Review by the Editor-in-Chief of Tai Chi by Master Lam

While not exactly poetry, Tai Chi is a kind of poetry in motion.  Hence, I thought that readers might enjoy my review of Step-By-Step Tai Chi--The Natural Way to Strength and Health by Master Lam Kam Chuen, which may be found on my personal blog, Steves Of Grass, here https://stevesofgrass.blogspot.com/2018/10/review-of-tai-chi-by-master-lam-kam.html.

--Steven Wittenberg Gordon

"My Journey with John" by the Editor

I have been aware of the speculative poetry of John Reinhart ever since I became aware of the self-styled Science Fiction Poetry Association.  That would have been late in the year 2012.  At that time, his work appeared frequently in the SFPA journal Star*Line, edited until recently by F. J. Bergmann.  I found (and still find) his genre poetry to be engaging and thought-provoking with a sprinkling of (at times dark) humor worthy of a smile albeit sometimes a grim one. 

I launched Songs of Eretz Poetry Review in 2014 and published some of John’s more mainstream poems with such frequency that I eventually invited him to be a Frequent Contributor, a quasi-staff poet position, which he held from the inception of the FC program in January 2016 until he decided to move on to other projects in December 2017.  During his time as an FC, I published approximately thirty-five of his poems, easily enough for a chapbook or small collection.

Of all John’s poems that appeared during his time as an FC, the most popular with the Songs of Eretz readership were “24^th century lullaby” http://www.songsoferetz.com/2017/03/24th-century-lullaby-by-john-reinhart.html and “saying goodnight” http://www.songsoferetz.com/2016/09/saying-goodnight-by-john-reinhart.html.  The latter is a mainstream poem of only twenty-six words that exemplifies John’s love of family, storytelling, and science fiction.  (There is always a speculative element in one of John’s poems--one just needs to look for it.)  In this poem, John melds heart and ear to form a “heart ear.”  What a weird yet beautiful concept!

In the former poem, John demonstrates his enjoyment for composing form poems, this time using the empat perkataan form.  Setting aside the obvious sci-fi title, the poem, while certainly speculative, harkens back to balladic nursery rhymes and old household tales, a joining of the familiar with the cosmic.

The last collection of John’s poems that I read was Invert the Helix.  Disappointingly, only half a dozen poems in the collection really moved me, two of which I had previously published in Songs of Eretz.  The rest of the poems in the collection I found either too "out there," borderline non-sequitur, experimental (but not in a good way), or too cutesy for my personal taste.  Nevertheless, I admire John for taking a risk.  After all, if poets never did, poems would still be imprisoned in stifling forms and entirely dependent on rhyme and meter.  And that would be a shame.  I will continue to follow John’s poetry career with great interest.  You should, too.

Steven Wittenberg Gordon

Editor-in-Chief 

A Review by the Editor of “In America” by Diana Goetsch

I had the pleasure of reading “In America” by Diana Goetsch, the runner-up for the 2017 Rattle Chapbook Prize (Rattle, Studio City, California, 2017).  The chapbook contains a collection of seventeen poems written from the perspective of a male who has transgendered to a female.  I enjoyed sixteen out of the seventeen poems in the collection--all but the titular (no pun) poem.

The chapbook “In America” begins with a poem “In America” wherein the transgendered speaker rails against TSA agents forced to perform a detailed body search on the speaker.  Personally, I felt bad for the TSA agents who had no choice but to pull the speaker aside because the speaker’s anatomy was non-standard in the initial x-ray scan.  The agents had to do their due diligence.  For example, who knows what kind of explosives could have been concealed in bra area of this individual?  The speaker was incensed that the agents debated what sex the chaperone should be and answered legitimate questions with non-sequiturs just to be annoying.  The title of the poem (and chapbook) is devastatingly ironic, for only “in America” would a transgendered person be treated with such respect by government agents.  In many countries, such agents would take the transgendered off to jail or execution or worse.

The titular poem aside, the rest of the poems in the collection reveal interesting aspects of the lives of the transgendered and transvestites.  It was also interesting and instructive to view the world through their eyes as many of the poems will allow readers willing to suspend any biases to do. 

