National Poetry Month
April 3, 2000 12:41 PM   Subscribe

National Poetry Month begins, or rather, began.
posted by rich (12 comments total)
 
If your in or near Berks County, PA you could celebrate the month at any of the 30 activities (one for each day)Bardfest is in it's second year. Goodstuff!
posted by Jeremy at 12:51 PM on April 3, 2000


The last post ate my nutz... heres the links Bardwire Home Bardfest2000 Calander
posted by Jeremy at 12:54 PM on April 3, 2000


For this occasion, I shall recite from memory the short poem "Of Mere Being" by Wallace Stevens:
The palm at the end of the mind,
Beyond the last thought, rises
In the bronze decor,

A gold-feathered bird
Sings in the palm, without human meaning,
Without human feeling, a foreign song.

You know then that it is not the reason
That makes us happy or unhappy.
The bird sings. Its feathers shine.

The palm stands on the edge of space.
The wind moves slowly in the branches.
The bird's fire-fangled feathers dangle down.

posted by EngineBeak at 1:14 PM on April 3, 2000


Error Analysis: None! Whoo-hoo! I got it right! See, you never know when some weird, seemingly pointless activity like memorizing a poem will come in handy just a couple days later. -- Sorry about the spacing; I suppose I should have used P instead of BR.
posted by EngineBeak at 1:18 PM on April 3, 2000


I will now recite from memory a delightful little limerick titled "There Once Was a Man from Nantucket"...
Come to think of it, I won't.
posted by wendell at 1:21 PM on April 3, 2000


Ok here is an Emily Dickenson poem recited from memory:

Apparently with no surprise
to any happy flower
the frost beheads it at its play
in accidental power.

The blonde assasin passes on,
the sun proceeds unmoved,
to measure off another day
for an approving God.
posted by ericost at 8:26 PM on April 3, 2000


Error analysis: I forgot the dashes! And I got some capitalization wrong. Oh well. And I misspelled her name.

http://www2.cwrl.utexas.edu/VANDER/316F96/MARC/1624.HTM
posted by ericost at 8:32 PM on April 3, 2000


Here is what I believe is #761:

From Blank to Blank--
A Threadless Way
I pushed Mechanic feet--
To stop--or perish--or advance--
Alike indifferent.

If end I gained--
It ends beyond--
Indefinite disclosed-- [???]
I shut my eyes--
And groped as well
'Twas lighter--to be blind--
posted by EngineBeak at 9:00 PM on April 3, 2000


Damn. sposta be a dash after 'indifferent' of course and 'I shut my eyes--and groped as well' sposta be one line. But by god it was #761, and those are the only two poems I know. I stop now; thakn yuo.
posted by EngineBeak at 9:07 PM on April 3, 2000


Call the roller of big cigars,
The muscular one, and bid him whip
In kitchen cups concupiscent curds.
Let the wenches dawdle in such dress
As they are used to wear, and let the boys
Bring flowers in last month's newspapers.
Let be be finale of seem.
The only emperor is the emperor of ice-cream.

Take from the dresser of deal,
Lacking the three glass knobs, that sheet
On which she embroidered fantails once
And spread it so as to cover her face.
If her horny feet protrude, they come
To show how cold she is, and dumb.
Let the lamp affix its beam.
The only emperor is the emperor of ice-cream.

-- Wallace Stevens

I wish I could do that one from memory.
posted by ericost at 9:34 PM on April 3, 2000


This site has a recording of him reading Not Ideas About the Thing etc., and a link to Harper audio site that has him reading some others including the Idea of Order at Key West and the Poem that Took the Place etc. The Harper audio also has Mr Eliot read the entire Waste Land. It's probably unfortunate that these are all from recordings done late in their lives; Eliot sounds like a nasty-ass bastard on most of his reading- except the second section. Tired am I. No, Lazy am i.
posted by EngineBeak at 10:06 PM on April 3, 2000


Make your own poem! This from the coque-suquer who STOLE Rio-Thero's NEW DESIGN. Yes, riothero, you must insist that your nickername be pronounced "ree-o thay-ro". Couldn't that be Zero River? And to think and to think and to think that not only did I just two days ago buy Black Raspberry Avalanche, but two weeks ago I recommended my friend to get aholt of Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus.
posted by EngineBeak at 10:28 PM on April 3, 2000


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