Category Archives: Poetry
Sonnet 1: From Fairest Creatures we Desire Increase by Shakespeare
I can’t abide Shakespeare. His Olde English is too old and it gets in the way of his message and the rhythm of his lines. We expect good poetry to flow like water from a faucet, instead, Shakespeare too often … Continue reading
Gerad Manley Hopkins and the Beauty and Power of Descriptive Writing
Hopkins (internal link) was lucky to have falcons around. In my home town of Pahrump, Nevada, we do have something winged that looks like a little falcon. It may be a Cooper’s Hawk, however, and not a Peregrine Falcon. Whatever … Continue reading
Posted in Poetry, Stanton Delaplane, Uncategorized, video
Tagged gerad manly hopkins
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Climbing Milestone Mountain by Kenneth Rexroth
I know Rexroth (internal link) from his translations of Chinese and Japanese poetry. I have none of his books anymore because I always gave them away. Those collections are that beautiful. Here we have a personal poem with Rexroth in … Continue reading
Posted in Poetry, Thoughts on writing, Uncategorized
Tagged Kennet rexrothh, Orwell, Poetry, rexroth, Spanish civil war
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Spring Wind In London by Katherine Mansfield
New Zealand born Katherine Mansfield was as much a free spirit as the wind she describes in this poem. She mentions the wattle, a tree now grown in temperate climes around the world. The West or northern hemisphere knows it … Continue reading
Posted in Poetry, Uncategorized, video
Tagged ghizlea rowe, Katherine Mansfield, Spring Wind In London
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She Was a Phantom of Delight by William Wordsworth
Overwrought? Yes, too many times. But Wordsworth saves himself with interesting lines like, “A lovely apparition, sent / To be a moment’s ornament . . .” Who else could turn that phrase? The text below is taken from the Poetry Foundation’s … Continue reading
Over the Hill and Over the Dale by John Keats
John Keats died of tuberculosis at 25. I have his strongest poem here (internal link). But his most famous line is, “A thing of beauty is a joy forever.” The epitaph on his grave reads, “Here lies one whose name … Continue reading
Posted in Poetry, Thoughts on writing, Uncategorized, Writing by others, Writing tips
Tagged Keats, Poetry
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An Evil Spirit, Your Beauty, Haunts Me Still, by Michael Drayton
Drayton’s work wears well the dust of centuries. An Evil Spirit, Your Beauty, Haunts Me Still by Michael Drayton (1563–1631) An evil spirit, your beauty, haunts me still, Wherewith, alas, I have been long possess’d, Which ceaseth not to tempt … Continue reading
Posted in art, editing writing, Poetry, Uncategorized
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When Thou Must Home to Shades of Underground By Thomas Campion
When Thou Must Home to Shades of Underground By Thomas Campion (1567–1620) When thou must home to shades of underground, And there arriv’d, a new admired guest, The beauteous spirits do engirt thee round, White Iope, blithe Helen, and the … Continue reading
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I taste a Liquor Never Brewed by Emily Dickinson
I Taste a Liquor Never Brewed by Emily Dickinson – 1830-1886 I taste a liquor never brewed – From Tankards scooped in Pearl – Not all the Frankfort Berries Yield such an Alcohol! Inebriate of air – am I – … Continue reading
That Nature is a Heraclitean Fire and of the Comfort of the Resurrection
That Nature is a Heraclitean Fire and of the Comfort of the Resurrection by Gerad Manly Hopkins (1844–1889) https://hopkinspoetry.com (external link) Cloud-puffball, torn tufts, tossed pillows | flaunt forth, then chevy on an air- Built thoroughfare: heaven-roysterers, in gay-gangs | … Continue reading
Posted in Poetry, Thoughts on writing, Uncategorized, video, Writing by others
Tagged gerad manly hopkins, Patrick Kavanagh, Poetry, victorian poets, word play
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