Comments on: in the street of the sky night walks scattering poems

in the street of the sky night walks scattering poems

goodnewsfortheinsane — Sun, 05 Apr 2009 19:58:29 -0800

Should you find yourself wandering around the city of Leiden, the Netherlands sometime, you may notice some curious markings on the city's walls.

These Muurgedichten ("Wall Poems") adorn many of the town's streets (clickable map), and many English-language poets are represented: one John Keats, for instance, inside a bookshop; Dylan Thomas, E. E. Cummings, W.B. Yeats, some guy called William Shakespeare, or this ode to Charlie Parker by American William Waring Cuney.

But poets of many other languages and nationalities can be found throughout the city. Just to name a few: Charles Baudelaire (French), Jorge Luis Borges (Spanish - Argentina), Herman Gorter (Dutch). And being native to this here neck of the woods I would be remiss if I were to neglect mentioning some of my favourites: apart from the Cummings one mentioned above, my hero of Dutch poetry J.C. Bloem's appropriately overgrown tribute to Paul Verlaine; and Guillaume Apollinaire's Dadaist/Surrealist "Loin du Pigeonnier" ("Far From the Dovecote"). Lastly, Muurgedichten collects manifestations of public poetry found elsewhere under its "Not in Leiden" heading. I couldn't resist a selection:

Humorous medical one in Brazil (Portuguese).

Martin Carter (Netherlands Antilles, English)

Excerpt from JFK's inaugural address (Boston, English)

Childrens Rights (Zanzibar, English)

Policemans Prayer (Virginia, US, English)

Short, brilliantly framed Byron quote (Utrecht, NL, English)

No man is illegal (Sittard, NL, Dutch)

I am a poet. Should I want the rose to bloom, the rose will bloom. (Vlaardigen, NL, Dutch)

You'll Think, What's That Poet Doing (Monnickendam, NL, Dutch) You'll think, what's that poet doing In our alley On our wall In our town When he's not from 'round here. To be frank: so do I. But still, now you're looking at me. I can talk to you, say That I am happy you're looking at me And then you might for instance say "likewise". We wouldn't have done so otherwise.

By: wheelieman

wheelieman — Sun, 05 Apr 2009 20:11:29 -0800

*ahem* that should be e. e. cummings

By: ColdChef

ColdChef — Sun, 05 Apr 2009 20:12:07 -0800

This poem from The New Yorker should be on a building in every city around the world: ALIEN VS. PREDATOR Praise this world, Rilke says, the jerk. We'd stay up all night. Every angel's berserk. Hell, if you slit monkeys for a living, you'd pray to me, too. I'm not so forgiving. I'm rubber, you're glue. That elk is such a dick. He's a space tree making a ski and a little foam chiropractor. I set the controls, I pioneer the seeding of the ionosphere. I translate the Bible into velociraptor. In front of Best Buy, the Tibetans are released, but where's the whale on stilts that we were promised? I fight the comets, lick the moon, pave its lonely streets. The sandhill cranes make brains look easy. I go by many names: Buju Banton, Camel Light, the New York Times. Point being, rickshaws in Scranton. I have few legs. I sleep on meat. I'd eat your bra—point being—in a heartbeat.

By: ColdChef

ColdChef — Sun, 05 Apr 2009 20:14:51 -0800

(also: Alien Vs. Predator explained.)

By: RavinDave

RavinDave — Sun, 05 Apr 2009 20:20:09 -0800

In case anyone is curious about the Russian ... "Poem Hunter" to the rescue.

By: Jon_Evil

Jon_Evil — Sun, 05 Apr 2009 20:32:17 -0800

If this were done in a small town in America, people would be up in arms about the fact that any of the poems were in other languages. Or that they're taking up valuable advertising space.

By: Kattullus

Kattullus — Sun, 05 Apr 2009 20:33:59 -0800

On whether to capitalize Cummings name or not, 1 and 2 (short answer: Capitalize initials).

By: ornate insect

ornate insect — Sun, 05 Apr 2009 20:38:29 -0800

Saw these when I was in Leiden last December. Could not find the HQ of the Bilderberg group however; assume it's an unmarked door beneath a windwill that leads to a subterranean village.

By: vac2003

vac2003 — Mon, 06 Apr 2009 00:48:20 -0800

We Wellingtonians (in New Zealand) can celebrate our many poems in public too - see this collection on Flickr .

By: Sova

Sova — Mon, 06 Apr 2009 06:06:56 -0800

Three poems in Sheffield - but the poets were commissioned specifically for this, so that's pretty cool. I think there are more to come, but we're a long way fro Leiden.

By: uni verse

uni verse — Mon, 06 Apr 2009 06:56:41 -0800

There should be more of this. Love the first link.

By: anazgnos

anazgnos — Mon, 06 Apr 2009 07:42:43 -0800

This will probably never happen. Save wisely.

By: marginaliana

marginaliana — Mon, 06 Apr 2009 07:56:14 -0800

Extremely cool.

By: DreamerFi

DreamerFi — Mon, 06 Apr 2009 09:25:04 -0800

A thread about Leiden, the town I was born in, and I'm late... Ah well... thanks, goodnewsfortheinsane

By: Skeptic

Skeptic — Mon, 06 Apr 2009 10:01:24 -0800

I lived in Leiden for a few years, and this was one of the nicest aspects of a rather nice posh old university town, only spoiled by the occasional noisily obnoxious upper-class frat-boy.

By: polexa

polexa — Mon, 06 Apr 2009 13:17:52 -0800

I was in Leiden last summer and I found the wall poems a really beautiful way to decorate the city. I live in Philadelphia, which has a lot of murals, but the book nerd in me appreciates the poems more, somehow