tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4445844569294316288.post2135163478529803598..comments2024-01-28T03:56:39.351-08:00Comments on TOM CLARK: Poetry LessonUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger10125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4445844569294316288.post-8807139022866762972010-11-25T19:38:45.707-08:002010-11-25T19:38:45.707-08:00It's been said by theological relativists that...It's been said by theological relativists that Hell is merely the part of Heaven where the only thing to read while you wait for an appointment is a great stack of back issues of The New Yorker, and that in the tedium thus induced lay the origins of the Mormon practise of taking many wives.TChttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05915822857461178942noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4445844569294316288.post-37432957542605789702010-11-25T13:09:57.739-08:002010-11-25T13:09:57.739-08:00My bad, Portuguese, not Spanish.
I like the idea ...My bad, Portuguese, not Spanish.<br /><br />I like the idea of buying Christ a sub to the New Yorker. It reminds me of the retroactive conversion thing associated with Mormonism. (I have no idea whether Mormons really convert the dead, it's just one of those notions floating in the air that made its way into my head long ago ...)John B-Rhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01041221232768939991noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4445844569294316288.post-74817917329766688532010-11-25T12:41:29.517-08:002010-11-25T12:41:29.517-08:00So their subscriptions list goes way back in time,...So their subscriptions list goes way back in time, it's older than the magazine. In theory l could get Christ a subscription to the New Yorker; a nice birthday present, except for the 1,925-year wait for delivery.<br /><br /><br />Artur.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4445844569294316288.post-43279982518865122282010-11-25T11:50:16.110-08:002010-11-25T11:50:16.110-08:00Artur,
Yes, one does feel compassion across the g...Artur,<br /><br />Yes, one does feel compassion across the gulfs of time. <br /><br />I have it from the internet that in the Bocage archives in the National Museum in Lisbon there is a trunk full of old New Yorkers.<br /><br />The lineage, it seems, continues: <a href="http://tomclarkblog.blogspot.com/2010/11/copper-poem-composed-after-manner.html" rel="nofollow">Copper (Poem Composed After the Manner Prescribed by Bocage)</a> has now been unearthed by a retiring scholar toiling in an undisclosed region of South America.<br /><br />It's amazing what you can find on the internet.<br /><br /><br />In fact, SarahA, it's one big supermarket. <br /><br />Speaking of which, it's the season of groaning supermarkets and great gluttony here.<br /><br />Today's San Francisco Chronicle headlines:<br /><br />READY, SET, SHOP!<br /><br />and (perhaps an "afterthought")<br /><br />EAT, PLAN, SHOPTChttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05915822857461178942noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4445844569294316288.post-64336175021173494022010-11-25T00:21:36.688-08:002010-11-25T00:21:36.688-08:00Sometimes (I am thinking), this discipline is very...Sometimes (I am thinking), this discipline is very good for oneself and now I must o find a shop that sells such!SarahAhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14791948357280208382noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4445844569294316288.post-76769383282966669452010-11-24T11:55:17.413-08:002010-11-24T11:55:17.413-08:00That's very funny, but poor man, so cynical an...That's very funny, but poor man, so cynical and so prescient. This bit:<br /><br />Make a list of everything you can see and hear outside.<br />(Again, no one cares, but it's this sort of harmless cultivated irrelevance that helps reassure one's patrons)<br /><br />It's like he'd read the old New Yorker, but maybe life was always like that.<br /><br />Artur.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4445844569294316288.post-83848063886388621082010-11-24T08:51:35.899-08:002010-11-24T08:51:35.899-08:00John,
Let us share the master's Portuguese o...John, <br /><br />Let us share the master's Portuguese original.<br /><br /> Magro, de olhos azuis, carão moreno,<br /> Bem servido de pés, meão na altura,<br /> Triste de facha, o mesmo de figura,<br /> Nariz alto no meio, e não pequeno;<br /><br /> Incapaz de assistir num só terreno,<br /> Mais propenso ao furor do que à ternura;<br /> Bebendo em níveas mãos, por taça escura,<br /> De zelos infernais letal veneno;<br /><br /> Devoto incensador de mil deidades<br /> (Digo, de moças mil) num só memento,<br /> E somente no altar amando os frades,<br /><br /> Eis Bocage, em quem luz algum talento;<br /> Saíram dele mesmo estas verdades,<br /> Num dia em que se achou mais pachorrento.<br /><br />The refreshing candour of the verse reminds us that Bocage's work in general is surprisingly "contemporary". <br /><br />One expert has compared the advanced practicum on poetic composition, as posted here, with the work of Ern Malley, in fact.TChttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05915822857461178942noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4445844569294316288.post-24261586839094280062010-11-24T08:23:12.012-08:002010-11-24T08:23:12.012-08:00I find this self-portrait:
Thin, blue eyes, t...I find this self-portrait:<br /><br /> Thin, blue eyes, tanned face,<br /> His fair share of feet, middling height,<br /> Sad face and figure,<br /> High nose in the middle, and not small;<br /><br /> Incapable of staying in just one place,<br /> Quicker to anger than tenderness;<br /> Drinking in his pale hands, out of a dark cup,<br /> From hellish enthusiasms a lethal poison;<br /><br /> Burning incense to a thousand divinities<br /> (I mean, a thousand girls) in a single moment,<br /> Loving the priests only at the altar,<br /><br /> This is Bocage, in whom some talent shines;<br /> He himself wrote these truths,<br /> On a day when he was bored.<br /><br /><br />I wish I had decent Spanish ...<br /><br />Thanks, Tom. This is great. It's "prizable", as my word verification has it.John B-Rhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01041221232768939991noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4445844569294316288.post-66664732763411691342010-11-24T07:13:22.700-08:002010-11-24T07:13:22.700-08:00Thanks, Curtis. Yes, I too am still taking in the ...Thanks, Curtis. Yes, I too am still taking in the deep substance of the teachings of Bocage. The internal dialectics of his lecture appear to have been rather taxing upon the poor fellow, but its light and example will live on in us who follow, I reckon.<br /><br />Hope your day in the city was good and that you did not get crushed by any wandering parade floats.<br /><br />(A. says you're having fair weather. Here it is frozen-pipes cold. Bocage would understand.)TChttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05915822857461178942noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4445844569294316288.post-18657303066744562732010-11-24T04:31:31.420-08:002010-11-24T04:31:31.420-08:00Ok. I'll give it a try. Thank you so much als...Ok. I'll give it a try. Thank you so much also for the introduction to the life and works of Manuel Maria Barbosa du Bocage. I'm off now to Manhattan. It should be an unusual day.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com