Last Days of Poetry (with links)

This afternoon I'd like to post the links to the last of the poems we looked at.

"Oread" -- H.D. (1914)
imagist poem (focus on one image, precise sensory detail, brevity, everyday language, free verse, open topic) -- oread is a nymph ("a minor female nature deity typically associated with a particular location or landform" (Wikipedia)) -- H.D. was the pen name of Hilda Doolittle, associate and former fiancee of Ezra Pound
https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/48186/oread

"Forsythia" -- Mary Ellen Solt (before 1966)
concrete/visual poem -- poem in the shape of its subject -- concrete/visual poetry popular in 1960s & earlier in Europe & Brazil -- Solt was not a protege of William Carlos Williams, but she wrote about his poetry -- "Forsythia -- Out -- Race -- Springs -- Telegram -- Hope -- Insists -- Action" -- also Morse code in her poem
http://writing.upenn.edu/library/Solt-Mary-Ellen_Forsythia.html

"Lilac" -- Mary Ellen Solt (1963)
concrete/visual poem -- note color of type in her poem
http://www.ubu.com/historical/solt/flowers/pdf/Solt-Lilac_1963.pdf

"In a Station of the Metro" -- Ezra Pound (1913)
imagist poem -- Pound founded Imagism -- In a 1916 interview, Pound drew connections between this poem and painting as well as between the poem and haiku (or as he stated hokku) -- Pound knew Japanese but not Chinese -- note that the two lines of this poem rhyme -- not standard haiku format -- poem set in Paris -- according to Kenner, this poem took three versions and a year and a half to find its final form
with reading of poem: https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poetrymagazine/poems/12675/in-a-station-of-the-metro

"The Red Wheelbarrow"  -- William Carlos Williams (1923)
imagist poem -- WCW "sought to invent an entirely fresh—and singularly American—poetic, whose subject matter was centered on the everyday circumstances of life and the lives of common people" (Poets.org) -- WCW was a physician who made house calls -- "no ideas but in things" -- enjambment -- two-line stanzas
link to poem: https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/45502/the-red-wheelbarrow
link to reading by poet: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wMHxQNaoFSM

"In Kyoto" -- Basho -- translated by Jane Hirschfield (original between 1664 and 1694; translation -- after 2017)  Basho, a Japanese poet, was noted for his haiku --
haiku is generally made up of three lines of unrhymed poetry (five syllables -- seven syllables -- five syllables) -- However, especially in English, these guidelines are not always hard and fast.  According to William J. Higginson, haiku in English tend to be shorter. Also haiku has a break in meaning and tends to be about nature (cycle of nature) -- written in present tense
https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/48708/in-kyoto-

"Easter Wings" -- George Herbert (1633)
concrete poem -- however, words have meaning -- not just typography - this link has a picture of how Herbert's poem was originally published in 1633: https://www.ccel.org/h/herbert/temple/Easterwings.html  I think it makes better sense -- poem rhymes -- lines irregular -- Herbert was an Anglican minister whose work was not published until after his death
https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/44361/easter-wings

"Swan and Shadow" -- John Hollander (1966)
concrete poem -- swan above and below water -- words have meaning -- not just typography -- Hollander was a formal poet during the height of free verse and confessional poetry
https://www.naic.edu/~gibson/poems/hollander1.html

"Anna Nicole's Dream" -- Grace Cavalieri (2015)
sonnet with off rhymes/near rhymes -- Grace Cavalieri wrote a book of poems and a play about Ms. Smith
http://www.beltwaypoetry.com/anna-nicoles-dream/