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Dec
14
Poetry Recommendations Wanted!
2010 at 5am Posted by Rebecca Joines Schinsky
During last night’s Bookrageous podcast recording session, Jenn remarked that we never talk about poetry, so the three of us, in our ongoing quest to bust into new genres, agreed to give ourselves a poetry assignment at the beginning of the new year.
But here’s the problem: I haven’t really read poetry since college. I remember something about how so much depends upon a red wheelbarrow (or something like that), and I know that you can sing just about any Emily Dickinson poem to the tune of the Gilligan’s Island theme song (here, try it with this one), and I remember the requisite e.e. cummings moment from my high school English class (and from the wedding scene in In Her Shoes), and of course I know that Walt Whitman sang of America and himself. But that’s about all I’ve got.
Oh yeah, and “Oh, Captain, my Captain” was about Abe Lincoln, right?
Also: I’ve never read poetry on my own, for enjoyment. It’s always been an academic endeavor, and I’d like to change that.
This lack of poetry mojo is something I’ve always been slightly ashamed of. Like, if I were really a serious book person, I’d know more about it. (What do I think, that the literature police are going to come in the night, take away my Book Lady card, and expose me to all the world? Irrational, I know.) Gaps in our educations can feel that way sometimes, don’tcha think?
But the beauty of these gaps is that they can be mended, and if we re-frame our thinking about them, they can provide impetus and inspiration for new experiences. And that’s my plan with poetry.
So this is it. I am coming out as knowing next to nothing about poetry, and I’m asking those of you who do know something about it to help a lady out and leave some recommendations.
What do you love? What do you most wish you could read again for the first time? What do you want to hear the Bookrageous crew try to analyze? (Or should we give up on the analyzing and just go for what it says to us? See? I need help here.)
I know many of you are much smarter about poetry than I am, so please leave your recommendations in the comments. I promise to keep you apprised of the journey. If nothing else, it’s bound to be entertaining.
Related posts:
Longfellow, and Lord Byron are some of my favorite. Old english but still really cool
[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Rebecca Schinsky, Pascale Petit and Catt, Mslexia Publications. Mslexia Publications said: Jo Shapcott! Especially 'Her Book'. And Jen Hadfield. RT @bookladysblog: Poetry Recommendations Wanted! http://goo.gl/fb/JYpHL [...]
Would thoroughly recommend the good work of Frank O’Hara (http://www.poetryfoundation.org/bio/frank-ohara) also I would think a jot of Philip Larkin wouldn’t go a-miss (http://www.poetryarchive.org/poetryarchive/singlePoet.do?poetId=7076).
Other than that, I would check out the Faber New Poets scheme, lots of young poets getting the attention they deserve.
e e cummings is fabulous, he wrote my favorite poem “i carry your heart(i carry it in my heart),” but he can be challenging for someone who isn’t already “into poetry.”
I think a good place to start would be Pablo Neruda. He has some really great poems and his are pretty straight forward. Specific poems that come to mind are “saddest poem” – great breakup poem if you need a good cry lol – and Sonnet 17 is great if you are in love.
Maya Angelou is also a great poet to start with. It may be considered almost cliche to quote these two poems, but “phenomenal woman” and “still I rise” are some of the best poems ever written, imo.
If you want something a little less mainstream, I really enjoyed “Turn Thanks” by Lorna Goodison. She is a Jamaican author and a lot of her poems are either political or feminist in nature. I can’t think of a poem from the top of my head but I’ve lent this one out multiple times and everyone who has borrowed it has enjoyed it.
Happy reading! I hope you start loving poetry, I certainly do!
Thanks so much for commenting and sharing this! It’s so nice to hear from different readers, and I appreciate the reminder about Maya Angelou. Love her!
Thanks much! And I see that your blog is also about poetry—I’ll have to check it out!
I would start with any collection by Billy Collins, especially his poem Introuction to Poetry. I use that poem on the first day of school to set the stage for our daily class poem. His Poetry 180 book also has a nice collection of contemporary poems.
Rebecca, you must try Rod McKuen. I stumbled across his books when I was in college, and fell in love with his writing hard and fast! Here’s a small sample –
“Lie down and leave your imprint in the sand. My hand will trace it into everything I need. That’s how reality begins, shadows made something real or reality turned back into a shadow. I need the sureness of the shadow world again. To make me whole.”
