Category Archives: Uncategorized
An Afternoon in Spring
Antonio Machado’s poem “An Afternoon in Spring.” I don’t understand it. Do you? Continue reading
You See, You Hear
In this Christmas post, I am thinking of you sitting at home with a brandy in your hand. I want to share with you some of the sounds of the poetry we have been talking about. And with that in … Continue reading
Shakespeare’s sonnets
This week I took a rest from considering Novoneyra, the mountains and the countryside and gave myself up to Reading Shakespeare The sonnets start with a series in which the poet argues with a young man who is wasting his … Continue reading
Novoneyra and the Shepherd’s Calendar
Two poets look at a disappearing landscape, from distant points in time. Continue reading
R.S. Thomas: Wales and Galicia
Two books published in 1952 and 1953 show the connections between Galicia and Wales, R.S. Thomas and Novoneyra. Continue reading
Novoneyra and Saudade
The roots of Novoneyra in Galician Saudade: yearning. Continue reading
Is Basho an arse?
The poems are exquisite. The sensibility is fine. Basho is aware of his own importance. He puts quotations from other writers into his work and allows his own writing to enter into dialogue with poets of the past. He knows he is good enough to have a place in history. Basho has a lot of poet friends who are always happy to see him, so he must have been a good dinner guest. How is it, then, that he can behave like an arse?
Walking Poets: Novoneyra and Jonathan Williams
I have two books in front of me, both of them strange in shape: Novoneyra’s Os Eidos and Jonathan Williams’s Blues&Roots. Os Eidos is squat. Its green spine calls to me from the bookshelf, an inch lower than its neighbours … Continue reading
Poets that Dig: Catalonia and Galicia
Catalonia is on my mind. My friend Amand went to Barcelona to see the referendum on October 1. He was born in Mallorca and studied in Barcelona as a drama student in the seventies, joining street protests against the Franco … Continue reading
The Tempest at the Globe
Was Shakespeare written by Shakespeare? People who want to poach his work for some noble pen ignore the references within the plays to the business of theatre. The Tempest is a good example of this. It gives knowing nods to … Continue reading
