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It is disgustingly visceral and therefore perfect!

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7 hrs agoLiked by Jonathan Potter

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.

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author

Good point, John, thank you. How about this as a tweak:

With the rhythms of Rilke

and Auden’s intelligent ghosts

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1 hr agoLiked by Jonathan Potter

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.)

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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.

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Get well soon. Your visceral poem described it well...

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6 hrs agoLiked by Jonathan Potter

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 💪🏻🙏

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orangutans tongue 👅 indeed

It’s the morning’s

fault

I feel

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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.

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Am I the only stupid one here who has no idea what we're talking about?

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