Lori (TNBBC)´s last [type] ..Review- Scars on the Face of God
This year’s Nox by Anne Carson is stunning both for its design and content. A favorite of the year across all genres.
*Rubs hands together* I got this.
Yusef Komunyakaa – one of my favorites, especially his earlier poems about Vietnam. He was a US soldier in the war and writes unbelievable poems about what it is like to be a soldier and what it’s like to come home after war.
Derek Walcott – A Caribbean poet who won the Nobel Prize in 1992. Also one of my favorites.
Sherman Alexie – More famous for being a novelist, but I really love his poems. They’re straight forward and seem so simple, but there’s a lot more hidden under the surface.
Mary Oliver – Simple, beautiful poems, usually about nature.
Katrina Vandenberg – She’s made the rounds on a few blogs since John Green recommended her, and deservedly. She’s wonderful.
I second what others have said about Philip Larkin and Neruda. Can’t wait to hear what you think about the poetry you read! I find poetry a lot harder to review in the traditional sense, but I do love to talk about it.
Lu´s last [type] ..Reading Women- How the Great Books of Feminism Changed my Life by Stephanie Staal
I think self-education is an amazing tool! Good for you for filling in the gaps in this way. My way of learning is a bit different than most in schools, so sometimes I have to go about it my own way; and one of those ways is by asking others. Yay!
Maybe you’ve heard this tip before, but if not, here ’tis: Read the poems out loud. This helped me immensely with understanding the rhythms and movements of poetry. I was a musician for a long while, and it’s really like music: some poems are long, long lines with small internal rises and falls, and others are short and choppy but have an overarching melody.
My favorite poets and poems:
* “A Supermarket in California”, “Sunflower Sutra”, and “Howl” by Allen Ginsberg
* TWENTY LOVE POEMS AND A SONG OF DESPAIR (collection of Pablo Neruda poems
* FULL WOMAN, FLESHY APPLE, HOT MOON: Selected Poems of Pablo Neruda (trans. Stephen Mitchell)
* Robert Frost, esp. “Nothing Gold Can Stay”, “Come In”, and “The Road Not Taken”
* Charles Bukowski, esp. the collection LOVE IS A DOG FROM HELL, and the poem “The Bluebird” in THE LAST NIGHT OF THE EARTH POEMS
* James Tate, esp. the collection RETURN TO THE CITY OF WHITE DONKEYS
* Wislawa Szymborska, esp. the collections MONOLOGUE OF A DOG and VIEW WITH A GRAIN OF SAND
* William Butler Yeats, esp. the poem “Brown Penny”
* Anthology, POEMS FROM THE WOMEN’S MOVEMENT, ed. by Honor Moore
There are so many more! Will post as I think.
I am not a real poetry person, but do like Robert Service, he was a Canadian who fought in WWI so his stuff is about the war. My favorite is called Victory Stuff (all about coming home from WWI and being a sad reminder to the folks back home)
Helen Murdoch´s last [type] ..We went to the beach for a photo shoot
Here’s something you may find interesting — genre magazines are starting to publish poetry. In speculative, you may want to look at Apex Magazine. GUD, which is not genre, also has great poems. Lone Star Magazine, which may or may not still be available, had 3 poems every month.
LOVE = Seamus Heaney. You MUST try him.
Rebekah´s last [type] ..The Rest of My Reading Year …
I think you’d love Denise Duhamel. Her book “Kinky” takes on Barbie in hilarious ways (Barbie and Ken in couples counseling with Dr. Ruth, Barbie contemplating god, etc.)
In the same way (and in a different way) my friend Jay Snodgrass takes on Godzilla in the wonderful “Monster Zero.”
My favorite poet is Campbell McGrath. It’s hard to pick a favorite collection, but check out “American Noise.”
Marcia Southwick’s “A Saturday Night at the Flying Dog” is good, good, good.
Oh, and I gave this one a #fridayreads shoutout last week. “This is What Happened in Our Other Lives” by Cuban-American poet Achy Obejas is beautiful.
I’m going for Adrienne RIch — An Atlas of the Difficult World (accessible, yet wonderfully brainy at the same time.)
And: James Tate, who can be so so funny!
If you’re interested in contemporary poetry, check out http://www.coconutpoetry.org: it’s an online poetry journal, and I’ve discovered some great poets there (Sadly, it’s no longer publishing, but the archives are amazing). My favorites: Bruce Covey (three published collections with fantastic titles like The Greek Gods as Telephone Wires and Elapsing Speedway Organism) and Reb Livingston. Enjoy!
nomadreader (Carrie)´s last [type] ..book review- The Sentimentalists by Johanna Skibsrud
I just read and reviewed Bob Hicok’s Words for Empty and Words for Full, which I very much enjoyed. I’ve been recommending it to everyone lately.
