Tag Archives: Poetry

Arts & Literature, Literature, Poetry, Videos

Greatest Poetry: ‘Ithaka’ By C.P. Cavafy (1863-1933)

Video Leave a comment

Constantine Peter Cavafy was an Egyptiot Greek poet, journalist and civil servant. His consciously individual style earned him a place among the most important figures not only in Greek poetry, but in Western poetry as well. Cavafy wrote 155 poems, while dozens more remained incomplete or in sketch form. 

Ithaka

BY C. P. CAVAFYTRANSLATED BY EDMUND KEELEY

As you set out for Ithaka
hope your road is a long one,
full of adventure, full of discovery.
Laistrygonians, Cyclops,
angry Poseidon—don’t be afraid of them:
you’ll never find things like that on your way
as long as you keep your thoughts raised high,
as long as a rare excitement
stirs your spirit and your body.
Laistrygonians, Cyclops,
wild Poseidon—you won’t encounter them
unless you bring them along inside your soul,
unless your soul sets them up in front of you.

Hope your road is a long one.
May there be many summer mornings when,
with what pleasure, what joy,
you enter harbors you’re seeing for the first time;
may you stop at Phoenician trading stations
to buy fine things,
mother of pearl and coral, amber and ebony,
sensual perfume of every kind—
as many sensual perfumes as you can;
and may you visit many Egyptian cities
to learn and go on learning from their scholars.

Keep Ithaka always in your mind.
Arriving there is what you’re destined for.
But don’t hurry the journey at all.
Better if it lasts for years,
so you’re old by the time you reach the island,
wealthy with all you’ve gained on the way,
not expecting Ithaka to make you rich.

Ithaka gave you the marvelous journey.
Without her you wouldn’t have set out.
She has nothing left to give you now.

And if you find her poor, Ithaka won’t have fooled you.
Wise as you will have become, so full of experience,
you’ll have understood by then what these Ithakas mean.

Poetry, Short Films, Videos

Animated Short Films: ‘Ozymandias’ – A Poem By Percy Bysshe Shelley

Video Leave a comment

Directed and animated by Alvaro Lamarche-Toloza

“OZYMANDIAS” is the animated 3D adaptation of a poem written by English poet Percy Bysshe Shelley in December 1817. It was created with a series of wash paintings animated with the Unreal Engine and EbSynth to test an experimental 3D animation pipeline.

Additional info:
Using EbSynth, a texture synthesis / transfer tool created by Secret Weapon, we applied wash paintings to 3D scenes created in real-time with the Unreal Engine. The result is a unique look and a promising experimental pipeline which dramatically speeds up the production of 3D animation stylized with traditional 2D art.

About the poem:
Written in 1817 by Percy Shelley, “Ozymandias” refers to pharaoh Ramesses II and was perhaps inspired by the acquisition of a large Ramesses statue by the British Museum the same year. References to this poem have often appeared in pop culture, though Shelley himself might not have considered it to be one of his major works.

It was first published in the 11 January 1818 issue of The Examiner of London. 

Credits:
Directed and animated by Alvaro Lamarche-Toloza
Wash paintings by Estelle Chauvard
Voice by Bryan Cranston, taken from the Breaking Bad Teaser Trailer
“Menkaure colossal statue base” model by Zhejiang University
“Ramses II” model by Taoetsia
“Horse Skeleton” model by Diego Luján García

‘OZYMANDIAS’ By Percy Bysshe Shelley

I met a traveller from an antique land,
Who said—“Two vast and trunkless legs of stone
Stand in the desert. . . . Near them, on the sand,
Half sunk a shattered visage lies, whose frown,
And wrinkled lip, and sneer of cold command,
Tell that its sculptor well those passions read
Which yet survive, stamped on these lifeless things,
The hand that mocked them, and the heart that fed;
And on the pedestal, these words appear:
My name is Ozymandias, King of Kings;
Look on my Works, ye Mighty, and despair!
Nothing beside remains. Round the decay
Of that colossal Wreck, boundless and bare
The lone and level sands stretch far away.”

Arts & Literature, Culture, Magazines, Podcasts

New Periodical: “Liberties” A Journal Of Culture And Politics (Autumn 2020)

Audio Leave a comment

Go To “Liberties”

Each issue of Liberties, the Foundation’s decidedly analog quarterly publication, will feature a combination of essays from prominent writers and introduce new talent. Contributors already signed include leading voices from this country and abroad in the worlds of culture, business, entertainment, government, politics, and technology. Each edition of Liberties will also publish new poetry from both highly awarded and up-and-coming poets.   

LISTEN TO INTERVIEW WITH PUBLISHER BILL REICHBLUM:

FROM “THE STACK” (MONOCLE 24 PODCAST)

To advance independent thinking and propel new ideas, well-known figures from the worlds of arts, business, government, higher education and philanthropy today announced the formation of the Liberties Journal Foundation. Based in Washington, D.C., the Foundation is a non-partisan, not-for-profit organization that seeks to inform today’s cultural and political leaders, deepen the understanding of citizens, and inspire the next generation to participate in the democratic process and public service. The Foundation’s first initiative is a new quarterly journal, Liberties – A Journal of Culture and Politics, slated for October 2020 debut.

