http://www.poetryfoundation.org/harriet/2007/10/laiki-day/ A blog from the Poetry Foundation where contemporary poets debate classic and contemporary poetry from America and around the world. Sat, 21 Nov 2009 07:36:51 -0600 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.4 hourly 1 http://www.poetryfoundation.org/harriet/2007/10/laiki-day/#comment-1180 Thrassos Calligas Tue, 09 Oct 2007 14:59:27 +0000 http://pf/harriet/?p=430#comment-1180 Your note on seasons and laiki reminded me of my own experiences of going to the laiki, not only to find good produce (amazing the inexpensive flowers), but to hear the vendors' cries, accents, and din. Thrassos Calligas Your note on seasons and laiki reminded me of my own experiences of going to the laiki, not only to find good produce (amazing the inexpensive flowers), but to hear the vendors’ cries, accents, and din.
Thrassos Calligas

]]> http://www.poetryfoundation.org/harriet/2007/10/laiki-day/#comment-1179 Ange Mon, 08 Oct 2007 19:44:23 +0000 http://pf/harriet/?p=430#comment-1179 Actually, the two poets who come to mind in this regard are Stevens and Williams. It was in struggling to reconcile poetry with an agnostic Modernity that they were pressed to find significance in nature and the seasons. I always think of Williams as a poet of pre-spring -- those weeks in February and March and early April between the dead end of winter (Kora in Hell) to Spring and All. And "Sunday Morning" is all about the recourse to seasonal cycles in the absence of God. Wild purslane is rampant in my garden -- I weed it instead of putting it in salad as recommended (it's full of vitamins). I just can't bring myself to eat a common weed. (So much for being close to the earth.) But one of my reasons for leaving the city was to be closer to the seasons. In NYC the only seasons that mattered were inaugurated not by equinoxes, but by the fashion shows in Bryant Park. Actually, the two poets who come to mind in this regard are Stevens and Williams. It was in struggling to reconcile poetry with an agnostic Modernity that they were pressed to find significance in nature and the seasons. I always think of Williams as a poet of pre-spring — those weeks in February and March and early April between the dead end of winter (Kora in Hell) to Spring and All. And “Sunday Morning” is all about the recourse to seasonal cycles in the absence of God.
Wild purslane is rampant in my garden — I weed it instead of putting it in salad as recommended (it’s full of vitamins). I just can’t bring myself to eat a common weed. (So much for being close to the earth.) But one of my reasons for leaving the city was to be closer to the seasons. In NYC the only seasons that mattered were inaugurated not by equinoxes, but by the fashion shows in Bryant Park.

]]> http://www.poetryfoundation.org/harriet/2007/10/laiki-day/#comment-1178 Don Share Mon, 08 Oct 2007 13:04:03 +0000 http://pf/harriet/?p=430#comment-1178 What comes to mind for me are Virgil's <i>Georgics</i> -- and Vita Sackville-West's strange long poems, <i>The Land</i> (1926) and <i>The Garden</i> (1946). We've been talking about Sitwell, and there are similarly some liabilities of style and sensibility in Sackville-West's verse - but overall, these are delightful (and occasionally dark) works that really try to reflect the rhythms of cultivation. What comes to mind for me are Virgil’s Georgics — and Vita Sackville-West’s strange long poems, The Land (1926) and The Garden (1946). We’ve been talking about Sitwell, and there are similarly some liabilities of style and sensibility in Sackville-West’s verse – but overall, these are delightful (and occasionally dark) works that really try to reflect the rhythms of cultivation.

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