Adrienne´s last [type] ..Feel-good Friday- The Daleks and LDN
I love Robert Bly–he writes prose poetry, which can be much easier to read than verse. Sometimes it can feel like you’re not reading poetry at all–very sneaky.
I second Mary Oliver and second, third, and fourth Billy Collins – he is amazing! Also, I would add Wendell Berry, Madeleine L’Engle (yes, she wrote poetry, too!), and Ted Kooser.
Carrie K.´s last [type] ..Suggested reading for the 2011 Ireland Challenge
The only poetry I’ve ever enjoyed (I still have AP English flashbacks when someone mentions John Donne) is Billy Collins. And hearing him read it is a real treat.
Michelle´s last [type] ..Eaarth- Making a Life on a Tough New Planet Audiobook Review
You would be deprived if you’d never read Anne Carson’s gorgeous and adorable verse novel, Autobiography of Red! Pick it up! It’s one of my all time favourites.
Yes, Pablo Neruda, Seamus Heaney, John Donne .. and how about W.B. Yeats, Patrick Kavanagh … and there is a wonderful poem by Austin Clarke ‘The Lost Heifer’ … … you are opening a treasure trove.
Enjoy!
“Hope is the thing with feathers” by Emily Dickinson
“Goblin Market” by Christina Rossetti (also, “Promises like pie crust”)
“The Lady of Shallott” by Tennyson
“The Passionate Shepherd to His Love” by Christopher Marlowe
Shakespeare’s Sonnets
MelissaW´s last [type] ..Tis the Season- It could be worse
Anything published by Faber & Faber in the UK. An unparalleled mixture of contemporary and classic poetry. They were my first port of call when I embarked upon a similar quest a while back and I never looked back.
http://www.faber.co.uk/home/poetry/
It’s a few years old now, but Gil Adamson’s Ashland is one of my favoutite collections to lend out and re-read. It combines a haunting mood, lapidary language, and razor sharp images.
I always liked Jim Carroll. We published a book this fall called Ideal Cities by Erika Meitner that was the first poetry book I read in a long, long time and loved.
I spent a lot of time reading poetry again last year, for a poet character in a new novel (The Four Ms. Bradwells, coming out in June from Random House’s Ballantine Books!). I discovered quite a few new poets (new to me!) and basked in the poetry of many old favorites. But even after all that reading, my favorite poem remains Elizabeth Bishop’s “The Moose.”
Amazing what some poets can do in so few words.
Meg Waite Clayton´s last [type] ..A Date which will Live in Infamy- and the Value of a Word
I’m not as well-versed in poetry as I’d like to be, but I am a big fan of the English Romantics (particularly Wordsworth, Coleridge, and Byron, but I just bought a book of Keats’ poetry recently). As far as living poets, I have to echo the recommendations above for Billy Collins. I’ve enjoyed the poems of his I’ve read.
Shauna- Reading and Ruminations´s last [type] ..Sunday Salon- Random Sunday Ruminations
I’m not much for analyzing poetry, although I do spend a considerable amount of time thinking about the poems. Some of my favorites are Robert Frost, Pablo Neruda, and Charles Bukowski. Good luck in trying out this new-to-you genre–I hope you find something that speaks to you!
Jess Michaelangelo´s last [type] ..Hop Hop Hopping on this Saturday morning
I second previous recommendations of Mary Oliver, Jim Carroll and Allan Ginsberg, and add…
* Lucille Clifton (see _The Terrible Stories_)
* Sandra Cisneros (_Loose Woman_ and _My Wicked, Wicked Ways_)
* Lawrence Ferlinghetti (especially _A Far Rockaway of the Heart_)
And my all-time favorite poet OF ALL TIME (it was worth repeating) is Nicole Blackman. Nothing has ever grabbed me like her collection, _Blood Sugar_, grabbed me.
Vee´s last [type] ..Finding Time
Vee, I JUST thought of Nicole Blackman’s BLOOD SUGAR while out shopping! Have you heard her reading her poetry over music with The Golden Palominos? A friend let me listen to it years ago, which is how I ended up buying her poetry. Fantastic recommendation, and I obviously second it!
