Larry’s Comments (group member since Nov 23, 2020)

Larry’s comments from the Nonfiction Reading - Only the Best group.

John wrote: "My Johnson edition is Final Harvest: Emily Dickinson's Poems. This is a collection of poems selected by Johnson from the larger edition he edited. It has the dashes, though my paperback is an older edition..."


John, we actually do have the trade paperback of Final Harvest: Emily Dickinson's Poems. I have been going through boxes of books in our basement and found it this morning! [I wasn't even looking for it ... I was just seeing how many more books I can get rid of! This will not be one of them!] We bought it in 1973 and the first third of the book has my wife's highly intelligent comments written in.

From a posting by a Facebook friend:

“This poem is stunning. Just wanted to share it. It is used in the Reform Jewish liturgy, as an optional reading, before Kaddish

”Every once in a while, a poem or song is so well constructed, so clearly conveys the authors meaning and is so precisely expressive that it becomes something of an anthem. The poem below, Epitaph, was written by Merrit Malloy and as one of those poems, has become a staple of funeral and memorial services…for good reason.”

Epitaph - By Merrit Malloy

When I die
Give what’s left of me away
To children
And old men that wait to die.
And if you need to cry,
Cry for your brother
Walking the street beside you.
And when you need me,
Put your arms
Around anyone
And give them
What you need to give to me.

I want to leave you something,
Something better
Than words
Or sounds.
Look for me
In the people I’ve known
Or loved,
And if you cannot give me away,
At least let me live on in your eyes
And not your mind.

You can love me most
By letting
Hands touch hands,
By letting bodies touch bodies,
And by letting go
Of children
That need to be free.
Love doesn’t die,
People do.
So, when all that’s left of me
Is love,
Give me away.

Carol, it is probably no exaggeration to say that John knows her poems 100 times better than I do ... But I am enjoying reading them.

John, note the same poem from your two recommended editions (The Franklin edition and the Johnson edition) .... both from the Kindle editions.

The Franklin edition first

1357

Pink - small - and punctual -
Aromatic - low -
Covert in April -
Candid in May -

Dear to the Moss -
Known to the Knoll -
Next to the Robin
In every human Soul -

Bold little Beauty -
Bedecked with thee
Nature forswears -
Antiquity -

Dickinson, Emily. The Poems of Emily Dickinson (pp. 615-616). Harvard University Press. Kindle Edition.

And now the Johnson edition ... but for the Kindle ...

MAY-FLOWER

Pink, small, and punctual,
Aromatic, low,
Covert in April,
Candid in May,
Dear to the moss,
Known by the knoll,
Next to the robin
In every human soul.
Bold little beauty,
Bedecked with thee,
Nature forswears
Antiquity.

Dickinson, Emily. The Poems of Emily Dickinson (pp. 154-155). Start Publishing LLC. Kindle Edition.

John, I bought the Johnson edition first ... it was only $1.99 for the Kindle, only to discover that the Kindle edition didn't have the punctuation of the dashes . Moreover, note the error (?) in words "Known by the Knoll" instead of "Known to the Knoll" !!!

So I quickly bought the Franklin edition for the Kindle and discovered it was indeed faithful to the use of the dashes. It makes a huge difference. ( I do prefer the poetry found in paper books ... but I am trying to migrate as much of my working library to ebooks as possible ... hence the Kindle purchases.)

I so appreciate you sharing your knowledge with us about Emily Dickinson.

Carol, I love the poem ... and John, I love the explanation of the punctuation and the spacing.

Carol, that is quite a coincidence about Danbury. I had no idea your son lived here.

John wrote: "Larry and I have discussed jazz. I have read some of Ted Gioia and I noticed that an updated edition of his The History of Jazz came out in February. So I decided to purchase it.

Jazz and also the Blues have such a rich history. Although I listen to a lot of jazz on Spotify, I have liked listening to jazz on Sirius and at two great jazz stations: WBGO and WRTI. I like having a DJ tell me about the songs. ..."

I so agree with you, John, about hearing a DJ talk about the songs. It adds so much.

Carol wrote: "John wrote: "I decided to give Rick Atkinson’s The British Are Coming: The War for America, Lexington to Princeton, 1775-1777 a start.

I had purchased it months ago. It seems to ha..."

Seven days after Lexington and Concord, Sybil Ludington, a girl of 16, rode at the request of her father, Col. Ludington, to warn the colonists in Danbury about the approach of the Regulars (the British troops). I posted the following three days ago on Facebook on the anniversary of that day.

"This month in U.S. history, we remember that famous ride that would warn the colonies that the British were coming.
The Colonel needed someone he could trust, someone brave enough, someone who could ride a long distance, through the darkness, from 9 p.m. to dawn, someone who could fight off enemy combatants, to alert the Colonial militia to the approach of British forces.

So, the Colonel chose the "best man for the job."
He chose Sybil Ludington, his 16-year-old daughter.
Sybil Ludington was born on this day, April 5, 1761.
This month, on April 26, 1777, her father asked his young daughter to take the dangerous ride.

