Comments | winterspel: Some poetry for an autumn evening...

winterspel

Some poetry for an autumn evening...

Nov 02, 2006 20:40

baleanoptera shared some Pablo Neruda here and she asked for poet recommendations. I suggested Rabindranath Tagore, the famous Nobel Prize-winning Indian writer and Booker Prize-winning writer Michael Ondaatje. I love their work - both in poetry and prose.

( Some poetry selections from Michael Ondaatje )

michael ondaatje, poetry, tagore, writing

Comments 6

baleanoptera November 3 2006, 07:58:45 UTC

Ooo! These are so lovely! I really like the Ondaatje one called "Birch bark" and the Tagore ones are amazing! The one that starts with "Once again I wake up when the night has waned," touched something - I don't know what, but it's a good thing.
I'm printing these and taking them to work with me, so I can sneak away and be immersed in poetry.
So thank you! Thank you! :D

(deleted first comment because of horrible spelling. Must learn to not type before coffee has started working. ;) *sigh*)

winterspel November 7 2006, 20:47:00 UTC

I adore "Birch Bark," so I'm really glad you like it too. Another favorite of mine is called "To a Sad Daughter" but Ondaatje has many that I enjoy.

Tagore is just sublime and a writer that everyone who loves literature or philosophy should definitely read. He was a great mind and produced some truly wonderful work. And I say this only have read a small fraction of his body of work.

alexandral November 3 2006, 11:17:28 UTC

Oh, this one of the times when LJ friend reminds me of something I liked but forgotten about in UK. I like Tagore's poetry very much, it is so full of contemplation, though I only red it in Russian translation. Thank you so much for these!!!

winterspel November 7 2006, 20:48:13 UTC

I'm really glad to remind you of Tagore! His work is really amazing. I sooo wish I could read it in the vernacular, but he did write some in English.

anonymous November 4 2006, 03:50:44 UTC

i like the one which is on your p.300. Does it have a title? i guess he is referring to India?

winterspel November 4 2006, 04:34:49 UTC

It's part of Gitanjali. I have that same passage quoted in my userinfo because I've loved it since I first read it many years ago. Yes, he is referring to India. Many of Tagore's poems (that I've read) do refer to India in some way, but there are some that are directly related to India's birth/rebirth as a country and culture.