Thought of some other poets while out and about:
* Federico Garcia Lorca
* Octavio Paz
* Anne Sexton
* And for some HILARITY from the past that still rings true today, Dorothy Parker. Check out her “hate poems”: “I Hate Men”, “I Hate Women”, etc. “I Hate Men” was set to music and is a fantastic listen. My friend sang it when she was a vocal major.
The Yeats I studied in college has never left me (I even named an upcoming book for a line of his from “The Lake Isle of Innisfree,” perhaps his most famous poem).
I am surprised that nobody has mentioned the master: T.S. Eliot. Start with “The Four Quartets,” a treasure of a little book unto itself.
Did nobody say Rainer Maria Rilke? “Rilke on Love and Other Difficulties” is another satisfying small volume I go back to again and again.
And if we can go even further in the direction of woo-woo: what about the “translations” by Daniel Ladinsky of the Sufi master Hafiz (“The Gift” is one book I would not be without).
Margaret Roach´s last [type] ..a more welcoming facebook page
if you’d like to read some great contemporary young poets, may I recommend Matthew Dickman’s collection “All-American Poem,” and James Allen Hall’s “Now You’re the Enemy.” They’ve both won lots of awards lately and I found them accessible even for a non-regular poetry reader.
Eleanor’s Trousers´s last [type] ..Mistakes Have Been Made
I second Rebekah – I LOVE Seamus Heaney. I also love Paul Muldoon. Soft spot for Irish poets, I guess.
I’d think an anthology of multiple poets would be a good place to start, rather than a book of all one poet. Just a thought. I struggle with poetry, too, beyond a few favorites.
Kerry´s last [type] ..Book Review- The Mullahs Storm by Thomas W Young
Hey, great blog! Just found you, will come back often. I’ve got to ring in with Maya Angelou. I truly love her work.
Cheers,
Ellen
Ellen Thorp´s last [type] ..Season’s Greetings!
My favorites are pretty typical and mostly dead (Shakespeare, Donne, Byron, Hopkins), so I’m not much help there. But If you’re looking for something to help you get into poetry, I recommend Stephen Fry’s The Ode Less Travelled. It’s written as a guide to writing poetry, complete with exercises to do. But Fry also talks how poetry works and gives lots of examples of good (and bad) poems from all eras, including some of his own. Plus, the book is just hilarious.
I second Lawrence Ferlinghetti.
Also Rumi.
The Stephen Fry book sounds awesome, Teresa. Thanks for the rec! I think something that makes poetry funny and not so serious will definitely help me get over some of my fears about it.
French poet Arthur Rimbaud is my poet crush and he’s so good I’d jump all over him if he was still alive and I met him on the street
I’m in love with his poems.
Mary Oliver is also wonderful, and I see a few people have mentioned her already.
I also just recently discovered Sweta Srivastava Vikram and her amazing collection of poems titled “Verse on Grief: Because All Is Not Lost”. It was absolutely brilliant, and anyone who has ever lost a loved one will connect with her poems.
Good luck with your new venture into poetry
Kelly´s last [type] ..A Christmas Carol Read-a-long- Stave 2
Oh gosh exam week is getting the best of me. Vikram’s poetry collection is called “Because All Is Not Lost: Verse on Grief”.
Kelly´s last [type] ..A Christmas Carol Read-a-long- Stave 2
Thanks so much for all of these!
I’ll resist the temptation to recommend our own authors or myself and suggest my favourite living poet Pascale Petit. Actually she’s my favourite poet living or dead.
Looks like you’ve got a ton of recommendations already, but I’ll add my 2 cents.
1. Lawrence Ferlinghetti
2. Ted Kooser
3. Yusef Komunyakaa
4. Kay Ryan
5. Rita Dove
6. Martha Collins
It’s funny that you are asking for recommendations. I should be announcing my poetry challenge for 2011 this friday or early next week. I’m just waiting on my buttons from Monica. I hope you’ll join.
Serena´s last [type] ..The Brontës by Pamela Norris
Also before I forget, I review poetry on a semi-regular basis — most recently a collection of poems from The Brontes, which was fantastic — you can find those here, with the most recent on top: http://savvyverseandwit.com/category/review/poetry
Serena´s last [type] ..The Brontës by Pamela Norris
If you want more classic poet recommendations, I can give you some of those as well.
