NB: Yes, I realize that my statement “Nobody ever speaks in rhyme and meter” is in fact a line of iambic pentameter.My book Midlife now exists. Buy it here, or leave it a rating here or hereFor more SLEERICKETS, check out the SECRET SHOW and join the group chatLeave the show a rating here (actually, just do it on your phone, it’s easier). Thanks!Wear SLEERICKETS t-shirts and hoodies. They look good!Some of the topics mentioned in this episode:– The Penguin Book of Greek and Latin Lyric Verse, trans. Christopher Childers– The Eight Stages of Translation by Robert Bly– Robert Frost’s letter to John Bartlett regarding sentence sound (couldn’t find a great copy online)– Sonnets to Orpheus No. 21 by Rainer Maria Rilke (see also Chris’s translation below)– Horace i.11– Orchard Trees, January by Richard Wilbur– Heraclitus trans. William Johnson Cory– Diffugere Nives/Horace iv.7, trans. A. E. Housman– J. Kates– The Mysteries of Caesar by Anthony Hecht– An addendum from Chris:I emailed XJ Kennedy and asked him if this epigram is about Bly's essay & this specific Rilke poem. He denied it, but come on, it fits too well:TO A TRANSLATOR You've done it: Rilke talks American Thanks to your perseverance, at the costOf music, rhyme and rhythm, stanza plan--Indeed, in your translation all is lost.This maybe more just for curiosity--my own attempt at the sonnet, just based on Bly's essay, though your point about the oddness of the central conceit is well taken. (We missed, or maybe didn't say as obvious, that earth as a school child who is reciting the poem of spring perhaps makes a bit more sense in Sonnets to Orpheus; and the idea of song after long silence is particularly appropriate to Rilke, at least from what I remember of the story of the composition of the Duino Elegies.)Sonnet to Orpheus 1.21Rilke It’s spring again, and the Earth lookslike a child who’s worked to memorizehundreds of poems. She lived with booksa long time, and now, she takes the prize. A difficult teacher, that old man whosebeard we liked for its shaggy white.We’re asking her the names of the bluesand greens, and she–she gets them right! O lucky Earth on recess, play!You’re It, and we–we’re in pursuitof your smiles. Joy is the winner’s wings. See?–all she learned in her teacher’s sway,and everything printed on each deep rootand laborious stalk–she sings, she sings!Frequently mentioned names:– Joshua Mehigan– Shane McCrae– A. E. Stallings– Ryan Wilson– Morri Creech– Austin Allen– Jonathan Farmer– Zara Raab– Amit Majmudar– Ethan McGuire– Coleman Glenn– Alexis Sears– JP Gritton– Alex Pepple– Ernie Hilbert– Joanna PearsonOther Ratbag Poetry Pods:Poetry Says by Alice AllanI Hate Matt Wall by Matt WallVersecraft by Elijah BlumovRatbag Poetics By David Jalal MotamedAlice: Poetry SaysBrian: @BPlatzerCameron: CameronWTC [at] hotmail [dot] comMatthew: sleerickets [at] gmail [dot] comMusic by ETRNLArt by Daniel Alexander Smith
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1 hr and 29 mins