Tag Archives: poetry

A Curtsy to the Cognoscenti

Posted on August 15, 2018 by JMN

The poetry editors of The Atlantic apologized recently for a poem they had accepted and printed. They say the poem “caused harm to members of several communities.” The author, a young white man named Anders Carlson-Wee, adopts the vernacular of … Continue reading →

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Hopeful Road Map

Posted on August 10, 2018 by JMN

“But a hopeful road map to humanism’s recovery might include variations on those older themes. First, a return of serious academic interest in the possible (I would say likely) truth of religious claims. Second, a regained sense of history as … Continue reading →

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“What the poem says…”

Posted on June 17, 2018 by JMN

“What the poem says, it does.” (Alain Badiou) “I alone create a product that society does not want.” (Mallarmé) ” ‘Poets, Mallarmé wrote, must take back what is ours. They must sing of heroes with no name — the Figure … Continue reading →

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PLOG

Posted on May 27, 2018 by JMN

PLOG – Poetry Log (Started 25 April 2011) These are the flags: Code Mauve, Code Beige, Code Gray. Code Mauve: I can understand the poem’s language and can make sense of what the language describes or asserts. This can produce … Continue reading →

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Happy Words

Posted on May 20, 2018 by JMN

A word is a terrible thing to lose. Rescued Words by Wallace Stevens: fubbed gobbet diaphanes pannicles carked rapey cantilena fiscs phylactery princox funest Copyright 2018 James Mansfield Nichols. All rights reserved.

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From Memory

Posted on May 12, 2018 by JMN

“The Second Coming,” poem by W. B. Yeats, http://www.poetryfoundation.org. Yeats, like Shelley in “Ozymandias,” associates folly and tyranny and self-aggrandizement with the desert lands. That happens to be where the trio of stern monotheisms were “revealed”: I’m the Only One, … Continue reading →

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Five Quotes About …

Posted on May 1, 2018 by JMN

“What I teach you is nothing. What you learn by doing over and over is where the learning begins.” (Simon Michael) “Writing poetry is much easier than reading it.” (Guy Davenport) “Write hard and clear about what hurts.” (Hemingway) “It … Continue reading →

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From Memory

Posted on May 1, 2018 by JMN

“A Refusal to Mourn the Death by Fire of a Child in London,” poem by Dylan Thomas poetryfoundation.org This poem is an antidote to the “thoughts and prayers” mantra. It reminds me of Millay’s “Dirge Without Music” in that it … Continue reading →

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Five Quotes About Poetry

Posted on April 28, 2018 by JMN

“It’s the poet’s business to make poetry out of the unexplored resources of the unpoetical.” (T.S. Eliot) “I would sooner give the laurel to vigorous error than to any orthodoxy not inspired.” (W.B. Yeats) “A poem by its nature operates … Continue reading →

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From Memory

Posted on April 28, 2018 by JMN

“Ozymandias,” poem by Percy Bysshe Shelley, http://www.poetryfoundation.org This sonnet triggers a puff of schadenfreude. It’s fun to imagine that, given time, the desert swallows braggarts. (Copyright 2018 James Mansfield Nichols. All rights reserved.)

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