On the night of April 18, 1775. Revere made his famous ride and history remembers him well, because of the famous poem by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, who would tell the tale, saying:
"Listen my children and you shall hear
Of the midnight ride of Paul Revere . . ."
But, many people do not know about the four other riders, who warned their communities of the approach and movement of the British forces.

The five heroes (including Paul Revere) were Samuel Prescott, Israel Bissell, William Dawes, and, the one who I am dedicating this post to, Sybil Ludington, who at that time was only 16 years old.

On the night of April 26, 1777, Colonel Henry Ludington chose his daughter to take that famous ride in history.

Sybil set out at 9 p.m. that night in the rain to warn the colonists at Danbury, Connecticut of the approach of the British. She would make a journey double to that of Revere (totaling 40 miles), riding through Kent to Farmers Mills and then returning back home again.

During her famous ride, she gathered her father's troops, knocked on doors and warned the countryside of the British troops’ incoming attack - and, she fought off a highwayman with a long stick.

By dawn, she was exhausted, damp from the rain, but had accomplished her mission warning the colonists and bringing together 400 soldiers ready to march and drive the enemy troops from the area.

She would later be commended by George Washington for her heroism. Each April since 1979, the Sybil Ludington 50-kilometer footrace has been held in Carmel, New York. The course of this hilly road race approximates Sybil's historic ride, and finishes near the statue which was erected in her honor on the shore of Lake Gleneida, Carmel, New York.

So, when you hear the tale of Paul Revere this month, remember about the other riders, one of which was the courageous Sybil Ludington."

Carol, it's a real mixture of music and food ... It's interesting that two important words are misspelled ... Filmore should be Fillmore and perhaps most importantly, Nihomachi should be Nihonmachi (Japan-town). The Fillmore West is indeed in San Francisco and at first it was just the Fillmore ... and then the Fillmore East came along in NYC, and the Fillmore became the Fillmore West. The whole poem is a jambalaya.

Shades of Blue for a Blue Bridge
BY QUINCY TROUPE
for Mildred Howard, Joe Rudolph & Yori Wada
1.
three shades of blue
evoke minnie's can do,
soo chow's, yori wada

2.
jimbo's bop city,
john lee's boom boom room,
history riffing vlue matzoh balls,
fried chicken, soba

3.
the jigoku club inside
j town, bold rebels jamming
cross from black town, udon,
grits, barbecue

4.
cherry blossoms vlooming
in lady day's hair, greens & fat back,
sashimi staining kimonos

5.
you walking filmore,
crossing geary with duke,
street cars running over ghost-tracks,
pigfeet in vinegar

6.
indigo-blue & white,
red satin, sticky fingers handling
chops sticks, hot cornbread,
sweet potato pie

7.
memories brought back
in a blue mirror, gefilte fish,
kimochi, lox & bagels

8.
filmore auditorium
jamming beneath miles of blue,
bird, mink, nihomachi.
a fake dividing line

9.
mixing it all up
this cultural jambalaya stew,
kabuki, white linen,
silk, coltrane

10.
music the glue singing
new images of multi-you
rapping in the sweet blue air

SOURCE: https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poem...

POETRY FOR THE DAY (24 APRIL 2021)

Walking Across the Atlantic

I wait for the holiday crowd to clear the beach
before stepping onto the first wave.
Soon I am walking across the Atlantic
thinking about Spain,
checking for whales, waterspouts.
I feel the water holding up my shifting weight.
Tonight I will sleep on its rocking surface.
But for now I try to imagine what
this must look like to the fish below,
the bottoms of my feet appearing, disappearing.

Collins, Billy. Sailing Alone Around the Room: New and Selected Poems (p. 4). Random House Publishing Group. Kindle Edition.

John wrote: "A Wallace Stevens poem that has had me intrigued for years.

RE-RESTATEMENT OF ROMANCE

The night knows nothing of the chants of night.
It is what it is as I am what I am:
And in perceiving this I ..."

Such a great poem, John.

John wrote: "Sher wrote: "Hello Everyone- I'd like your opinion or maybe even an answer to this question.

How would you pronounce this woman's name? The name is from the 19th C.

I think I'd hear it in my head as Emma-line ..."

I'm pretty sure that that is the way I would have said it also.

John wrote: "I must admit to being rather behind here and in my reading and in my groups."
..."

You're not the only one, John!

Carol wrote: "Marvell's famous poem, particularly the first two lines which have passed down through the centuries. Very imaginative. Not sure, if I was the lady in question, whether I would be swayed by the arg..."