Founding members of the Foundation include the well-known Washington attorney, philanthropist, and former diplomat, Alfred H. Moses; chairman and CEO of cross-border trade company Quberu, Peter Bass; and, respected arts, education, and business leader, Bill Reichblum. 

A book for the coat pocket, Liberties’ diverse voices celebrate one commonality: freedom of inquiry and thought.

Liberties’ editorial team reflects the mission of the Journal pairing acclaimed literary critic Leon Wieseltier as editor with Celeste Marcus, a new talent, as managing editor. Bill Reichblum is the publisher. The book will be available as a soft-cover edition, by subscription or single copy, in bookstores and online.

“The Foundation exists to meet the thirst in our country for ideas and serious thinking at a time when the daily news dominates the media and overwhelms our lives,” says Moses. “The Foundation will provide an outlet for world-renowned writers on culture and politics to reach a readership that is looking for stimulation and inspiration at a time when our lives are increasingly assailed by ephemeral trivia.” 

“We believe there is a genuine need to take time to listen, to actively absorb in-depth thinking of both those with accomplished experience and the inventive new generation at the beginning of their careers,” says Reichblum. “Their creativity, insights, and perceptions can individually and collectively inspire culture and impact politics.”

Website

Arts & Literature, Poetry, Videos

Poetry: Robert Frost’s ‘Stopping By Woods On A Snowy Evening’ (Video)

Video Leave a comment

A short poem told from the perspective of a traveler who stops to watch the snow fall, and, in doing so, reflects on the conflict between man and nature and the wishes and obligations we face in our lives.

Written by Robert Frost, 1922.

Read by Shane Morris.

Books, Gardens, Landscape, Photography, Poetry, Wildlife

New Photography Books: ‘A Voice Above The Linn’ By Robbie Lawrence (2020)

Leave a comment

In ‘A Voice Above The Linn’ Lawrence collaborated with the renowned poet John Burnside, who contributed four beautiful new poems to segment its chapters. 

In 2016 Robbie Lawrence first travelled to a remote stretch of coastline in the west coast of Scotland, to Linn Gardens, which lies at the head of Cove Bay on the west side of Rosneath peninsula. The gardens had been run for fifty years by Jim Taggart, an avid botanist and gardener. 

Jim discovered that the region’s subtropical climate allowed him to grow plants and flowers from all over the world. His endeavours led to the estate being covered in an intricately plotted web of ferns, bamboos, Magnolias and Rhododendrons. As Jim got older, his son Jamie took over the more physical elements of maintaining the garden, including travelling abroad to research and gather new plants. On one such journey, to the northern mountainous region of Vietnam, Jamie disappeared. His body was found years later, he had evidently fallen in one of the mountain’s higher passes.  

“When I first met Jim, who by this point was well into his 80s, he told me that he decided to keep the garden going as a memorial to his son. Over the past few years, I went back to visit Jim and document the garden as it passed through the seasons. Despite his age, Jim would bound around the garden, occasionally stopping to provide a lengthy anecdote about a particular fern or tree. Last summer, Jim passed away at the age of 84.” – Robbie Lawrence 

Read more

Poetry, Travel, Videos

Travel Videos: ‘Je Viens’ – Hiking The Trails In Tignes, Southeastern France

Video Leave a comment

“Je Viens” is a Cinematic Poem Short Film In Tignes, France Directed by Franck Pinel.

Filmed, Edited and Directed by: Franck Pinel (FKY)

Music by: Steven Gutheinz
Written by: Samuel Revol
Narrated by: Siméon Revol & Laure Revol
English Translation by: Madeleine Barter

“Between the desert peaks and the wild plains, Itinerary of the man alone; poisoned, in love, alive.”

I invite you on the trails of Tignes in Savoie, under the August sun, to breathe the fresh air! A little vastness, horizons blurred to forget for a few moments our confined lives.

A first FKY / Srevol collaboration, with a text written for the film, and read by a young Simeon with a rocky voice.

I Approach

Tightrope walking earthling
Lying heavily on rock
I look for your softness
Your suspended caresses

In my solitude, I approach

My bones follow your tracks
Along smoke-filled banks,
Burns under your sun
My masterful soul

In my solitude, I approach

My wings poisoned
by oily molecules
accept my sorrow
my ghostly pardon

In my solitude, I approach

Tightrope walking earthling
With smoky soul, I approach
I burn in your softness
Masterful earth

—————————————

Je viens

Funambule terrien,
Aimanté à la roche,
Je cherche tes douceurs,
Tes caresses suspendues.

Dans ma solitude, je viens

Mes os suivent ta piste,
Aux rivages enfumés
Je brûle sous ton soleil
Mon âme de capitaine

Dans ma solitude, je viens

mes ailes empoisonnées
de molécules pétroliennes
accepte mon désolé
mon pardon fumigène

Dans ma solitude, je viens

Funambule terrien,
A l’âme enfumée je viens
Je brûle dans ta douceur,
Terre capitaine

Tignes is a group of villages that form a high-altitude ski resort in the French Alps, near the Italian border. With nearby Val d’Isère, it’s part of the Espace Killy ski area, linked by a network of lifts. Val Claret and Tignes Le Lac villages are lively hubs, with restaurants and shops. In summer, the area offers trails, golf and a bike park, plus ski runs on the Grande Motte glacier.

