A Selection From The Poems

The Iranian poet and painter Sohrab Sepehri (1928-1980) is revered today for many of the things he was criticized for during his lifetime. Born and raised in the ancient city of Kashan, he was educated in Tehran and travelled widely. A gentle introvert by nature, he was accused of escapism when his reaction to the world around him was to go back to nature, mysticism and mythology, poetry and painting. This mystic of the twentieth century seeks a light that radiates from the individual soul and ultimately affects its relationship with others and the world around it. While Rumi, the mystic of the thirteenth century, dances, sings, and chants out loud that he comes from the world of spirit and is a stranger in the world of matter, Sepehri, quietly aware of humanity in a milieu alien to its physical, psychological, and spiritual needs, in poetry and painting, appeared to stroke human consciousness into a tranquility, almost a state of beatitude, which nevertheless is never quite free of the ongoing struggle for "awareness, understanding and illumination." Sepehri had a free and sometimes convoluted approach to the verities of life, insisting that the book of everyday "illusions" must be closed and ... ... one must rise And walk along the stretch of time, Look at the flowers, hear the enigma. One must run until the end of being ... One must sit close to the unfolding, Some place between rapture and illumination. (Both Line and Space. Bk.8) In this fresh translation, Bahiyeh Afnan Shahid successfully conveys the meaning, feelings, and sensitivity of the Persian original allowing the reader to appreciate the pertinence of Sepehri to the twenty-first century.Sohrab Sepehri, poet and painter, was born in Kashan, Iran in 1928 and was claimed by cancer in 1980. He had an upbringing that tried to discipline and shape him, whether at home or at school, but he was not exactly a conformist. He was an intelligent, sensitive, artistically gifted, poetically expressive, somewhat withdrawn, soft-spoken human being. Sepehri started painting and writing poetry at an early age. He excelled at both. For both he received acclaim and criticism. Now he is enshrined as one of the foremost Iranian poets and painters of the twentieth century. This modern-day aref (mystic), poet. and painter is convincingly sincere in his heartfelt and touching approach to the way we must look at our world, and our fellow humans, in these stressful, problematic times.

Possibility of Being is a selection of poems by one of the most moving and original writers of this century, Rainer Maria Rilke (1857-l926). The title (taken from one of the Sonnets to Orpheus, ''Ibis is the Creature") reflects the central concern of both Rilke's life and art: the achievement of "being,” which this most spiritual yet least doctrinaire of modern German poets defined as "the experiencing of the completest possible inner intensity.'' The eighty-four poems included in this small volume will serve as a sound and inviting introduction to Rilke's strategies in the pursuit of "being." And just as the unicorn in "This Is the Creature" has an eternal "possibility of being" but only becomes visible in the mirror held by a virgin, so can our own possibilities become manifest in the mirror held by the sensitive artist. The poems are chosen from The Book of Hours (1899-1903), The Book of Images (1902 and 1906), New Poems (1907 and 1908), Requiem (1909), Duino Elegies (1923), Sonnets to Orpheus (1923), and the posthumous Poems 1906-26. This selection was made by Professor Theodore Ziolkowski of Princeton University, who drew from the various New Directions volumes of Rilke's work translated by J. B. Leishman.

Although known best for his sweeping allegorical epic "The Faerie Queen," Edmund Spenser wrote a number of other significant poems. His first major poetical work "The Shepherd's Calendar" begins this collection of his "Selected Shorter Poems." An emulation of Virgil's "Eclogues," "The Shepherd's Calendar" depicts the life of shepherd Colin Clout through the twelve months of his year. The twelve eclogues of the poem, each named after a different month, discuss abuses of the church, offer praise for Queen Elizabeth, and reveal the struggles of a lonely shepherd. Also included in this edition of Spenser's poetry are the following poems: "The Ruins of Time," "Prosopopoia," "Muiopotmos," "Colin Clout's Come Home Again," "Amoretti," and "Epithalamion."

The passionate life and violent death of Federico Garcia Lorca (1898–1936) retain an enduring fascination for readers around the world. Murdered by Nationalists at the outset of the Spanish Civil War, Lorca died at the peak of his creative powers. He remains his country's most widely translated writer, surpassed only by Cervantes in terms of critical commentary. This selection includes 55 of the 68 poems that comprised Lorca's 1921 Libro de poemas, all of them in their entirety and in their original sequence. Imbued with the spirit and folklore of the poet's native Andalusia, these verses feature the most complex spiritual content of any of Lorca's works. Editor Stanley Appelbaum provides sensitive, accurate English translations on the pages facing the original Spanish, as well as an informative introduction to the author's life and oeuvre, plus notes on the individual poems. An outstanding resource for students and teachers of Spanish language and literature, this compilation will enchant any lover of poetry.

Poems.

Maybe she was actually blind to not notice why everyone was head over heels for Twaan Cooper. The popular notorious devil of Trinity High, who had all his flings under his mercy. Flirt. Get in their pants. Leave. That was his only goal. No strings attached. Maybe that's what made her stay away from him all these years. She knew, his name was trouble, crashing into him was trouble, and developing feelings towards him was the definition of.....? Well trouble, Particularly, when he had a new girl in his arms, every new day. Kiarra Todds was under the impression that she'll always be the outcast of her school staying in her own personal bubble. Avoiding conflicts and attention at all costs. But it all changed when she accidentally crossed paths with him, the guy that she despised the most. Now that she had the school's most prized possession hot on her trail her only goal was to disappear from his radar. But would it be that easy? Especially when Twaan has other plans for this girl that he never noticed

A first offering from a stand-up scribbler with a need to play with words..... Almost three decades into a life sentence in the Music Industry, Simon Carver has been quietly and sometimes less quietly writing poetry for about the same length of time. This must surely speak volumes about something, but who on earth knows what? Very much a selection rather than a collection, 'Poitry' spans what Carver would refer to as 'scribblings' from what feels like the dawn of time to the present day, gathered and scattered in anything but chronological order, but with a view to tone and the internal and external ebb and flow that is life. Now very much South as an émigré resident of West Berkshire, with much of his time spent in London, Carver is what he would describe with something of a wry smile as the most challenging of all combinations, being an 'educated Yorkshireman', with only his proudly flat vowel sounds to give him away. By way of a nod back, two of the poems have been written phonetically and are best read aloud to transport the reader straight to God's Own County and transform even the most well-spoken into natives of South Yorkshire...So, why not dip in for what is no more than the price of a cheap drink............... and here is something of a 'taste': Work Rest & Play A Mars a day Is a slick Faithful Bar Of salty sweet Nostalgia (c) Simon Carver 2011 Check out Simon Carver on YouTube and Dailymotion......