In 2017, Matthew Francis published a poem-ising of the old Welsh stories The Mabinogi. This is the opening section of Branch Four ("The Tale of the Pigs and the Flower-Woman".)

Here we have the king relaxing (obnoxiously?) and the magician and minstrel Gwydion getting ready to tell his tale...

#APoemADay #APoemADayFromDeemikay #TodaysPoem #MatthewFrancis #mabinogion #mabinogi #Poetry #PoetryCommunity

I found this in The Ecco Anthology of International Poetry* and know nothing about Gloria Fuertes beyond what Wikipedia tells me. This has been translated by one Brian Barker.

It seems to me to be a call to challenge authorities. Which is always worth doing, no?

#APoemADay #APoemADayFromDeemikay #GloriaFuertes #todayspoem #poetry #PoetryCommunity

* Would be nice to have a map or at least a list of countries to gauge how international.

This jolly little rhyme of eye-colour in souls off to Hades is from Rossetti's 'Sing-Song: A Nursery Rhyme Book' from 1872.

Observation: the boatman doesn't care about your eye-colour just as long as you give him that penny ($8?)

#APoemADay #APoemADayFromDeemikay #TodaysPoem #ChristinaRossetti #Boatman

This jolly little rhyme of eye-colour in souls off to Hades is from Rossetti's 'Sing-Song: A Nursery Rhyme Book' from 1872.

Observation: the boatman doesn't care about your eye-colour just as long as you give him that penny ($8?)

#APoemADay #APoemADayFromDeemikay #TodaysPoem #ChristinaRossetti #Boatman

A different version of this appears in one of the early chapters Peake's Gormenghast Trilogy (Chp 23 of Titus Groan). This version I found in his Collected Nonsense and it totally rocks teenage goth mopiness.

A Peake painting of these three characters in the comments below.

#APoemADay #APoemADayFromDeemikay #MervynPeake #Gormenghast #Poetry #PoetryCommunity

A different version of this appears in one of the early chapters Peake's Gormenghast Trilogy (Chp 23 of Titus Groan). This version I found in his Collected Nonsense and it totally rocks teenage goth mopiness.

A Peake painting of these three characters in the comments below.

#APoemADay #APoemADayFromDeemikay #MervynPeake #Gormenghast #Poetry #PoetryCommunity

This is in the excellent anthology 'The Dream of the Poem: Hebrew Poetry from Muslim and Christian Spain 950 - 1492' translated by Peter Cole.

This is the only poem by a woman in the book. Read the notes in the second photo.

#APoemADayFromDeemikay #APoemADay #todayspoem #HebrewSpain #HebrewPoetry #poetry #poetrycommunity

After the note-heavy 5-liner yesterday, here's a much simpler sonnet about bugs.

#GoBugs

#APoemADay #APoemADayFromDeemikay #todayspoem #JohnClare #Ants #Sonnet

The poet here died in 901AD. This is from Peter MacMillan's translation of One Hundred Poets, One Poem each. All of the poems are Tanka - usually given in English as 5 lines of 5-7-5-7-7 syllables. I chose this one to compare it to another translation (by Frank Watson). The *idea* we have of Japanese poetry is that it's simple, spare, elemental. But look at those notes in photo three! Puns and double meanings are the norm...

#APoemADayFromDeemikay

The poet here died in 901AD. This is from Peter MacMillan's translation of One Hundred Poets, One Poem each. All of the poems are Tanka - usually given in English as 5 lines of 5-7-5-7-7 syllables. I chose this one to compare it to another translation (by Frank Watson). The *idea* we have of Japanese poetry is that it's simple, spare, elemental. But look at those notes in photo three! Puns and double meanings are the norm...

#APoemADayFromDeemikay #APoem

@BillyMills I was going to post some old Japanese translations today for my #APoemADayFromDeemikay (some waka - Murisaki or Lady Sarashina) but I went for some Holub instead. 😊

Tomorrow instead - I'm still gathering a couple of translations.

This (called 'Brief reflections on maps') is by Miroslav Holub and translated by Ewald Osers.

Part of my real life job involves making maps. And, from experience, they're often wrong as soon as they're made. But, as Holub suggests in this little anecdote, they often righter than you expect. There's maybe an study to be made: Maps As Articles of Faith.

#APoemADay #APoemADayFromDeemikay #TodaysPoem #MiroslavHolub #Maps #poetrycommunity #poetry

The snobbery of (most?) poets would suggest that song lyrics are not poetry. I disagree. Lyrics are a subset of poetry, not an occasional overlap.

Further, a definition I've used for years: poems are just songs we've forgotten the tune to.

Anyway. Exhibit A: this by Thomas Campion, 1567 to 1620, songwriter and luteist. (Though books will call him "poet and composer".)

#APoemADay #APoemADayFromDeemikay #ThomasCampion #poetry #poetrycommunity #songwriter

I don't know much about Edna's life. I don't know if she had a weird neighbour. I don't know if she was a weird neighbour. I don't know if there is no neighbour but this is about "The Muse".

But "weed[ing] her lazy lettuce / by the light of the moon" is my kinda person.

cf. "What's He Building In There?" by Tom Waits

#APoemADay #APoemADayFromDeemikay #EdnaStVincentMillay #poetry #poetrycommunity

From the £2 book I got yesterday, here's this famous* old inscrutable.

What do we make of this? What do we make of that breakdown of language and sense in the last two lines? What? How? Why? Whatever... it passes my test for a good poem: I want to read it again as soon as I get to the bottom.

#APoemADay #APoemADayFromDeemikay #WallaceStevens #poetry #poetrycommunity

* so famous, in fact, that it has its own Wikipedia article: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anecdote_of_the_Jar?wprov=sfla1

Here's a little winter something from Julia Copus' 2012 collection The World's Two Smallest Humans.

Not the happiest but "the old and buried loves / (without whom I am nothing)" gives me feels.

(And I'm almost imagining it being in the voice of one of #Nabokov's Vane Sisters.)

#APoemADay #APoemADayFromDeemikay #writingcommunity #poetrycommunity #poetry #poem #JuliaCopus

Every day (or so) I go through my shelves to find a short poem to share every day. Some will be very old, some may be very new. None of them are written by me.

Click this hashtag to see them all! #APoemADayFromDeemikay

I'm making my only little anthology of little poems.

(Others might also be sharing a poem a day... if so, try this as well: #APoemADay )

A poem a day from deemikay.

Today, Le Revenant by Stevie Smith. I'm wondering if she was thinking about a similarly titled poem by Baudelaire? But this is Stevie being Stevie, of course.

(Original and plenty of translations of the Baudelaire here: https://fleursdumal.org/poem/171 )

#APoemADay #APoemADayFromDeemikay #StevieSmith #CharlesBaudelaire #poetrycommunity #poetry #writingcommunity

And after reading it all, I'll just point out that some folks are never happy...

#APoemADay
#APoemADayFromDeemikay
#ThomasHardy
#expectationvsreality
#poetrycommunity
#poetry
#poem

@MrUku I've also found myself posting a poem-not-by-me every day. :) #APoemADayFromDeemikay