Classics Considered

Occasionally you stumble across some historical story so weird it could only have happened in in real life.  Exhibit A: the mysterious lover of Nikolay Gumilyov. Nikolay Gumilyov Who was Nikolay Gumilyov?  Born in 1886, he grew up well educated and began writing poetry at a young age, becoming first published, in fact, at around age 16.  Gumilyov spent much of his life as a man of letters and established poet, but he also served in the Russian cavalry in WWI.  He was executed in 1921 on suspicions of being part of a monarchist conspiracy.  When he was still a young man and writing for a journal called Apollon , he fell in love with the author of some poems which had been submitted for publication.  Here I quote Wikipedia : In August 1909, the famous Russian artistic periodical Apollon received a letter with verses on a perfumed paper with black mourning edges, signed only by a single Russian letter Ch . The verses were filled with half-revelatio...

For lovers of Pride and Prejudice and Jane Eyre , Eugene Onegin takes us back to Imperial Russia, where young Tatyana Larina falls for her brooding, Byronic neighbor. More than a romance, Alexander Pushkin's epic poem is a classic of Russian literature and history, as well as a glimpse into the 19th-century dueling culture which proved to be so fatal for him. Sources / Further Reading: Why the Russian aristocrats spoke French - Reddit discussion with academic sources Eugene Onegin - Translation by Henry Spalding (not my first recommendation, but it's free) Pushkin's African Background - Article by the British Library List of Alexander Pushkin's duels - By blogger Rina Tim Russian Ark (2002) - A creative documentary surveying 200 years of Russian culture.  I was able to watch this on loan from the library, and while it's a slow film (not gripping), the visuals are interesting. Opening quote read by MaryAnn (LibriVox)

She left us with over 1,000 poems, full of vibrant imagery and even more mysteries.  Join me as I search for the real Emily Dickinson behind the legend, examining her life story and reading such gems as "I died for beauty" and "A bird came down the walk." Sources / Further Reading: Selected Poems & Letters of Emily Dickinson - Edited by Robert Linscott Emily Dickinson - Biography at Poets.org The Emily Dickinson Museum

Lately, I've been enjoying the music of a little-known band called Tow'rs , whose style comes under the "indie folk" genre.  (Indie folk is a wonderful invention of old time instruments - fiddle, banjo, guitar, cello - combined with new lyrics and melodies.)  Tow'rs is from Arizona, and their specialty is infusing their songs with thoughtful meaning, while keeping the instrumentation and vocals gentle.  They also apply Christian themes to some of their songs, with subtlety which fits the music well. "Two Sparrows" is a song which makes a recognizable biblical reference in its title.  The line that really grabbed my attention, however, was an unfamiliar one: If Corina sail's stand still The fields shake and flowers shrill And the trees, your mother's arms The hound of Zion seek your heart And calls for you Admittedly, I'm rusty in my Bible memory, but I could not place this phrase - "the hound of Zion."  Where did that come from? ...

During moments in Lawrence of Arabia , or in whole passages in Seven Pillars of Wisdom , you might notice T. E. Lawrence's love for the poetic, both in the actual form and in his prose.  He was, as it turns out, a serious reader and critic of poetry: he toted The Oxford Book of English Verse with him in Arabia, and collected his Minorities during and after the war.  In his own words, he defined Minorities as "Good Poems by Small Poets and Small Poems by Good Poets."  The first U.S. edition was not published until 1971. The poems (many of which are from the Oxford Book) are fairly what you'd expect from the complex mind of T. E. Lawrence.  Some are classics by his predecessors, such as Poe and Percy Bysshe Shelley, and others are poems by his contemporaries who surpassed his honest criticisms.  I was surprised at the variety, but perhaps I shouldn't have been.  If you take into account his mental state after the war, mixed with his survivor's fighting spi...

