July 2011
177 posts
TS Eliot quote
“Only those who will risk going too far can possibly find out how far they can go.” —T. S. Eliot
Sharing Poetry: Robert Graves, "In Broken Images" →
sharingpoetry.tumblr.com
He is quick, thinking in clear images;
I am slow, thinking in broken images.
He becomes dull, trusting to his clear images;
I become sharp, mistrusting my broken images.
Trusting his images, he assumes their relevance;
Mistrusting my images, I question their relevance.
Assuming their relevance,…
Jane Hirshfield poem
Each Moment a White Bull Steps Shining into the World
If the gods bring to you
a strange and frightening creature,
accept the gift
as if it were one you had chosen.
Say the accustomed prayers,
oil the hooves well,
caress the small ears with praise.
Have the new halter of woven silver
embedded with jewels.
Spare no expense, pay what is asked,
when a gift arrives from the sea.
Treat it as you yourself
would be treated, brought speechless and naked
into the court of a king.
And when the request finally comes,
do not hesitate even an instant –
stroke the white throat,
the heavy, trembling dewlaps
you’d come to believe were yours,
and plunge in the knife.
Not once
did you enter the pasture
without pause,
without yourself trembling,
that you came to love it,that was the gift.
Let the envious gods take back what they can.
—Jane Hirshfield
The Lives of the Heart
Jane Hirshfield quote
“In order to Xerox your book I had to break the spine. Somehow that felt right, because to get the life or anything it seems you have to let some part be broken.” –from “Letter to Hugo from Later,” by Jane Hirshfield, The Lives of the Heart