Carol, I agree. Great art is not always great persuasion. But still a poem well worth reading again, even if some lines have become perhaps problematic these days, e.g. :

" ... I would
Love you ten years before the Flood,
And you should, if you please, refuse
Till the conversion of the Jews. "

To His Coy Mistress
by Andrew Marvell

Had we but world enough, and time,
This coyness, Lady, were no crime.
We would sit down and think which way
To walk and pass our long love’s day.
Thou by the Indian Ganges’ side
Shouldst rubies find: I by the tide
Of Humber would complain. I would
Love you ten years before the Flood,
And you should, if you please, refuse
Till the conversion of the Jews.
My vegetable love should grow
Vaster than empires, and more slow;
An hundred years should go to praise
Thine eyes and on thy forehead gaze;
Two hundred to adore each breast;
But thirty thousand to the rest;
An age at least to every part,
And the last age should show your heart;
For, Lady, you deserve this state,
Nor would I love at lower rate. But at my back I always hear Time’s winged chariot hurrying near;
And yonder all before us lie
Deserts of vast eternity.
Thy beauty shall no more be found,
Nor, in thy marble vault, shall sound
My echoing song: then worms shall try
That long preserved virginity,
And your quaint honour turn to dust,
And into ashes all my lust:
The grave’s a fine and private place,
But none, I think, do there embrace. Now therefore, while the youthful hue Sits on thy skin like morning dew,
And while thy willing soul transpires
At every pore with instant fires,
Now let us sport us while we may,
And now, like amorous birds of prey,
Rather at once our time devour
Than languish in his slow-chapt21 power.
Let us roll all our strength and all
Our sweetness up into one ball,
And tear our pleasures with rough strife
Through the iron gates of life:
Thus, though we cannot make our sun
Stand still, yet we will make him run.

Smith, Philip. 100 Best-Loved Poems (Dover Thrift Editions) (pp. 17-18). Dover Publications. Kindle Edition.

Carol wrote: "I haven't been receiving notifications from Goodreads so was delighted to see the four poems above which I hadn't realised were there! I enjoyed them all. I identified most with Faith Shearin's 'Pl..."

Carol,

My updates have been spotty at best ... some come through, but John's message above your own never came in to me as an update. (It was only when I got an update with your messages that I saw that John had a reply.) I've mentioned this before, but Amazon's purchase of GoodReads probably has worked well for Amazon ... as they mine the data of GoodReads users and use it for targeted ads .... while it hasn't worked so well for GoodReads itself and its users. I don't get angry at this (it's just not worth it) ... but I'm not happy either.

POETRY FOR THE DAY (15 APRIL 2021)

A little this, a little that ... learn to cook like your Nana ... or your Nonna (as my wife is called by our two granddaughters) ... if you're lucky.

Conjuring Nana
by Barbara Quick

I learned how to make Nana’s chicken soup
by shadowing her steps in the kitchen,
taking notes on a white paper napkin.

A cauldron of sorts is required, as well as a
once-animate chicken submerged above
the stove’s blue flame.

“You put in the onions,” Nana said,
her Russian accent as fresh as the breeze
must have felt on her face when she debarked
at Ellis Island in 1916 or so.

“How much salt?” I wanted to know—
and when she shrugged I could see
a palimpsest of the girl she was at my age.
The water boiled and the air filled with steam.
Not offering an answer in words,
she poured salt into her upturned palm
and tipped it out into the pot.

No measuring cups for my Nana.
“A little this, a little that,” she’d say,
cocking her head, adding a pinch of black pepper
and copious piles of carrots and celery.

I thought about the chestnut-colored braid
my mother showed me, wrapped in a piece of sea-green silk.
Nana was beautiful when she was young.
Everyone said so.

Cleaning a leek, she told me, “I don’t know
what it’s called, but it makes the soup good.”

Sixty-four now and all my elders dead,
I add a parsnip as well, just as I watched Nana do,
and I feel the velvet touch of her hands on my forehead.

All the old people I knew
spoke English with sounds borrowed
from Russian and Polish, Yiddish and Romanian.
I assumed, as a girl, that I would speak like that, too,
when my hair turned gray and the pads of my thumbs
grew soft and pillowy.

Gathering parsley for the soup from my garden,
I seem to hear Nana saying my name
made rich with her guttural R’s and broad A’s.
“Bahbra, dahlink!” the birds are singing today.

I boil Manischewitz noodles, only adding them
to the bowl when I ladle out Nana’s love.

Golden and gleaming with fat,
as bejeweled as the star-filled sky must have looked
when, shipboard, she tipped her kerchiefed head back
and filled her eyes
with all the dazzling possibilities,
and all the dangers, of a new place,
a new language, a new land. Her favorite brother
waiting for her with his Romanian wife.
The brother-in-law she’d marry.

Twenty-seven years following the end
of Nana’s life, her love fills me up
and restores me.

SOURCE: https://www.garrisonkeillor.com/radio...

John wrote: "Paper: Paging Through History by Mark Kurlansky, another of his single-topic histories. (four stars)

My review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show......"

I love Kurlansky's books that focus on a single-topic.

John wrote: "Chrissie wrote: "The Day the World Came to Town: 9/11 in Gander, Newfoundland by Jim DeFede is a book of oral history not to be missed.

My review: https://www.goodread..."

We were lucky enough to see the musical COME FROM AWAY that tells how the people of Gander opened their homes to the passengers from the planes that were forced from the air on 9/11. We saw it at Ford's Theater in Washington, DC before it made it to Broadway ... but it was such a hit that it made it to Broadway and then even made it overseas. Here's the BBC review that really captures the spirit of the musical.

https://www.bbc.com/culture/article/2...