I hadn't heard of Tomas Tranströmer until last fall when he won the Nobel Prize for Literature ; I placed a library request for two or three of his books, and, for various reasons, did not actually get a copy of either of them until very recently.  Needless to say, I had certain expectations.  This particular book, The Great Enigma , is in a sense " the complete poems of ", because it holds all of his poems that were ever published "in book form"-- Baltics , The Sorrow Gondola , Secrets on the Way , etc.  It also contains a short memoir, Memories in My Eyes , in which Tranströmer describes certain scenes from his childhood, in Sweden. I hope it is fair to give this book 3 out of 5 stars .  I'm not well up on contemporary poetry, but I love any good poetry, regardless of style.   I've read several of the classics--Frost, Poe, Wordsworth, Browning, Shakespeare, etc.  And I've written a fair amount of poetry myself.  This is my rating, for what it'...

Last night I finished my first re-reading of Eugene Onegin (Alexander Pushkin).  The plan is to use a different translation for each re-read--this time I used Henry Spalding's, which you can find at Project Gutenberg .  While I didn't stumble across any words like zen , I found parts of the translation to read awkwardly, as if a thesaurus had been referenced once too often.  On the positive side, it is overall a very readable translation, and it rhymes. 4.5/5 stars for the Spalding translation. As for the re-read itself.  Much has been made of Tatyana's bookish dreams, but I'm convinced now that the poet Lensky is the only idealist, the only dreamer in the whole book.  His last thoughts were what really stood out to me this time.  I understood better where he was coming from, and I actually felt very sorry for him. (Spoiler alert) After the ball--where Onegin childishly vents his anger by flirting with Olga--Lensky's reaction goes from feeling h...

Thus, I had so long suffered in this quest, Heard failure prophesied so oft, been writ So many times among "The Band''---to wit, The knights who to the Dark Tower's search addressed Their steps---that just to fail as they, seemed best, And all the doubt was now---should I be fit? And with these pessimistic thoughts, the narrator--Childe Roland--sets out on a byway to find the infamous Dark Tower, from which none of his friends ever returned. This is a very odd poem, to my mind.  Robert Browning quotes a phrase from King Lear and uses it as both the title and the centerpiece, but in the most literal sense--bringing the hero no farther than the Dark Tower.  The imagery is gothic and gory..."Drenched willows flung them headlong in a fit / Of mute despair, a suicidal throng / The river which had done them all the wrong"....."As for the grass, it grew as scant as hair / In leprosy; thin dry blades pricked the mud / Which underneath looked kneaded up with bl...

Poems in Two Volumes by William Wordsworth   Overall rating:   3.5 out of 5 stars Just what the title says: a (incomplete) collection of poems, by Wordsworth.  Some are narrative, some are world events-inspired, and many deal with nature (particularly flowers).  The Prelude was not included, but the book contained a decent selection, overall.   Sometimes I just find myself in the mood to read poetry.  If you have these moods, too, then this is a nice, relaxing read.  It's not nonstop epically wonderful, but there are some gems here and there.  Certainly gives you a good sample of Wordsworth's work.         Three Men in a Boat (To Say Nothing of the Dog) (1889) by Jerome K. Jerome Overall rating :  4.5 out of 5 stars.  There is one use of a racist word.  I read a public domain and presumably unedited version, though, so this might be omitted in other editions. Victorian England.  Looking to get...

  "  Noise, laughter, bowing, hurrying mixed, Gallop, mazurka, waltzing—see! A pillar by, two aunts betwixt, Tania, observed by nobody, Looks upon all with absent gaze And hates the world's discordant ways. 'Tis noisome to her there: in thought Again her rural life she sought, The hamlet, the poor villagers, The little solitary nook Where shining runs the tiny brook, Her garden, and those books of hers, And the lime alley's twilight dim Where the first time she met with him . " Eugene Onegin by Alexander Pushkin Edition:  Oxford World's Classics, paperback My overall rating :  5 out of 5 stars.  Bored by the dissipation and drama of his youthful life, Eugene Onegin withdraws from society to his inherited estate in the Russian countryside.  His only friend is Vladimir Lensky, a young, romantic poet who is engaged to Olga Larin.  Her older sister, Tatyana, is a plain, quiet introvert.  She takes more interest in books and the countryside than anythi...