Serena´s last [type] ..The Brontës by Pamela Norris
Serena, I don’t know why I didn’t just send you an email about this! Thanks so much for the recommendation, and I’ll be sure to look for the challenge.
I highly, highly, highly recommend Li Young Lee — he is one of my all-time favorite poets and has written so many lines that haunt me! I studied English with a concentration in poetry in college, and his works are some of the only ones I can vividly recall (and it wasn’t that long ago, ha!). His collection Rose is my favorite.
My favorite of his poems is “Eating Together,” and because it’s short — and I love it so very much — I’ll just paste it here really quick:
EATING TOGETHER
by Li-Young Lee
In the steamer is the trout
seasoned with slivers of ginger,
two sprigs of green onion, and sesame oil.
We shall eat it with rice for lunch,
brothers, sister, my mother who will
taste the sweetest meat of the head,
holding it between her fingers
deftly, the way my father did
weeks ago. Then he lay down
to sleep like a snow-covered road
winding through pines older than him,
without any travelers, and lonely for no one.
Meg´s last [type] ..Happy birthday- Jane Austen- a giveaway and writing contest
I love Kevin Young, Rita Dove, Natasha Tretheway for a distinctive American voice. Seamus Heaney and WS Merwin are also favorites. And Stephen Dobyns. For stuff a little older, try Anne Sexton’s Transformations!
LifetimeReader´s last [type] ..Still Under the Greenwood Tree
oops–that’s Natasha Trethewey, not -way. Don’t miss her!
LifetimeReader´s last [type] ..Still Under the Greenwood Tree
A great anthology of essential English language poetry, aptly entitled Emergency Kit, edited by Matthew Sweeney and Jo Shapcott, published by Faber and Faber is an excellent collection and introduction to many different styles of poetry, and many varied poetic voices
don’t mean to crash a ‘Ladies only’ blog. I’ve never read, nor heard of this blog till today. I was searching. Searching for words. Words to help bridge the gap between thought and feeling. There are moments in our lives where we can not express what we feel into words. Poetry is a magical translator. Just wanted to say thanks. There are some poets that I have not heard of before. Finally, why this site? because I wanted to get a perspective from a women’s point of view, and to let you all know that guys are interested in what you say and think!
Thanks for stopping by! Despite the fact that the blog is written by a woman, readers both male and female are enthusiastically welcomed. Hope we’ll see you around.
Anything by Tony Hoagland, but here’s my favorite!
(perhaps a bit early in the day for it)
When Dean Young Talks About Wine
The worm thrashes when it enters the tequila.
The grape cries out in the wine vat crusher.
But when Dean Young talks about wine, his voice is strangely calm.
Yet it seems that wine is rarely mentioned.
He says, Great first chapter but no plot.
He says, Long runway, short flight.
He says, This one never had a secret.
He says, You can’t wear stripes with that.
He squints as if recalling his childhood in France.
He purses his lips and shakes his head at the glass.
Eight-four was a naughty year, he says,
and for a second I worry that California has turned him
into a sushi-eater in a cravat.
Then he says,
This one makes clear the difference
between a thoughtless remark
and an unwarranted intrusion.
Then he says, In this one the pacific last light of afternoon
stains the wings of the seagull pink
at the very edge of the postcard.
But where is the Cabernet of rent checks and asthma medication?
Where is the Burgundy of orthopedic shoes?
Where is the Chablis of skinned knees and jelly sandwiches?
with the aftertaste of cruel Little League coaches?
and the undertone of rusty stationwagon?
His mouth is purple as if from his own ventricle
he had drunk.
He sways like a fishing rod.
When a beast is hurt it roars in incomprehension.
When a bird is hurt it huddles in its nest.
But when a man is hurt,
he makes himself an expert.
Then he stands there with a glass in his hand
staring into nothing
as if he were forming an opinion.
—Tony Hoagland, 2003
Kelly Justice´s last [type] ..Donate a Toy- Get a Free Book from Cathy Maxwell!
The absolute best poet of all – the one who speaks with brutal guts and true feeling – is A.E. Housman. Give him a look.
A. E. Housman (1859–1936). A Shropshire Lad. 1896.
WITH rue my heart is laden
For golden friends I had,
For many a rose-lipt maiden
And many a lightfoot lad.
By brooks too broad for leaping
The lightfoot boys are laid;
The rose-lipt girls are sleeping
In fields where roses fade.
Melody… thanks… Alfred Edward Houseman’s poems are dark/pessimism verses but I like the style.