My favorite poem of the collection, “The Fabric Factory, Circa 1987,” describes a typical night in a popular bar that caters to the transgendered and transvestites, a place that for a few drunken hours they can openly be themselves.  The backstories of the various lonely and sad patrons of the establishment are moving and told in a tasteful manner.  Ironically, the bartender, the only straight character other than the "GG" (genetic girl) who has accompanied her transvestite husband (now THAT is a stand-by-your-man-no-matter-what woman!), is perhaps the most interesting, with his come on of, “What’ll be, ladies?”

Another poem I particularly enjoyed is “Whole Lotta Love.”  The advice for what to do “if you’re ever in a fight with someone you love,” applies to any couple, whether they be traditional man and wife, man and man, wife and wife, or whatever.  The message that hit me--and hit me hard--was that romantic love is perhaps not in the exclusive realm of the heterosexuals.  Such is the power of good poetry.

“In America” is available from Rattle for $7.00 here https://www.rattle.com/chapbooks/in-america/ where may also be found a bio of the poet as well as three sample poems from the collection including “The Fabric Factory, Circa 1987.”

Steven Wittenberg Gordon, MD

Editor

Special Feature: Human Poet or Machine? Can You Tell the Difference?

I just read a fascinating article posted on NPR.org that asks readers to try to distinguish between sonnets composed by humans and those composed by computer programs.  I guessed correctly five out of six times, but it wasn't easy!  I invite you to try your luck here:  http://www.npr.org/sections/alltechconsidered/2016/06/27/480639265/human-or-machine-can-you-tell-who-wrote-these-poems?sc=17&f=1019&utm_source=iosnewsapp&utm_medium=Email&utm_campaign=app.

--The Editor

Special Feature: The Editor's Review of Crowned by Frequent Contributor Mary Soon Lee

It is rare for me to read a collection of poetry and to enjoy every poem in it.  I daresay such an occurrence would be rare for anyone.  Crowned (Dark Renaissance Books, Brookings, Oregon, 2015) by Songs of Eretz Frequent Contributor Mary Soon Lee falls into this category for me.

Crowned--The Sign of the Dragon: Book 1 is a collection of sixty-one poems centered around Xau, a fictional Mongol-like warrior prince and horse whisperer who, though he is the youngest son, winds up inheriting his father’s kingdom and winning the love and respect of his people and foreign bride and the grudging respect of his enemies.  The collection is about 175 pages in length and is available through Amazon.com http://www.amazon.com/CROWNED-Sign-Dragon-Book-1/dp/1937128741/for $16.95.  It is worth every penny.  The collection is complimented by beautiful and occasionally breathtaking black-and-white illustrations by M. Wayne Miller.

It is important for readers of Crowned to realize at the outset that the collection is an epic poem about a larger-than-life hero.  Detractors have criticized Xau, the hero of Crowned, as being “too perfect.”  Little do these critics realize that such a comment is actually the highest compliment that could be said of the hero of an epic poem.  The hero of an epic poem should be perfect or nearly so--Superman perfect, Odysseus perfect, Beowulf perfect, Aeneas perfect, perhaps with a single but often fatal flaw.  King Xau is such a hero.

Epic poetry is, well, epic, as The Iliad is epic, as The Odyssey is epic, as The Aeneid is epic, as Bewulf is epic.  The narrative thread that weaves the poems of Crowned together is a beautiful, inspiring story that, though entirely fictional, has the feel of legendary mythology.  Detractors of Crowned, including even Lee herself in her “Author’s Note,” have criticized the collection for lacking “real” poetry.  Such critics do not understand epic poetry.  Not a single poem in the collection lacks poetry.  On the contrary, the collection is ALL poetry.

That is not to say that every poem in the collection is equally great.  All of them are great, but some are (yes, I’ll say it again) epic.  The poems that tell the story of Prince Xau’s encounter with a prophetic dragon and the story of King Xau’s winning of the hearts of the Horse Lords come immediately to mind.  These and several others in the collection are simply stunning, awe inspiring, and above all memorable.  I will not reveal more lest I spoil.

Two of the poems in the collection, “Companionship” and “Stables,” were first published in Songs of Eretz and may be found here:  http://eretzsongs.blogspot.com/2015/03/poem-of-day-companionship-by-mary-soon.html and here:  http://eretzsongs.blogspot.com/2015/02/songs-of-eretz-poetry-review-is-pleased_24.html.  If you are a lover of fantasy, mythology, and epic poetry, read those for a teaser and then get yourself a copy of Crowned.  It will not disappoint.

