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

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

Edna St. Vincent Millay 1931 (title means Memory)

Recuerdo

We were very tired, we were very merry—
We had gone back and forth all night on the ferry.
It was bare and bright, and smelled like a stable—
But we looked into a fire, we leaned across a table,
We lay on a hill-top underneath the moon;
And the whistles kept blowing, and the dawn came soon.

We were very tired, we were very merry—
We had gone back and forth all night on the ferry;
And you ate an apple, and I ate a pear,
From a dozen of each we had bought somewhere;
And the sky went wan, and the wind came cold,
And the sun rose dripping, a bucketful of gold.

We were very tired, we were very merry,
We had gone back and forth all night on the ferry.
We hailed, “Good morrow, mother!” to a shawl-covered head,
And bought a morning paper, which neither of us read;
And she wept, “God bless you!” for the apples and pears,
And we gave her all our money but our subway fares.

John wrote: "Here is Gluck’s statement, with a nod toward Blake and Dickinson.

https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/lit...

It is a brilliant speech. I had to read it several times to prop..."

This speech is really something on many levels. What did you think of the final line John? Does this perhaps relate to your comments about her voice, her poetry?

What is your favorite form of poetry?

Why? Maybe you do not have one favorite...?

John:
I get digital and also magazine. The magazine is filled with today's poetry - very disappointing-- very, very...

The website is excellent. That is where I post the poet portraits from... I use it all of the time.

I just received White Egrets. today and I am eager to peek inside.

John:
Thank you for sharing. Please post a link to her acceptance speech if you can. I am working all day at the barn, so I won't watch live.

I wonder - will I get her 2021 collection...?

That statement -- I care about those I love and people around me seem to sum up what you mentioned about her poetry a few days ago-- insular - doesn't get out much -- I mean you noticed she is writing very close to home. I also didn't realize she is nearing 80...

John,
That is exciting news. I don't think I have read _Bleak House_ either. When are they planning on reading it?

American Poetry: The Twentieth Century, Volume 1: Henry Adams to Dorothy Parker

I just finished this anthology - poetry racing from Henry Adams to Dorothy Parker. Really a tremendous vol of 20th C poetry - with notes to poems and also short bio sketches of all the poets. I will be reading Vol 2 in 2021.

I am a fan of anthologies to help a reader experience what is out there for a time period or theme. I read this over a year, and it has introduced to me to a handful of poets who I like well enough to have ordered their collections.

Larry-- this is terrific. Thanks so much; I will see both during the next few weeks.

Hi John- that's definitely off beat and fun. Those girls have amazing smiles. You can tell they are sisters. A nice cultural program--good food.

John:
Thank you; I really enjoyed that tidbit about Fred Rogers. I believe he became a Presbyterian minister- though I am not that far in the book yet.

Your books sound quite different and entertaining!

Larry--what are the films you mention? Are they documentaries or redos of the show, or ...?
I heard a rumor there is a film out about Mister Rogers. Is that what you mean?

I would love to know what you are currently reading - please share if you will. :)

I have started a book about the life of Fred Rogers. Any Mister Rogers fans here?

The Good Neighbor: The Life and Work of Fred Rogers

This book is not terribly well written, but it is heartwarming and about a man and a show I loved as a child.

Hi Larry- yes, let's see what Carol says about this...

Carol:
Do you mean Christmas Cake is fruitcake? My husband loves fruit cake, and my mother uses a 19th C recipe to make it-- with liquor and citrons (which most modern folks do not like the taste of). I had this recipe growing up, and it is extremely dense ---heavy --pretty wonderful . Such a unique and old fashioned taste. But I don't know anyone under 40 who will eat it.

Hi Carol:
I can second Larry's impression about Christmas pudding... I have never seen it in the US.. I do know of King Cake in New Orleans, Louisiana during February for Mardi Gras-- and the little figurine or coin inside.

Is Yorkshire and Christmas Pudding the same thing?

I am surprised at how well I like "Howl." I like how she uses punctuation - two periods. I also like tone in this poem, Very much - this is how it is - and I'm okay with it.

Need to look this poet up. And now I find I need to be writing "they" who "They " is.

Another wonderful portrait and photograph of a poet-- Eileen Myles
https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poet...

John,
Thanks posting "The Song" --we have posted elsewhere I am not sure, but this is an example of one her works I like very much. Lots of room for own imagination in this poem, and it's so multi-layered.

The Evangelicals: The Struggle to Shape America This book is as much a history of Evangelicalism in the US as it is a history or evangelical close ties to American politics. Comprehensive -covering in detail all the major figures and issues related to evangelical thought. I read this with an evangelical , a reformed evangelical, and a Catholic-- very well written and well researched. Disturbing depending on your lens. If this is topic that interests you - highly recommended.

Henry David Thoreau: A Life Henry David Thoreau was many things, but a writer is up there with walker, thinker, naturalist, new ground breaker...

This is a wonderful , far reaching biography covering his works, his life, his relationship to place, and his important friendships. Highly recommended.

That's a fun video Cynda. I never thought about blue not being mentioned in those texts... The host of that show is really cute -- fun to watch. Thanks.

"Memory" grabs me on several levels, and I have to sit with this one and re-read and read outloud and just be with it... hmm

One of the first hits has to do with hunter/hunted - predator/ prey and woman/man, nature/development

Thanks John.