Fragments: Poetry, Ancient & Modern

by Blue Flute

Through selections of poetry, Fragments explores the feelings, observations, and experiences that connect humanity across cultures and eras. Topics range from the fanciful to the weighty, including nature, emotions, experiences, memories, and more. In the first section, selected historical poems from the following cultures Ancient Israel, Ancient Greece, Ancient Rome, Italy, The Spanish World, France, The English World, China, and Japan. The second half of the book introduces many talented, emerging poets reflecting on life and experiences in contemporary gennepher (Wales, United Kingdom), Charles Miller (Pennsylvania, USA), Lily Wang (Shanghai, China), Sondra Byrnes (Indiana, USA), Polona Oblak (Ljubljana, Slovenia), Sandi Pray (North Carolina and Florida, USA), Yiota Karioti / Yiota Luyu Ladybird (Athens, Greece), ten_ten_ten (Midwest, USA), Roary Williams (Albuquerque, New Mexico, USA), Claudia Schoenfeld (Germany), An Mayou (Boulder, Colorado, USA), Blue Flute (New York, USA).An introductory essay ties together several of the recurring themes, showing the connections among cultures, between history and modernity.

Genres: Poetry

300 pages, Paperback

First published March 14, 2012

About the author

Frank Watson, also writing as "Blue Flute," was born in Venice, California and now lives in New York City. He enjoys literature, art, calligraphy, history, jazz, and all aspects of international culture and travel.

Books include:

- Fragments: poetry, ancient & modern.
- One Hundred Leaves: a new, annotated translation of the Hyakunin Isshu.


Frank's blog is located at: www.followtheblueflute.com.

Reviews

[Sally Hannoush]

This book is a poetry book that is influenced by many cultures. The topics are in wide variety. We also are introduced to many other poets from different parts of the world. This is a random collection with random topics. It's great because you may not like one thing but you have other ones to move on to. This book includes poetry from the past to new works. I really loved some poems and some I really didn't understand at all. It was aesthetically pleasing to see the translated writing against the original language. The photos and poetry pieces were very much my favorite. We are given the authors name, location, and media location- twitter, website, emails, and blogs. I like that we can find out more about the author we enjoyed. Reading this book brought back memories of English class when we were on the poetry section of the semester. The different types of poetry we learned surfaced in this book and I was able to recognition a few of the styles. People who love poetry or are wanting to check it out would be happy with this book because there is something for everyone in here. I'm glad I had the chance to read it.

[Kelly]

I won this book from Goodreads first-reads. I entered because my son enjoys and writes poetry and I thought he would like it. I read it because I won it and want to give an honest review. Not being a poetry reader, or more importantly, not being a writer of poetry, I don't feel qualified to review it; I can only say how I liked it. For the most part I liked it very much. There were some poems that didn't resonate with me, but there were others that I liked so much I read them over and over again. I loved seeing the foreign poems in the original and I really loved the historical notes which accompanied the Japanese poems. I also liked the information that accompanied some of the other foreign language poems. Some poems made me tear up, and others made me smile. So although I wouldn't have chosen this book for myself, it has opened me up to reading more poetry in the future, and for that I thank you Blue Flute.

[Nico]

* Received this through Goodreads 1st reads

I found this book absolutely lovely. I may have enjoyed it more than the average reader as I write poetry for a hobby, and I also study languages (classics major).

I really enjoyed the fact that there was multiple languages and many different periods and people. When it did involve other languages it had the original language first, and I thought that was interesting because if you have any clue of the language you can translate along with the written translation.

The fact that it was from different periods and people really helped emphasize how humans tend to write and think the same things, and poetry/written form is one way of expressing it.

I think this book would be a fantastic book for anyone who wants to study poetry, or for those that want a volume of poetry that has something that has a poem or two for anyone.

[Tasha]

I received this book free from Goodreads' first reads.

A collection of ancient and modern poems from different eras and cultures. I was thrilled to see some of my favorites included (Basho and Rimbaud), but was more excited to be introduced to poets, old and new, that I am unfamiliar with. I like poetry and don't read as much of it as I would like. This book has inspired me to do more poetry reading, and will serve as a guideline to get me started.

As the introduction points out "We are all human and experience the same feelings as we go through this world." The poets are from vastly different locations and time periods, and yet there is an unmistakable connection.

This book is a treasure that I will come back to over and over again.

[Destiny Esper]

***I received this book free from Goodreads' first reads.***

I'm a huge poetry buff, and I thoroughly enjoyed this book. I loved the fact that many poems are translated, but still have the original language there. I think it definitely adds flare.

Some of the poems are a little random, but what poetry isn't? The pronunciation guide is also a nice touch. I would highly recommend this book!

[Phoenix Carvelli]

Book won on Goodreads.com on 5-2-12.

The arrangement of the book with ancient poetry in the front half with its original and translated text and newer poets in the last half makes for a good setup. The variety of styles and topics gives the reader a wide selection. Well thought out and presented. A good book for any poetry collection.

[Christine]

I won this from a Goodreads giveaway and must say I very much enjoyed it! There was a wide variety of poetry within-many different origins, eras, styles, themes, etc. All around awesome. This is definitely a collection my son will be able to use as he studies poetry for school.

[Zoe Ferren]

This book has poems for almost any feeling or senareo you have experienced in life. If you feel yourself on a path of enlightenment buy this book, it will help greatly. Thanks for a speedy delivery.
Xoxo,
Goodreads winner

[Felicia]

I really liked the Haiku the ancient and more modern. I like poems with pictures too. I loved the fact Poe and Eliot were included.