The Editor's Review of Melting the Ice King by Gerard Sarnat

I recently had the pleasure of reading Gerard Sarnat's latest poetry collection Melting the Ice King, published this year by Pessoa Press, San Francisco.  The book contains about seventy-six poems within about sixty-five actual pages.*  Most of the poems are elegies (often satirical ones) to the poet's father who died of lung cancer just shy of 100 years of age.  The irony and satire found throughout the collection begins right away with the cover photo, which features a romantic shot of the poet's rugged looking, movie star handsome father smoking a cigarette while on horseback and holding hands with his similarly mounted beauty of a wife (pictured).


Readers familiar with my personal biases know that I am not a fan of prosaic poetry and that I believe that vignette style poetry more properly belongs in collections of short stories or in flash fiction venues.  Thus, it will come as a surprise to readers of my reviews to learn that I actually enjoyed reading Dr. Sarnat's poems, about three quarters of which fall into the prosaic or vignette style categories.  The poems contain a Kerouac-ian rhythm and flow to them which I find compelling and pleasing to the ear. The raw honesty of the often ironic poems, while occasionally jarring, really sings; whether this is due to the form or the content or some combination is an interesting question.


The ideal audience for this collection would be elderly Jewish Americans of a liberal bent that remember the hippy era with mixed feelings.  A working knowledge of yiddish and medicine would serve the reader well, but Dr. Sarnat aids the uninitiated by the use of helpful footnotes.  However, readers who may only have heard of Jews and for whom the 1960s might as well be the 1860s will still enjoy reading this collection, as readers that fall into this category will have the additional pleasure of being immersed in what for them would be a new and interesting culture.


Many of the poems are personal to the Sarnat family--some a bit too personal, as when the junior Dr. Sarnat mentions the discovery of the senior doctor's "condom drawer."  However, the vast majority of the poems address difficult topics such as:  hospice, funeral planning, end of life decisions, sibling rivalry, the elderly taking care of the even more elderly, death, and loss.  These poems, though sung by Dr. Sarnat's unique voice about his unique extended family dynamic, have a rich, universal appeal.


Melting the Ice King, as well as other collections of poetry by Dr. Sarnat, is available on Amazon.com http://www.amazon.com/Gerard-Sarnat/e/B00JDVTZ3K and at select bookstores.  It is a bit overpriced at $19.95, as many longer collections by more well known poets may be had for a fraction of that price.  A significant collection of Dr. Sarnat's poetry was published in Songs of Eretz Poetry Review.  Three of the poems that appear in Melting the Ice King were first published in the Review and may be found here http://eretzsongs.blogspot.com/2015/01/poem-of-day-what-george-kennan-couldnt.html and here http://eretzsongs.blogspot.com/2015/01/poem-of-day-without-all-due-modesty-by.html and here http://eretzsongs.blogspot.com/2015/01/poem-of-day-coach-house-by-gerard.html.  Another poem, "Red White and the Blues" is wrongly credited to Songs of Eretz in the Acknowledgments section of Melting the Ice King.   Five more poems by Dr. Sarnat published or reprinted in Songs of Eretz may be found here http://eretzsongs.blogspot.com/2015/05/poem-of-day-45th-reunion-redbook.html and here http://eretzsongs.blogspot.com/2015/01/poem-of-day-christmas-eve-morning-by.html and here http://eretzsongs.blogspot.com/2015/01/poem-of-day-helter-skelter-by-gerard.html and here http://eretzsongs.blogspot.com/2015/01/poem-of-day-heart-throb-by-gerard.html and here http://eretzsongs.blogspot.com/2014/07/poetry-review-special-feature-fixer-doc.html.

About the Poet:  Dr. Sarnat received his education at Harvard and Stanford.  He established and staffed clinics for the disenfranchised, has been a CEO of healthcare organizations, and was a Stanford professor.  He and his wife of over forty-five years have three children and two grandchildren with more on the way, and live in the room above their oldest daughter’s garage.




*The number of actual pages (a term of my own invention) of a poetry collection is determined by counting the number of pages in a volume that are actually covered with words of poetry (a rather tedious process), leaving out all pages not found in the main body, all blank pages, blank spaces, and pages devoted only to section or chapter titles.

WHERE'D THEY GO?

The "Submissions Guidelines & About the Poetry Review" link has been moved to a more prominent position just below the Songs of Eretz masthead.  The list of "Poems Published by the Editor" and the "Editor's Reading List" have been moved to the editor's new website Steves of Grass www.StevesofGrass.blogspot.com.  Steves of Grass will eventually feature announcements about the editor's recent publications, book reviews by the editor, essays by the editor, and other special features.

