I have discovered Carl Sandberg. Most of you are going to say, “What the heck took you so long?!” but it’s because I’ve never been all that into READING poetry before, just writing it, because sometimes it’s a better way to express yourself than through prose.
Anyhow, my fave so far is CHICAGO…
You need to go discover Tennyson ^^;
Like I already said.. a lot…
Iota by iota, I have lost my life, in faith
I’ve passed this night dancing on coals
I blew away the sleep that was in my eyes
I counted the stars till my finger burned
e.e. cummings, Emily Dickenson, Shel Silverstein, and Robert Frost were some of my early inpirations. Modern inspirations, and recommended reading from me, are Maya Angelou and Nikki Giovanni. But the chief among all my poetry, was when I was introduced to Omar Khayyam (the Edward Fitzgerald translation). In particular, this stanza, which I used for years as my e-mail signature:
The Moving Finger writes; and, having writ,
Moves on: nor all thy Piety nor Wit
Shall lure it back to cancel half a Line,
Nor all thy Tears wash out a Word of it.
“Pain is inevitable, suffering is optional.” — Anonymous
I like e.e. cummings. :D And Silverstein. Who doesn’t like him?
Thanks for the recommendations. First I have to actually finish the Sandberg book. It’s sitting on my kitchen counter. :]
You also ought to get a bit of Shakespeare in there, in my opinion. A bit cliche, I know, but he wouldn’t be so famous if his work wasn’t… well… good.
My favorite is the rather unusual ‘Phoenix and Turtle’, and ten I also like ‘The Passionate Pilgrim’, and most of the sonnets. This man is totally romantic.
Oh yes, and traditional/folk poetry is always good. Always.
Iota by iota, I have lost my life, in faith
I’ve passed this night dancing on coals
I blew away the sleep that was in my eyes
I counted the stars till my finger burned
I tried reading Shakespeare before but I didn’t get all the old speech.
I am an aspiring musician. Writing poetry is what I do when I’m bored, generally. I love to write, even if it’s not very good. :]
