Thursday, July 12, 2012

Great Poems

The new issue of Poetry East has arrived (Numbers 74 & 75, Spring 2012): Great Poems. It's got Matthew Arnold in it, William Blake, Emily Bronte, Emily Dickinson, Gerard Manley Hopkins, Helen Hunt Jackson, John Milton, Christina Rosetti, Shelley, Keats, Wordsworth, Yeats, and, of course, Shakespeare, and a bunch of others.

Great Poems: with commentaries by contemporary poets


Holy moly, I'm a contemporary poet!

I provide a commentary on Emily Dickinson's poem that begins, "I tie my Hat--I crease my Shawl--." I'm in there with Claudia Emerson (also with a Dickinson poem), Linda Pastan, Jack Ridl, Michael Hettich, Patiann Rogers, Andrea Potos, Jack Grapes, Joanne Lowery, Kelly Cherry, and other contemporary poets who were deeply affected by great poems of the past. Wooee!

And we're all in there with Rembrandt, paintings (in color!) and etchings. This is a fantabulous issue!!

This is a great teaching issue, whether in a classroom, small poetry workshop, or on your own. Wooee! I cannot wait to read this through and through and find out what everyone else loves. 

My commentary, which refers to Emily's grief at the loss of her young nephew, Gilbert, is across from Rembrandt's etching, Youth Surprised by Death. That's the kind of care in arrangement that editor Richard Jones takes with each issue of Poetry East.

Did I say, "Wooee!"?



T
hanks to Wikipedia for these public domain self-portraits of Rembrandt in youth, middle age, and the year he died.

10 comments:

Maureen said...

Oh, the company you keep! Congrats!

Carol Berg said...

Wooo-ee indeed!!!

Kathleen said...

Thanks, you two. I'm honored to be in such grand company, you bet!

Collagemama said...

I'm marking the calendar for the day you wrote "wooee!"

Kathleen said...

You are a sweetie. What a thrill to be on your calendar!

Molly said...

Wow - what a group to be a part of! And what a great idea for an issue. I'm going to go order it right now. Congrats to you!

Cathy said...

Ooo, I'm all proud of you!

Kathleen said...

Thank you, Molly and Cathy! And I am proud of Emily Dickinson, who has many poems in this issue! Uh, Cathy, I realize that might not light YOUR fire, but there are others for you!

Cathy said...

Clarification: I like Emily Dickinson. Heck, I looovve Emily Dickinson. It's only poems by people who are not Em that have her name in the title I object to.

Kathleen said...

Ah, Cathy, now I get it! I looooove Emily, too.