Songs of Eretz Congratulates Marge Simon

On behalf of Songs of Eretz Poetry Review, I wish to congratulate Marge Simon, who, along with co-author Mary Turzillo, recently won the Science Fiction Poetry Association's Elgin Award for the best speculative poetry collection of 2014 for Sweet Poison (Dark Renaissance Books 2014).  Simon is a frequent contributor to Songs of Eretz, and was our first Featured Poet (Songs of Eretz Poetry E-zine, Volume 1, Issue 3, January 2014).  A review of Sweet Poison appeared in Volume 1, Issue 4 of the e-zine and is below reprinted.
SWG

The Editor’s Review of Sweet Poison by Marge Simon and Mary Turzillo

Sweet Poison is a collection of sixty speculative poems by the Bram Stoker Award-winning poet Marge Simon, and the Nebula Award-winning poet Mary Turzillo.  With the exception of one co-written piece, each poem by Simon was composed in response to a poem by Turzillo, or vice versa.  Neither will admit or cares to remember who started it.  The volume contains gorgeous illustrations by M. Wayne Miller and is available from Dark Renaissance Books.  Marge Simon was the featured poet in the January 2014 issue of Songs of Eretz.

The result of this collaborative back-and-forth is a series of poems that will profoundly affect the reader--alternatively wickedly delighting, strangely horrifying, surprisingly stimulating the intellect, or occasionally unpleasantly stirring the stomach.  Many poems provide interesting new twists on familiar mythologies; others will provide twisted new interest in unfamiliar mythologies.  

Most of the poems tell stories.  Some might argue that they could be re-versed as prose poems or even presented as flash fiction.  However, were this to be done, the poems would lose the essential effects of the pauses between the lines--pauses that in their silence often scream.

Lovers of horror, the macabre, the bizarre, the burlesque, and the surreal are in for a real treat.  For best results, turn off the phone, turn down the lights, and turn up the fire before turning the pages of Sweet Poison.  And remember to lock the door.

Steven Wittenberg Gordon, MD
Editor

Review of Dragonslayer by William King

I indulged in the guilty pleasure of reading Dragonslayer by William King, the fourth Gotrek & Felix novel, first published by Black Library in 2000.  The novel was originally available as a singleton through Black Library, and then became available as the first novel in the Second Omnibus Warhammer edition with the sequels Beastslayer and Vampireslayer under the same cover.  Sadly, the book is out of print, but used copies in good condition may be obtained through Amazon.  I paid about $17 for my copy of the three novel Second Omnibus edition through Amazon, shipping included.

Fans of the first three Gotrek & Felix novels as well fans of The Hobbit will enjoy Dragonslayer.  The general plot is quite similar to There & Back Again, although the quality of the writing is more summer pulp than high brow traditional fantasy Oxford professor.  I lost count of how many dwarfs populate the pages, but the star remains Gotrek son of Gurni, an avowed "Slayer," oath bound to seek out a glorious death in battle to atone for an unnamed dishonor.  In place of the reluctant Bilbo, there is the equally reluctant happy hunter and poet warrior Felix Jaeger, oath bound to be the chronicler of Gotrek's eventual death.  There is even an interesting wizard, though he is no Gandalf.  The book ends with a battle similar to the Battle of Five Armies, though in Dragonslayer the armies total only three.

Unlike The Hobbit, there is a little bit of romance involving Felix and a noblewoman warrior--an annoying bit of romance that did not do much to enhance or advance the plot.  Also unlike The Hobbit, King adds a little steampunk to the traditional fantasy courtesy of an interesting, Scotty-from-Star-Trek-like dwarf engineer, complete with an outrageous Scottish accent, who introduces black powder bombs, gatling guns, gyrocopters, and a dirigible airship into the mix.  King's description of a mid-air battle between the airship and the dragon alone is worth the price of the omnibus.

While the plot compares with Tolkien's, the method of storytelling compares with George R. R. Martin's. Like Martin, King tells his tale from the points of view of all of the major characters and some of the minor ones in turns, occasionally devoting a chapter to a single character's POV as Martin does, but most often devoting a page or two or even just a paragraph to one character before moving on to the next.  King does a good job with this.  The storyline is not disrupted and remains easy to follow.  I particularly enjoyed the points of view of the villains--almost enough to hope they would succeed in foiling the heroes.

