucky, brandy… (thanks to my dad for highschool breakfasts when mom was away and I had a head cold)
I hope you’re feeling better and soon 💪🏻🙏
Thank you, Patris. See my reply to Karen :)
Aha! Well keep the brandy on hand!
orangutans tongue 👅 indeed
It’s the morning’s
fault
I feel
I feel that as well. Thanks, David.
The rampage of rhinos pounding the plains; roar of neighboring wildebeests next door is disturbing your sleep. Dreams are like that. Come an go as you rise with the sun and take another pill to get through a new day. Good show.
Thanks, Richard
Best healing to you.
Am I the only stupid one here who has no idea what we're talking about?
I'm in the same boat most of the time for the most part, David. You're not alone.
There's a hole in the mosquito net of my cerebral cortex
There's a poem there!
All good except get rid of that h and make it Jon
Cerebral Compromise
By ... I Forgot
Malaria and Dengue fever
West Nile, Chikungunya, yuk!
Yellow fever, Filariasis, Tularemia, Encephalitis, shucks!
What I got is worse than that
Hole in my mosquito net
IQ of a fucking gnat
Jon Potter poems are making sense!
Whew! The last two lines bring it to the end so beautifully.
Thanks, Margaret Ann, I'm glad you felt that. It's certainly what I was trying for.
Glad you are on the mend. Very descriptive. I will have to read this again when I am in the throes of a bad cold.
I’ve heard chicken soup is good, but as Patris mentioned brandy cures all things!
Thanks, Monica. I had chicken soup for three days straight then rose again from the empty soup can. A brandy nighcap might be tonight's prescription.
😂😂
Yikes! I’m glad you’re feeling better! The way things were going, I was afraid you were done for! Really loved the rich, graphic details, Jonathan.
Thank you, Sharon
Never has a cold been drawn so vividly :) Rest well
Thanks rena
A delirium of a poem (not the other way around :)
Superb, Jonathan!
Good take, thanks Fotini
“My orangutan tongue like a vestige / of Bornean rain” - love it. Get well soon!
Thanks, Thomas -- two weeks later, I'm feeling almost back to normal.
Glad to hear it. 🙂