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/lit/ - Literature

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1594379 No.1594379 [Reply] [Original]

Can anybody recommend some poetry that isn't extremely hard to understand? I've tried reading Yeats and its just 2deep4me. If it helps, some poets I've enjoyed and (kindasorta) understood are Langston Hughes, Charles Bukowski, Khalil Gibran and Rumi.

>> No.1594408
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1594408

SHE walks in beauty, like the night
Of cloudless climes and starry skies;
And all that 's best of dark and bright
Meet in her aspect and her eyes:
Thus mellow'd to that tender light 5
Which heaven to gaudy day denies.
One shade the more, one ray the less,
Had half impair'd the nameless grace
Which waves in every raven tress,
Or softly lightens o'er her face; 10
Where thoughts serenely sweet express
How pure, how dear their dwelling-place.

And on that cheek, and o'er that brow,
So soft, so calm, yet eloquent,
The smiles that win, the tints that glow, 15
But tell of days in goodness spent,
A mind at peace with all below,
A heart whose love is innocent!

A very accessible poem, I think. It's by Lord Byron.

>> No.1594411
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1594411

I like Whitman, Sandburg and Ginsberg.
and others of course

>> No.1594420

>>1594408

Byron's a good suggestion for accesible stuff, Shelley, Wordsworth and Coleridge also. I particularly like Wordsworth from these Romantics, but that's just personal preference.

If you'd like something more modern, based on the fact you like Bukowski, then Raymond Carver A New Path to the Waterfall. From Britfag poets I'd suggest Auden and Larkin - they're both very accesible. Ted Hughes is a very striking poet, and writes in very visual and immediate style. As an example, pretty much at random - Larkin:

Philip Larkin - This Be The Verse

They fuck you up, your mum and dad.
They may not mean to, but they do.
They fill you with the faults they had
And add some extra, just for you.

But they were fucked up in their turn
By fools in old-style hats and coats,
Who half the time were soppy-stern
And half at one another's throats.

Man hands on misery to man.
It deepens like a coastal shelf.
Get out as early as you can,
And don't have any kids yourself.

>> No.1594437

>>1594408
I don't really like that one tbh :(
>>1594411
I will check these guys out.

Right now I just looked up Neruda, Paz and Pound, some were pretty accessible and others weren't, but I think I will read one of their works first, anybody have any opinions on these poets?

>> No.1594442

>>1594437

Neruda is possibly one of the best poets in the world, ever. In terms of output and influence, he's massive. I'd recommend 20 Love Songs and a Song of Despair. If you can read it in Spanish, even better, but he's had some fairly good translators over the years. This book will get you laid.

His odes are also amazing - ode to my suit is one of my favourite poems in any language.

>> No.1594443
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1594443

Go to the library and pick up a couple of poetry anthologies.

Peruse and see what you like.

>> No.1594452

>>1594420
I really, really dislike that poem lol Bukowski i was kind of just meh about, I didn't feel strongly at all about his work.

>>1594442
Thanks a lot, I can only read english atm, do you know which translations are the best?

>> No.1594453

Billy Collins
William Carlos Williams
Wallace Stevens
Bob Hicok

I'd also echo the suggestion that you pick up an anthology. My recontamination is are the Best American Poetry, the Pushcart Prize anthologies, and, for non-contemporary poetry, the Norton anthologies.

>> No.1594456

>>1594452

Mine's a bilingual edition translated by WS Merwin, its pretty good, but there may be better.

>> No.1594459

>>1594437
Neruda is fairly easy, know nothing about Paz, pound ranges from completely esoteric to transparent. If you're going to do Pound I suggest his chinese translations.

>> No.1594460

>>1594443
My 3 closest libraries closest to me are honestly horrendously stocked. the poetry section in the closest takes up 1 or 2 shelves. I dont mean complete shelves either I mean horizontal sections.

>> No.1594461

>>1594456
Merwin is a nice poet too.