 |
| source SPOILER ALERT: I LOVE THIS BOOK. |
1. The Lake Isle of Innisfree
I will arise and go now, and go to Innisfree,
And a small cabin build there, of clay and wattles made:
Nine bean-rows will I have there, a hive for the honey-bee;
And live alone in the bee-loud glade.
And I shall have some peace there, for peace comes dropping
slow,
Dropping from the veils of the morning to where the cricket
sings;
There midnight’s all a glimmer, and noon a purple glow,
And evening full of the linnet’s wings.
I will arise and go now, for always night and day
I hear lake water lapping with low sounds by the shore;
While I stand on the roadway, or on the pavements grey,
I hear it in the deep heart’s core.
William Butler Yeats
Now, to switch gears from a favorite book to a favorite author...let's talk Margaret Atwood.
Endlessly brilliant, Atwood. I first read The Handmaid's Tale many years ago, and I've read it a handful of times since. But my favorite work of Atwood's is the MaddAddam trilogy, which, in my opinion, is the most well-crafted and most believable piece of science fiction/ dystopian fiction you will ever read.
While at this moment, I can't recall a poem used or referenced in the trilogy (I bet now that I said it, I'll find at least one example the next time I reread the series), I still think it's important to appreciate Atwood in all her writing glory. Should you read her books? Yes, but it can wait. Should you read one of her poems? Yes, you should, and all you have to do is scroll down.
2. Variation on the Word Sleep
I would like to watch you sleeping,
which may not happen.
I would like to watch you,
sleeping. I would like to sleep
with you, to enter
your sleep as its smooth dark wave
slides over my head
and walk with you through that lucent
wavering forest of bluegreen leaves
with its watery sun & three moons
towards the cave where you must descend,
towards your worst fear
I would like to give you the silver
branch, the small white flower, the one
word that will protect you
from the grief at the center
of your dream, from the grief
at the center. I would like to follow
you up the long stairway
again & become
the boat that would row you back
carefully, a flame
in two cupped hands
to where your body lies
beside me, and you enter
it as easily as breathing in
I would like to be the air
that inhabits you for a moment
only. I would like to be that unnoticed
& that necessary.
Margaret Atwood
Since we're talking about awesome females, I'm going to take a moment to discuss Anne Carson. The Beauty of the Husband: A Fictional Essay in 29 Tangos is the first collection of hers I've read, and while it might not be a novel, I'll be damned if I'm not going to recommend it to every poetry lover I know.
I'm not going to post anything from the book because you should go out and buy your own copy right this very minute (I may or may not have written a paper on that book. I may or may not be a little obsessed.), but I will post another highly recommended Anne Carson poem here:
3. From The Glass Essay
I
I can hear little clicks inside my dream.
Night drips its silver tap
down the back.
At 4 A.M. I wake. Thinking
of the man who
left in September.
His name was Law.
My face in the bathroom mirror
has white streaks down it.
I rinse the face and return to bed.
Tomorrow I am going to visit my mother.
Anne Carson
Finally, let's end on a high note. My favorite book of all time is The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger. I could write you an entire blog on all the reasons I love that book. (I'm not kidding. I've considered it). I reach that book every summer; in fact, I would probably read it at least twice a year if I would permit myself. If I had to limit myself to a single sentence detailing the well-woven plot of this book (which believe me, is a struggle) it would be this: a chronologically-impaired love story that is just as light-hearted and joyful as it is cripplingly sad.
Among countless, countless other reasons, one of the things I love most about the book is the poetry Niffenegger includes in her work.
The first poem below is one of two epigraphs that open the book:
4. Love After Love
The time will come
when, with elation
you will greet yourself arriving
at your own door, in your own mirror
and each will smile at the other's welcome,
and say, sit here. Eat.
You will love again the stranger who was your self.
Give wine. Give bread. Give back your heart
to itself, to the stranger who has loved you
all your life, whom you ignored
for another, who knows you by heart.
Take down the love letters from the bookshelf,
the photographs, the desperate notes,
peel your own image from the mirror.
Sit. Feast on your life.
Derek Walcott
Another poem from The Time Traveler's Wife is one that the husband, Henry, recites to his wife to soothe her as she gives birth to their first child. It's only part of the larger work, but it's arguably the best piece of the poem.
5. From The Fifth Elegy
Angel: if there were a place we know nothing of, and there,
on some unsayable carpet, lovers revealed
what here they could never master, their high daring
figures of heart’s flight,
their towers of desire, their ladders,
long since standing where there was no ground, leaning,
trembling, on each other – and mastered them,
in front of the circle of watchers, the countless, soundless dead:
Would these not fling their last, ever-saved,
ever-hidden, unknown to us, eternally
valid coins of happiness in front of the finally
truly smiling pair on the silent
carpet?
Rainer Maria Rilke
Do your favorite novels incorporate poetry? Have you ever written a poem inspired by a novel? What did you think of our poetry picks? Tell us everything; leave a comment below. At the very least, we hope you enjoyed your brief window into my literary soul (and a few minutes worth of lovely poetry).
P.S.: Want even more reading suggestions? Click here, or here, or here. Or even here.
No comments:
Post a Comment