My favorite of the Cotter selection was "Memories," possibly because I'm a sucker for rhyme, but the last line in that poem hit perfectly. It is great when rhyme can be used purposefully: in this case, the addition of "-- and you." created rhyme in a line that otherwise wouldn't have had it, hence "you" kind of brought everything together -- a heartful message between the lines!
Aw cheers Hasse - it was quite different the first time I posted it, and I worked on it quite a bit to get it to this stage, so I am glad it landed. :-)
Hehe - rhyme certainly has its moments. And yeah - agree so much, when rhyme and structure come together in the poem to add to the meaning. So good! Nice analysis.
My favorite is The Mulatto to His Critics. The way he loves himself and welcomes all the streams of his heritage but especially that he loves his blackness: "the kindly race"
Aw cheers Harley - hehe, yeah, love those bugs! Agreed, Cotter died far too young. If he had lived, I have no doubt he'd be a well-known poet of the era, in the league of Langston Hughes.
Hmmmm.... not sure exactly. Thanks for asking. It started because I was very interested in the early history of English-language haiku (1890-1920) and had a suspicion that all the contemporary writers/historians I had read were deeply oversimplifying it, and leaving out a lot of what happened. So I did extensive research in that area, and discovered a wealth of material ignored by the official histories - which changes the landscape considerably. And it taught me a lot about poetry in general. Along the way, that lead to stumbling on a couple of public domain archives, and I started to read poetry magazines from the time - and I was just astounded by how much good poetry there was, and how little of it had survived to today. And also how fresh it was - it really changed how I understood 20th century poetry history, and history in general. So I started cataloguing it slowly for my own pleasure, and then thought I should probably start sharing it. And here we are :-) Also, the more I read, the more I enjoyed poetry, and found my own poetry growing as well - it was, and still is, a transformative experience for me, on a personal level.
On a more public level, underneath all this was a kind of passion/desire to challenge conventional approaches to history and provide a starting point for anyone wanting to engage with this period poetically, and widen the view. Poetry for me is about prolonging words - thoughts, emotions, observations - and so I wanted to help in this act. :-) So yeah - a lot of intertwining threads, as a poet, as a researcher, and as an armchair historian (though I did work in academia for a long time, so have some grounding in historical pedagogy too). What about yourself - I'm really interested in where your interest in poetry comes from? And what lead you to engage with these forgotten poets?
Wow! Thank you, Dick, for sharing. I have been writing poetry for almost 60 years. I began when I was 17. I was going through a period of questioning my religious faith, and I wrote philosophical poems filled with questions about life. I had initially planned to be a preacher, but I lost my faith by the time I went to college. I decided to major in English because I loved to read.
I read, wrote, and published poetry in college. I was introduced to haiku in college and wrote a few philosophical poems using the 5-7-5 format. I began seriously reading, studying, and writing haiku in 1975. Some of my haiku were published in haiku magazines such as Dragonfly and Modern Haiku. I wrote only haiku for seven years.
Sorry it took me a minute to reply! Thank you for this. It is really interesting to hear some of your story with regards to poetry. We all have such different paths, I find it fascinating! Unfortunately I don't have a subscription to Medium, but was able to read the first few poems of each post. Some lovely poems there Harley! This one especially stood out to me:
.
clinging to a weed
shell of a grasshopper . . .
autumn winds
.
That is a damn fine haiku! Lots of others too. Nice work. Really looking forward to reading your post of poetry this month. Haha - yeah, I know what you mean. I expect to be one of those forgotten poets as well. Interesting side-note, in my early 20s I had a writing partner and we used the term "Wayfarer" to refer to what we were doing. We had a record label called "Wayfarer Records", a press called "Wayfarer Press", and a library called "The Wayfarer Library". We didn't actually put out very much at the time - it was more conceptual than actual haha - but yeah, thought that connection was interesting. :-)
Agreed LeeAnn - his style is so fresh and contemporary. Yeah, I was thinking that when I was re-reading that poem too. My heart goes out to y’all. 🖤 It seems unfathomable, but also entirely echoes the truly fucked up state of things as they are right now. Hard roads ahead.
Same - his poetry blows me away. Yeah, so true - I think he probably would have been one of the big names of the era had he lived. Cheers for the kind words regarding my poem too. Really appreciate it.