Dragonslayer is a novel that I would recommend to any fan of traditional fantasy looking for a quick, enjoyable, good summer read.  While there is much that is familiar in terms of plot and characters, the familiarity is comforting rather than annoying, and there is enough unique material to keep fantasy fans turning the pages. Try reading it at the beach or in a comfy chair in a poorly lit room with a flagon of ale or, if you prefer, a bucket of vodka.

Steven Wittenberg Gordon, MD
Editor

Poem of the Day: “Reading Between the Lines” by G. O. Clark

Songs of Eretz Poetry Review is pleased to present “Reading Between the Lines” by G. O. Clark.  Mr. Clark's writing has been published in:  Asimov's Science Fiction, Analog, Talebones  Magazine, Strange Horizons, Space & Time, Retro Spec: Tales of Fantasy and Nostalgia, A Sea Of Alone: Poems For Alfred Hitchcock, Tales Of The Talisman, Daily SF, Jupiter (GB) and many other publications.

Mr. Clark is the author of eleven poetry collections, the two most recent, Scenes Along the Zombie Highway (2013, Dark Regions Press), and Gravediggers' Dance (2014, Dark Renaissance Books). His fiction collection, The Saucer Under My Bed & Other Stories, was published by Sam's Dot Publishing in 2011. He won the Asimov's Readers Award for poetry in 2001 and has been a repeat Rhysling and Stoker Award nominee.

Mr. Clark is retired and lives in Davis, California.  See http://goclarkpoet.weebly.com/ for more information.

Reading Between the Lines

G. O. Clark

His teen sweetheart

got trapped in a love song

he composed on his mother's

old spinet piano.

When in college,

he took up poetry, and

one impressionable coed

became entangled in the meter

of his sophomoric sonnet.

Till death do us

part, his lovely bride

agreed, and by vowing to do so,

ended up the literal pulse beat

of his only novel.

After his death,

his official biographer found

that none of his past loves could

be accounted for. They had

just ceased to exist

and were never reported

missing by family or friends.

The critics unanimously agree,

the females in his books seem

more real than imaginary.

Poet’s Notes:  I sometimes get ideas for poems from some book I'm reading, whether fiction, poetry, or non-fiction.  I wrote this poem months ago, and can't for the life of me remember which book, or line in the book, served as inspiration. The idea of real people finding their way into fiction, and poetry, is nothing new, but I think my horrific, (and literal) take on the process might be. Each stanza of the poem could probably be expanded into a stand-alone short story, and the whole into mystery or horror novel. Perhaps some day . . . .

Editor’s Note:  The title of this poem is “Reading Between the Lines” with a capital “B” for “Between.”  Prepositions usually appear in lowercase in a title (and I usually ask the poet for clarification if not), but the capital as used here seems appropriate for emphasis, as the action in this poem takes place “Between” fantasy and reality--in the white space "Between" the lines. This poem reminds me of a short story I read recently in Neil Gaiman’s collection, Trigger Warning.

Poetry Review Special Feature: "Dickinson’s Use of Synesthesia" by the Editor

Editor's Note:  The following essay was written in fulfillment of the open response exercise for week 2 of Harvard University's month-long Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) Poetry in America:  Dickinson, currently being offered by edX.

Dickinson’s Use of Synesthesia

Steven Wittenberg Gordon

Emily Dickinson sometimes uses synesthesia, the intermingling of two or more senses, in order to covey sensory experience in her poetry.  These multiple sensory experiences allow the reader to run the poem through the body as it is read.  A fine example of this device is the opening and titular line of “Bring me the sunset in a cup--”

https://courses.edx.org/c4x/HarvardX/AmPoX.4/asset/140_Bring_me_the_sunset_in_a_cup_v2.pdf.  Here the colors of the sunset are fused into a fantastical beverage.  The reader cannot help but wonder what such a draught would taste like, smell like, feel like in the mouth, feel like going down the throat.  Would it be warm, like whiskey?  For that matter, would such a luxurious and unusual drink make one drunk like whiskey?

Another example of Dickinson’s use of synesthesia, perhaps less obvious than the above example, may be found in the first stanza of “There’s a certain Slant of light” https://courses.edx.org/c4x/HarvardX/AmPoX.4/asset/320_Theres_a_certain_Slant_of_light.pdf.

