Sunday, March 30, 2008

April is Poetry Month!

Poetry is not just about the "girl from Nantucket".

It can seduce:

"Who, maiden, makes this river flow?
The Spirit -- he makes its ripples glow --
But I have a charm that can make thee, dear,
Steal o'er the wave to thy lover here."

(from an Ojibwa poem entitled "Medicine Song of an Indian Lover" in Random House's Treasury of Favorite Love Poems, 2 ed; 9780375426025)



It can describe nature:

"Out of the mist into the mirk
The glimmering combers roll.
Almost these mindless waters work
As though they had a soul -- "


(from Rudyard Kipling's "A Song in the Storm" in Sea Poems - A Seafarer Anthology, selected and introduced by Bob Crew; ISBN 9781574092141)






It can raise goosebumps:

"From the lightning in the sky
As it pass'd me flying by --
From the thunder, and the storm --
And the cloud that took the form
(When the rest of Heaven was blue)
Of a demon in my view ---"

(from Edgar Allen Poe's "Alone" in Poetry for Young People - Edgar Allan Poe; edited by Brod Bagert; 9781402754722


And it can speak of adventure, and lands far away:

Quinquireme of Nineveh from distant Ophir
Rowing home to haven in sunny Palestine,
With a cargo of ivory,
And apes and peacocks,
Sandalwood, cedarwood, and sweet white wine...

(from "Cargoes" by John Masefield, in The Best Loved Poems of Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, selected and introduced by Caroline Kennedy; 9781401302481



We have just received a wonderful series that introduces major poets to children (see the quotation from Edgar Allen Poe, above). These make the poets' work accessible; they give some background about the poets' lives and are beautifully illustrated. Currently, we have volumes covering Lewis Carroll, Emily Dickenson, Robert Frost, Poe, Carl Sandburg, William Shakespeare, Robert Louis Stevenson and Walt Whitman

So -- how about trying something new? Give poetry a chance!

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Tuesday, March 25, 2008

Welcome to Booksmith Falmouth!

Hello! Booksmith is new to the blogosphere, but we hope to soon post about our newest titles, author events, and books we have enjoyed. If you are in town, we hope that you will visit us!

Here is a Google map to help you find us!