Texts for the Course                    Home HONR 250 -- 2001

1. Letters to a Young Poet (Classic Wisdom Collection) by Rainer Maria Rilke (April 1992) New World Library; ISBN: 0931432944
         A mentor of mine first introduced me to this little collection of letters by Rainer Maria Rilke when I was a junior in college, and it has been one of those books that I have read and re-read throughout my life, each time with a different kind of understanding.  Born in Prague, and having lived in Austria, Russia, Germany, France, and Switzerland, Rilke is said to be the greatest European poet of the 20th century. I think you will discover why in the reading of this book.

2. A Book of Luminous Things: by Czeslaw Milosz (April 1998) Harcourt Brace; ISBN: 0156005743 ;   

            Milosz is one of the finest living poets. Here he has assembled poems from the greatest poets of the world and of all eras and arranged them in thematic chapters, encouraging the reader to imagine the poets themselves talking with each other and with us about "The Secret of a Thing," "The Moment," "People among People," "Woman's Skin," and "Nonattachment" and "Epiphany." Milosz can be considered a poet and anthologist of penetrating insight. His introduction and brief comments to each poem are passionate and enlivening

3. How to Read a Poem--And Start a Poetry Circle by Molly Peacock (April 1999) Riverhead Books; ISBN: 1573221287
               As one reviewer at Amazon.com puts it, "Starting at her own childhood delight in the appearance and construction of words, Peacock moves on to detailed readings of her talismans the poems that are emblematic of the various emotions or stages of her life. She presents a selection of poets diverse in both style and period. From the soothing repetition of the late Jane Kenyons hymn-like "Let Evening Come," which she recommends as a spiritual tonic, to the unadorned free verse of Yusef Komunyakaas "My Fathers Loveletters," with which she examines her own family life, Peacock rarely falters as she reveals the nuances of language and meaning inherent in each writers work."  The final chapter of the book is dedicated to advocating that readers start poetry circles, and Peacock has fellow poets suggest their own talisman poems for readers use.

4. The Rag and Bone Shop of the Heart by James Hillman (August 1993) Harperperennial Library; ISBN: 0060924209

                 This anthology is one of the most popular among students at the College of Saint Benedict and Saint John's University.  Rag and Bone is a powerful collection of more than 400 deeply moving poems from renowned poets including Robert Frost, Emily Dickinson, Langston Hughes, Theodore Roethke, Rainer Maria Rilke, Marianne Moore, Thomas Wolfe, Czeslaw Milosz, and Henry David Thoreau.  Although the subtitle of the book, "Poems for Men" indicates one way the anthology can be appreciated, the original poets certainly wrote for both women and men.  Our discussion of these poems will give us an opportunity to explore gender assumptions in the process of reading and interpretation great poetry.

5. 99 Poems in Translation : An Anthology by Harold Pinter (March 1997) Grove Press; ISBN: 0802134890 ;

6. The Vintage Book of Contemporary World Poetry by J. D. McClatchy (June 1996) Vintage Books; ISBN: 0679741151 ;

7. How to Read a Poem and Fall in Love with Poetry by Edward Hirsch (April 1, 1999) Harcourt Brace; ISBN: 0151004196 ;

 

Recommended Texts:

1.  Against Forgetting : Twentieth-Century Poetry of Witness by Carolyn Forche (Editor) Paperback - 812 pages (March 1993)  W.W. Norton & Company; ISBN: 0393309762

2. The Essential Rumi by Jelalludin Rumi Hardcover - 302 pages (October 1997) Book Sales; ISBN: 078580871X

3. Full Woman, Fleshly Apple, Hot Moon : Selected Poems of Pablo Neruda by Pablo Neruda (April 1998) HarperCollins (paper); ISBN: 0060928778

4. The Selected Poetry of Rainer Maria Rilke by Rainer Maria Rilke. Stephen Mitchell (Translator), Paperback Reissue edition (March 1989) Vintage Books; ISBN: 0679722017

5. A Book of Women Poets from Antiquity to Now by Willis Barnstone (Editor), Aliki Barnstone (Editor),  Paperback Revised edition (May 1992) Schocken Books; ISBN: 0805206809 .