by phillipw | Apr 23, 2020 | Uncategorized
Orpheus, Once Torn Limb from Sturdy Limb Orphée by Raoul Dufy Long after he was born, and lived, and died, The first of poets lives and lives. Before The rape of art by Modernism tried To kill off commonsense, an artist bore Down on a piece of wood to make this strong...
by phillipw | Apr 23, 2020 | Uncategorized
The Antikythera Mechanism https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antikythera_mechanism “Paul Cartledge reminds us that ‘the ancient Greek word for “truth” meant literally “not forgetting”.’ ” ~ Michael Schmidt, The First Poets, 22 The truth is never lost. It cannot be. Suppose...
by phillipw | Apr 23, 2020 | Uncategorized
Watson & Crick, Thank God At any moment revelation comes Perhaps not like a flash of light that blinds And leaves us prostrate on the road. Life’s crumbs Are not all; often though they fill our minds As if sublimity does not exist. Yet even crumbs might do the...
by phillipw | Apr 23, 2020 | Uncategorized
A Black and Curly Male Head Leads I like this image since it shows he cares More for his lyre than for his wife. He holds It forward. Clearly future unsung airs And poetry, as lovely as the folds In robes behind him and the graceful wife, Are more important than the...
by phillipw | Apr 23, 2020 | Uncategorized
Stunned, Stung with Esthetic Tears “When it reaches Alexandria, poetry comes in out of the sun, retires to the library . . . And so it [poetry] survives in a world where the vulgar tongue is not Greek.” ~ Michael Schmidt, The First Poets, 19 At Florida Technological U...
by phillipw | Apr 23, 2020 | Uncategorized
Scorn “Enargeîs is the technical term ‘for divine epiphany: a word that contains the dazzle of “white,” argós, which comes to designate a pure, unquestionable “conspicuous-ness” ’ ”. ~ Michael Schmidt, The First Poets, 19 I wonder if perhaps we moderns know This...
by phillipw | Apr 23, 2020 | TH
Lordosis The gods “‘do not appear in all their fullness [enargeîs],’ Calasso writes.” ~ Michael Schmidt, The First Poets, 19 Jehovah shows his backside to the eye Of Moses in the fire and smoke and cloud. We wonder if that eye was sideways, sly,...
by phillipw | Apr 22, 2020 | DE, EU, PO
Poetry Makes a Different Exploration of the Realm of Death No poet thinks about the path the wife Of Orpheus took down to Hades. Not One poet ever writes about how harshly rife That journey was. The poisoned bride’s death lot Was just the same as anyone’s. The path...
