I recently read one of the most inspirational books about the art of reading I have ever encountered, How to Read A Poem and Fall in Love with Poetry by Edward Hirsch. He devoted a lot of space and greatly admired the work of an American poet, Elizabeth Bishop. Based on the poems he quotes and talks about I decided to read a complete edition of her work, Poems. It includes work from 1934 up until her final year, 1979. I felt a kinship with Bishop through our mutual admiration of the great Brazilian writer Clarice Lispector. Bishop also loved Brazil and I knew a number of poems centering on Brazil were in the collection.
I do not possess the tools to write a post on a poetry collection. I loved many of the poems but not all.
9 comments:
Mel u,
The two works sound interesting. I know little about Elizabeth Bishop, but I have come across some of her poetry in the past, so I guess I should look a bit more deeply into her works.
I wasn't familiar with the Hirsh book, but it sounds interesting, so I will search around for it also.
I don't feel like I have the tools required to properly discuss poems either, but I have grown to enjoy reading it, and now feel the urge -- when the stack contains too much prose -- to find some verses for a change.
Mel, I'm not familiar with Elizabeth Bishop's work. Thank you for posting this poem. Slowly but surely, I've been reading and reviewing more poetry collections.
Fred. I hope your library has the Hirsch book. Thanks as always for your comment
Buried in Print. I am also feeling a desire to read more poetry
Suko, sometimes I feel I need the intensity of poetry
Mel u,
The library has it and as soon as there's room on my HOLD list, I'll move it on there. I'm maxed out at 15 right now.
Fred. I hope to read your thoughts on Histch's book one day.
Mel u,
No promises, but . . .
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