Such a big fan of Caroling Dusk - what an amazing anthology! Awesome :-) I have done some posts on the women poets as well, if you're looking for more of their work, including Gwendolyn B. Bennett (I have published a collection of her complete 1920s works as well), Angela Weld Grimke, Anne Spencer, Georgia Douglas Johnson, and Helene Johnson - all of them blow me away! Such great poetry. So glad to meet another fan.
Wonderful :-) Yeah, I came across Cowdery's work in The Crisis, Opportunity, and Ebony & Topaz, and she's on my list to do as a post, but hadn't read some of these. Excellent! Thank you so much for the reference. Will file these poems away with the rest!
The way he channeled his grief into such strong beauty--his poetry! 💛💛💛
As an ICU nurse I only ever saw one patient with full-blown TB. It was heart-wrenching. Like trying to save a drowning man from the sea inside his own body.
Yeah - totally - he packed such a lot in to such a short time. Damn - I can't even imagine experiencing that Ann. I really respect the work you do, deeply - and your compassion and thoughtfulness shows in every post. You must be an amazing ICU nurse. 🖤
Oh thank you, Dick, I worked ICU in my 20’s. Then I raised my kids. Now I work in dentistry. It’s all been beautiful work. Really makes me grateful for living in chapters.💛💛
Loved your poem on this one, Dick. Haunting...
My favorite of the Cotter selection was "Memories," possibly because I'm a sucker for rhyme, but the last line in that poem hit perfectly. It is great when rhyme can be used purposefully: in this case, the addition of "-- and you." created rhyme in a line that otherwise wouldn't have had it, hence "you" kind of brought everything together -- a heartful message between the lines!
Aw cheers Hasse - it was quite different the first time I posted it, and I worked on it quite a bit to get it to this stage, so I am glad it landed. :-)
Hehe - rhyme certainly has its moments. And yeah - agree so much, when rhyme and structure come together in the poem to add to the meaning. So good! Nice analysis.
My favorite is The Mulatto to His Critics. The way he loves himself and welcomes all the streams of his heritage but especially that he loves his blackness: "the kindly race"
" But love the blood of the kindly race
That swarthes my skin, crinkles my hair,
And puts sweet music into my soul."
"swarthes" made into a verb is delightful.
Yeah - agreed, that poem was the one that first grabbed me. Such powerful words! Yeah, the use of "swarthes" as a verb is inspired. What a poet. :-)
My favorite line in your poem: “dead bugs crawling “. Cotter died too young.
Aw cheers Harley - hehe, yeah, love those bugs! Agreed, Cotter died far too young. If he had lived, I have no doubt he'd be a well-known poet of the era, in the league of Langston Hughes.
So, Dick, where did your interest in forgotten poets come from?
Hmmmm.... not sure exactly. Thanks for asking. It started because I was very interested in the early history of English-language haiku (1890-1920) and had a suspicion that all the contemporary writers/historians I had read were deeply oversimplifying it, and leaving out a lot of what happened. So I did extensive research in that area, and discovered a wealth of material ignored by the official histories - which changes the landscape considerably. And it taught me a lot about poetry in general. Along the way, that lead to stumbling on a couple of public domain archives, and I started to read poetry magazines from the time - and I was just astounded by how much good poetry there was, and how little of it had survived to today. And also how fresh it was - it really changed how I understood 20th century poetry history, and history in general. So I started cataloguing it slowly for my own pleasure, and then thought I should probably start sharing it. And here we are :-) Also, the more I read, the more I enjoyed poetry, and found my own poetry growing as well - it was, and still is, a transformative experience for me, on a personal level.
On a more public level, underneath all this was a kind of passion/desire to challenge conventional approaches to history and provide a starting point for anyone wanting to engage with this period poetically, and widen the view. Poetry for me is about prolonging words - thoughts, emotions, observations - and so I wanted to help in this act. :-) So yeah - a lot of intertwining threads, as a poet, as a researcher, and as an armchair historian (though I did work in academia for a long time, so have some grounding in historical pedagogy too). What about yourself - I'm really interested in where your interest in poetry comes from? And what lead you to engage with these forgotten poets?
Wow! Thank you, Dick, for sharing. I have been writing poetry for almost 60 years. I began when I was 17. I was going through a period of questioning my religious faith, and I wrote philosophical poems filled with questions about life. I had initially planned to be a preacher, but I lost my faith by the time I went to college. I decided to major in English because I loved to read.