Website

Arts & Literature, Poetry, Videos

Poetry: ‘Song Of The Open Road’ By Walt Whitman

Video Leave a comment

Read by Dave Luukkonen and Music by Tony Anderson

Walt Whitman is America’s world poet – a latter-day successor to Homer, Virgil, Dante, and Shakespeare, whose verse collection ‘Leaves of Grass’ marked a new era in the history of American literature.

Within Leaves of Grass, Whitman’s ‘Song of the Open Road’ engages with important themes of freedom, the self and nature. The poem begins with the speaker setting out on a long brown path “Afoot and light-hearted,” for he is done with the routines, customs, and safe behaviours of his previous life, “done with indoor complaints, libraries, querulous criticisms.”

Here, Whitman renounces a life devoted to the conventional pursuit of material success and embarks on the open road, the world before him. –

If you’d like to read the full poem, go here: https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poem…

Arts & Literature, Poetry, Videos

Poetry: ‘Sonnet 44’ By William Shakespeare

Video Leave a comment

Read by: A Poetry Channel

Sonnet 44 is one of 154 sonnets written by the English playwright and poet William Shakespeare. It is a member of the Fair Youth sequence, in which the poet expresses his love towards a young man. Sonnet 44 is continued in Sonnet 45. 

Sonnet XLIV

If the dull substance of my flesh were thought,
Injurious distance should not stop my way;
For then despite of space I would be brought,
From limits far remote, where thou dost stay.
No matter then although my foot did stand
Upon the farthest earth removed from thee;
For nimble thought can jump both sea and land
As soon as think the place where he would be.
But ah! thought kills me that I am not thought,
To leap large lengths of miles when thou art gone,
But that, so much of earth and water wrought,
I must attend time’s leisure with my moan,
   Receiving nought by elements so slow
   But heavy tears, badges of either’s woe.

Arts & Literature, Literature, Podcasts, Poetry

Arts & Literature: A Close Reading Of Poet Robert Frost (LRB Podcast)

Audio Leave a comment

LRB PodcastsIn the latest episode in their series of Close Readings, Seamus Perry and Mark Ford look at the life and work of Robert Frost, the great American poet of fences and dark woods. 

(August 4, 2020)

They discuss Frost’s difficult early life as an occasional poultry farmer and teacher, his arrival in England in 1912 amid the flowering of Georgian poetry, and his emergence as the first 20th-century professional poet, whose version of the American wilderness myth, full of mischief and foreboding, took him to packed concert halls and a presidential inauguration.

Arts & Literature, Books, Culture, Interviews, Podcasts, Travel

Interviews: American Poet & Writer Cynthia Zarin On Her New Book “Two Cities”

Audio Leave a comment

Cythia Zarin Two Cities VeniceA conversation with the acclaimed poet and New Yorker writer Cynthia Zarin that transports us to two of her favorite cities, Venice and Rome, in a celebration of Italy as the country begins to loosen the longest coronavirus-related lockdown in Europe. The episode features evocative readings from her forthcoming book,Two Cities, which captures the meditative yet constantly surprising nature of travel from a deeply personal point of view. 

David Zwirner Books Logo

From acclaimed poet and New Yorker writer Cynthia Zarin comes a deeply personal meditation on two cities, Venice and Rome—each a work of art, both a monument to the past—and on how love and loss shape places and spaces.

Here we encounter a writer deeply engaged with narrative in situ—a traveler moving through beloved streets, sometimes accompanied, sometimes solo. With her, we see, anew, the Venice Biennale, the Lagoon, and San Michele, the island of the dead; the Piazza di Spagna, the Tiber, the view from the Gianicolo; the pigeons at San Marco and the parrots in the Doria Pamphili. As a poet first and foremost, Zarin’s attention to the smallest details, the loveliest gesture, brings Venice and Rome vividly to life for the reader.

READ AN EXCERPT HERE

The sixteenth book in the expanding, renowned ekphrasis series, Two Cities creates space for these two historic cities to become characters themselves, their relationship to the writer as real as any love affair.

ekphrasis

Dedicated to publishing rare, out-of-print, and newly commissioned texts as accessible paperback volumes the ekphrasis series is part of David Zwirner Books’s ongoing effort to publish new and surprising pieces of writing on visual culture.

Cynthia Zarin

Cynthia Zarin is the author of five books of poetry, most recently, Orbit (2017), as well as five books for children and a collection of essays, An Enlarged Heart: A Personal History (2013). Her honors and awards include a Guggenheim Fellowship for Literature, the Ingram Merrill Award, and the Los Angeles Times Book Prize for Poetry. A longtime contributor to The New Yorker, Zarin teaches at Yale University.

Read more or purchase book