There’s a certain Slant of light,

Winter Afternoons --

That oppresses, like the Heft

Of Cathedral Tunes --

Here Dickinson compares light, which normally is thought to possess only ethereal qualities, as a “tune” or sound with the additional quality of “Heft” or substance.  The reader now conceives of light in an unusual and different way.  This light is not just something to be seen.  It is also somehow heard and felt.  The senses of sight, hearing, and touch are simultaneously engaged.  The light washes over the body and enters the body through the ears as well as the eyes.  In sight, in Dickinson, there is much insight.

Poetry Review Special Feature: "The Dickinson Dialectic" by the Editor

Editor's Note:  The following essay was written in fulfillment of the open response exercise for week 1 of Harvard University's month-long Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) Poetry in America:  Dickinson currently being offered by edX.

The Dickinson Dialectic

Steven Wittenberg Gordon

Emily Dickinson’s choice not to choose a “final” version of some of her poems both empowered and disempowered her as poet when her works were brought to print.  This dialectic has become more apparent over time as more editions of her work and the manuscripts themselves have become available to readers.  The different versions of Dickinson’s poems disempower her as a poet when editors choose one version over another at the risk of choosing the “wrong” version.  However, the fact that a choice of versions must be contemplated by editors forces the editors, at least the conscientious ones, to examine Dickinson’s handwritten manuscripts carefully--the definition of empowerment as a poet. 

Likewise, the more “cryptic” elements of Dickinson’s works both enhance and detract from Dickinson’s poetic autonomy.  On the one hand, Dickinson took to her grave the reasons for and intended meanings of her dashes, capitals, and punctuation choices.  On its face, this impossibility of being understood for certain by anyone but Dickinson herself enhances Dickinson’s poetic autonomy.  However, by the same token, the mystery stimulates her readers and editors to dig deeply into what the possible reasons for and meanings of her “cryptic” elements might be to a degree that would likely not be undertaken otherwise.  This increased scrutiny can only detract from Dickinson’s poetic autonomy.

Review of Rough Traces by Jason Wesco

I had the pleasure of reading an autographed copy of Rough Traces (Shake Dust Press--Damascus, Nebraska, 2007), a collection of poetry by fellow Kansas City area poet Jason Wesco.  I received the copy directly from Mr. Wesco at, of all places, a health center where I had recent job interview--as it turned out, Mr. Wesco is the CEO of that health center.

I always bring something to read everywhere I go, and grabbed my copy of William Stafford’s The Way It Is off the coffee table on my way out the door as I left for the interview.  As I walked in to Mr. Wesco’s office, he noticed what I was reading.  “One of my favorite poets,” he said.  That certainly started my interview off on the right foot!  When we were done, he walked me to the parking lot and to his car, where he found a copy of Rough Traces in the trunk.  He scrounged around for a pen and autographed it for me.

It is evident in Rough Traces that Wesco admires Stafford.  Many of the fifty-three poems in the collection read like Stafford’s work.  There is also something there reminiscent of Whitman.  In fact, the portrait of Wesco in the back of the book is much like, and perhaps was inspired by, the iconic portrait of a young Whitman slouching casually in lose-fitting clothes, hands in his pockets.

Mr. Wesco favors the second person POV in his work, which, as my readers know, is something that I usually do not.  You know what I mean.  Using second person POV is always risky.  The poet must be careful not to offend the reader by telling a story from that reader’s POV.  Ideally, its use will draw the reader into the poem and make the reader feel a part of its fabric, feel the song of the poem in his heart.  For the most part, Mr. Wesco produces exactly this effect--and, coming from me, that is really saying something.

Wesco is definitely a regional poet, drawing inspiration from the Kansas City area and the surrounding Midwestern region.  Most of his poems are set about two generations back.  Many make use of regional dialect.  Reading them, especially as most directly address the reader, made me feel as though I had traveled through time to a Kansas that, while not the Wild West, was still rough around the edges, gritty, and a country western kind of cool.  If you want a copy, look here:  http://www.abebooks.com/Rough-Traces-Wesco-Jason-Shake-Dust/1218814102/bd.

Modern & Contemporary American Poetry Course Offering

Dear Friends of Eretz,

I invite you to join me in auditing the free Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) Modern & Contemporary Poetry being offered again this year by the University of Pennsylvania through Coursera.  Sign up here:  https://www.coursera.org/course/modernpoetry.