I read, wrote, and published poetry in college. I was introduced to haiku in college and wrote a few philosophical poems using the 5-7-5 format. I began seriously reading, studying, and writing haiku in 1975. Some of my haiku were published in haiku magazines such as Dragonfly and Modern Haiku. I wrote only haiku for seven years.
I have also published my haiku in three books. I posted one to Medium in 2022. Here is a link: https://medium.com/the-torchbearer/winter-silence-c671212e8e32
And you can find more about my poetry journey in The Anatomy of A Poet on Medium. Link: https://medium.com/illumination/the-anatomy-of-a-poet-98c80fcbc63f
My interest in the forgotten poets comes from the fact that at the age of 75, I expect to be one of those forgotten poets.
I will be posting a newsletter of my poetry this month called Wayfarer.
Sorry it took me a minute to reply! Thank you for this. It is really interesting to hear some of your story with regards to poetry. We all have such different paths, I find it fascinating! Unfortunately I don't have a subscription to Medium, but was able to read the first few poems of each post. Some lovely poems there Harley! This one especially stood out to me:
.
clinging to a weed
shell of a grasshopper . . .
autumn winds
.
That is a damn fine haiku! Lots of others too. Nice work. Really looking forward to reading your post of poetry this month. Haha - yeah, I know what you mean. I expect to be one of those forgotten poets as well. Interesting side-note, in my early 20s I had a writing partner and we used the term "Wayfarer" to refer to what we were doing. We had a record label called "Wayfarer Records", a press called "Wayfarer Press", and a library called "The Wayfarer Library". We didn't actually put out very much at the time - it was more conceptual than actual haha - but yeah, thought that connection was interesting. :-)
The word speaks through the senses. I am moved by your world, Dick.
Awwww 🖤🖤🖤 Moved by yr comment!
These are so painfully beautiful.
Whoops - missed this comment. Yeah, agreed. Amazing that he managed to put all those feelings into words. 🖤
These are so powerful and true. The first one could have been written recently. I couldn't help but think of our new president, truly a monster.
Agreed LeeAnn - his style is so fresh and contemporary. Yeah, I was thinking that when I was re-reading that poem too. My heart goes out to y’all. 🖤 It seems unfathomable, but also entirely echoes the truly fucked up state of things as they are right now. Hard roads ahead.
I was deeply moved by Cotter's poetry, and yours at the end. What might he have written had he lived longer. Such a loss.
Same - his poetry blows me away. Yeah, so true - I think he probably would have been one of the big names of the era had he lived. Cheers for the kind words regarding my poem too. Really appreciate it.
Thank you for sharing this; Caroling Dusk is such an iconic collection; I've been studying the women poets in it.
Such a big fan of Caroling Dusk - what an amazing anthology! Awesome :-) I have done some posts on the women poets as well, if you're looking for more of their work, including Gwendolyn B. Bennett (I have published a collection of her complete 1920s works as well), Angela Weld Grimke, Anne Spencer, Georgia Douglas Johnson, and Helene Johnson - all of them blow me away! Such great poetry. So glad to meet another fan.
Yes, I'm well acquainted with all of them and love their work. I recently discovered the poetry of Mae V. Cowdery. She published a collection in 1936 which isn't yet in the public domain; here are some of her poems that are, from the 1920s. Do you know of her? Sadly she came to an untimely end. Feel free to use this as a resource: https://www.literaryladiesguide.com/classic-women-authors-poetry/mae-v-cowdery-a-harlem-renaissance-poet-to-rediscover/
Wonderful :-) Yeah, I came across Cowdery's work in The Crisis, Opportunity, and Ebony & Topaz, and she's on my list to do as a post, but hadn't read some of these. Excellent! Thank you so much for the reference. Will file these poems away with the rest!
The way he channeled his grief into such strong beauty--his poetry! 💛💛💛
As an ICU nurse I only ever saw one patient with full-blown TB. It was heart-wrenching. Like trying to save a drowning man from the sea inside his own body.
Yeah - totally - he packed such a lot in to such a short time. Damn - I can't even imagine experiencing that Ann. I really respect the work you do, deeply - and your compassion and thoughtfulness shows in every post. You must be an amazing ICU nurse. 🖤
Oh thank you, Dick, I worked ICU in my 20’s. Then I raised my kids. Now I work in dentistry. It’s all been beautiful work. Really makes me grateful for living in chapters.💛💛