today's poem

[angevin2]

ritaxis made me think of this one yesterday, so here it is. I've always loved it.

A Kumquat for John Keats
Tony HarrisonToday I found the right fruit for my prime

Comments

[dolique]

this is AMAZING. and surprisingly modern, for you! :P

[angevin2]

Hey, this is the third 20th-century poem I've posted this month! ;)

[gillo]

I love this poem too. The first time I encountered it was in a "Poetry Day" put on by a local university for teachers. Tony Harrison himself read it to us as part of an hour on his methods and techniques. He reads his own work superbly - he got a huge laugh on "apostrophise"!

Name-dropping I know, but hey...

[angevin2]

Neat!

I really love Harrison's translation/adaptation of the mystery cycles -- we watched some of the video of that in my medieval drama seminar several years ago, and it was fantastic. (It started with Brian Glover as God the Father intoning "Ego sum alpha et omega" in a thick Yorkshire accent while standing atop a forklift; there is nothing about this that is not awesome.)

[gillo]

Name dropping #2. We saw the complete Mysteries cycle at the Lyceum in one day, with Brian Glover et al. It was way beyond awesome. God pushed past us to get to the forklift with a copy of a tabloid newspaper in his back pocket. He rendition of "Nowt is but I" brought the house down. Later on, a small boy, bored, sat at the foot of the Cross playing with a Transformers watch. Oh, and the Nativity, with all teh children in the audience given penlights and standing in a ring to illuminate the holy family.

Way, way beyond awesome.

But so is Harrison. I love his poem about Durham.

[angevin2]

Hey, you were the one pointing out that people should be aware of slant rhymes. ;)

Keats is not really my favorite poet, but I don't dislike him (though I had a terrible experience teaching "Ode to a Nightingale" which kind of put me off that one). But I really love poems about poetry. :D

[angevin2]

What-EVER, POINT IS, it doesn't have to ACTUALLY RHYME. ;)

I decided I liked The Faerie Queene a lot better once I figured out that it is mostly about how to read itself. Hooray self-reflexivity!

[lauzeta]

Okay, that's amazing.

The last time I had a kumquat I was about six. Clearly I am going to have to try them again.

[speak_me_fair]

I like your nod to the Romantics :-) given that I know you're not their biggest fan....

Random comment for the day: I once went to a service in college at which the visiting vicar preached about kumquats. I now find them inherently amusing...