The course will again be led by University of Pennsylvania Professor Al Filreis--information about him may be found here:  https://www.coursera.org/instructor/~26.  The course will run from September 6 - November 15, 2014.  It is self-paced and may be taken for a certificate or simply audited.  Coursera summarizes the course description as follows:

ModPo is a fast-paced introduction to modern and contemporary U.S. poetry, with an emphasis on experimental verse, from Dickinson and Whitman to the present. Participants (who need no prior experience with poetry) will learn how to read poems that are supposedly "difficult." 

I joined the course late last year and found it to be stimulating, entertaining, and informative.  My confidence with doing close readings of modern poetry increased by an order of magnitude, and as a direct result I was able to make the offerings in the Poetry Review much more comprehensive and educational.

It would be SO COOL if we could form a Songs of Eretz ModPo discussion group around this course.  Anyone interested in doing so should contact me via email at SWGordonMD@gmail.com.

Kind regards,

Steve
Steven Wittenberg Gordon, MD
Editor

Poem of the Day: "Ode on Intimations of Immortality, Part XI" by William Wordsworth, Poet of the Month

For the Songs of Eretz Poem of the Day for June 30, 2014, we shall complete our study of "Ode on Intimations of Immortality" by William Wordsworth, Poet of the Month.  This will complete our thirty-poem, month-long survey of the great poet.

Ode on Intimations of Immortality, Part XI

William Wordsworth

And O, ye Fountains, Meadows, Hills, and Groves,

Forebode not any severing of our loves!

Yet in my heart of hearts I feel your might;

I only have relinquish’d one delight

To live beneath your more habitual sway;

I love the brooks which down their channels fret

Even more than when I tripp’d lightly as they;

The innocent brightness of a new-born day

               Is lovely yet;

The clouds that gather round the setting sun

Do take a sober colouring from an eye

That hath kept watch o’er man’s mortality;

Another race hath been, and other palms are won.

   Thanks to the human heart by which we live,

   Thanks to its tenderness, its joys, and fears,

   To me the meanest flower that blows can give

   Thoughts that do often lie too deep for tears.

Wordsworth begins the ending of his "Ode" with bold apostrophe, shouting his undying love of the countryside to the countryside.  However, it is the ever changing, ever flowing brooks with which he identifies the most--more than the relatively unchanging landscape.  Halfway through, the poet evokes God whom he sees as ever watchful over mankind.  The past joins the present and the future as he makes reference in succession to "another (past) race," followed by "the human heart by which we live (now)," and finally to the profound thoughts that even "the meanest flower (for the rest of his life)" may provoke in him.

Poem of the Day: "Ode on Intimations of Immortality, Part X" by William Wordsworth, Poet of the Month

For the Songs of Eretz Poem of the Day for June 29, 2014, we continue with our study of "Ode on Intimations of Immortality" by William Wordsworth, Poet of the Month.  Today we will examine Part X.

Ode on Intimations of Immortality, Part X

William Wordsworth

Then, sing, ye birds, sing, sing a joyous song! 

          And let the young lambs bound 

          As to the tabor’s sound! 

     We, in thought, will join your throng, 

          Ye that pipe and ye that play, 

          Ye that through your hearts to-day 

          Feel the gladness of the May! 

What though the radiance which was once so bright 

Be now for ever taken from my sight, 

     Though nothing can bring back the hour 

Of splendour in the grass, of glory in the flower; 

          We will grieve not, rather find 

          Strength in what remains behind; 

          In the primal sympathy 

          Which having been must ever be; 

          In the soothing thoughts that spring 

          Out of human suffering; 

          In the faith that looks through death, 

In years that bring the philosophic mind.

Part X contains nineteen lines, an unusual number of lines for a rhyming form poem.  The rhyme scheme is a complex abbacccddeeffgghhif with the penultimate line having no other that rhymes with it, and the final line rhyming with one six lines back.  The rhythm is irregular, staccato at times--the eleventh line even has six feet!  One imagines that Wordsworth did not choose this structure, but that it flowed from his pen rapidly and exuberantly and perhaps without thought as his Ode was coming to an end.

The message is still one of hope and optimism--that it is possible to capture the naive wonder that children find in nature, and that it is possible, with perseverance, to harness this ability to limit the anxiety and care that comes with the responsibilities of adulthood.  The poem reads as a hymn to this concept--the opening line particularly evokes Psalm 96.