Subscribe: by Email | in Reader

Untitled -- Cid Corman

       
(Poem #348) Untitled
  Mountain
  stars

  eyes
  in the

  open
  do
-- Cid Corman
As Thomas has noted previously, it's hard to find a good English haiku (that
is, a haiku specifically written in Engilsh, as opposed to translations of
Japanese haiku, of which many excellent examples exist)[1]. Corman, though,
has written a number of poems that, while not haiku, have been influenced by
the form.

[1] http://www.faximum.com/aha.d/keirule.htm does a good job of explaining
why

I've always liked minimalist poetry (when it works, of course), and today's
poem is no exception. The way every word has been made to count is
fascinating - such poems look deceptively easy to write, but they're far
more structured and carefully crafted than it would appear. One of the main
differences between poetry and prose is this economy of words, the need to
choose every one carefuly because it has to carry, besides the surface
meaning, several layers of imagery and connotation[2]. And this is a
particularly stringent requirement when writing minimalist poems, where
there aren't that many words in the first place. In today's piece, for
example, the imagery evoked by the conjunction of 'mountain' and 'stars' is
not just beautiful but impressive in the way it's conveyed in just two
words. Note, also, the effective use of the line break - free verse has been
accused of being 'prose with interesting line breaks', but the breaks are
far from arbitrary; they're just as carefully chosen a part of a poem as
the punctuation is.

[2] see also poem #270 for
more on the poetry/prose distinction

The other notable thing about today's poem[3] is, of course, the dependence
on the last line[4]. 'Mountain', 'stars' and 'eyes in the open' do not
between them form a poem - they're just a disconnected set of fragmentary
images (albeit nice ones). The final 'do' works on several levels - not only
is it a neat piece of wordplay, it also ties the poem together, resolving
the string of fragments into a connected whole. All in all, quite an
achievement for a two letter word.

[3] this is about the time i really wish it had a title :)
[4] see poem #345 for a longer
treatment of this technique

Biography and Assessment:

Cid Corman is author of more than eighty collections of poems, essays, and
translations. He began publishing Origin in 1951, featuring many of the
finest young poets of the day, and it continues from Japan, where he has
lived since the late Fifties. Of himself, he writes, "Harvesting the sun /
and earth and sky - no need to / gild the dragonfly."
        -- [broken link] http://www.levity.com/interbeing/authors.html

"Nobody knows how to do so much with so few words as Corman. And
Nothing/Doing is rich with his austerities, poems full of wisdom and
tenderness and absurdities. It's a book that seems to have come from
every time in the man's life, as if all his times were in his custody
at once. It feels to me like the summa poetica of Corman's work, where
he stands up to be counted. And shows the power and grace of what he
does so well." --Robert Kelly

Corman is one of modernism's enduring masters, a poet of prodigious
talent and production whose work, both as poet and publisher, is
intertwined with the Objectivists Louis Zukofsky nd George Oppen, as
well as the Black Mountain poets Robert Creeley and Charles Olson.
Among such modern giants, Corman's verse is perhaps the most refined,
refusing the temptation of "effect" for the tactile ink of line and
"touch." Nothing/Doing presents a vital poetry of zen koan and
cognitive conundrum, but also one of uncompromising wisdom, where
Corman can definitively declare: "There's only/one poem:/this is it."

        -- [broken link] http://www.wwnorton.com/nd/fall99/Corman.html

Links:

Here's something interesting by the man himself:
http://www.english.upenn.edu/~afilreis/88/corman-on-radio.html

A set of Cid Corman links (some broken) can be found at
[broken link] http://alpha1.albany.edu/~poetry/corman.html

And for the discovery of Corman I must thank Seamus Cooney,
[broken link] http://www.wmich.edu/english/tchg/lit/pms/index.html

8 comments: ( or Leave a comment )

Anonymous said...

You ought to be a part of a contest for one of the most useful blogs on the web.

I am going to highly recommend this web site!

Look at my weblog - Louis Vuitton Bags

Anonymous said...

Howdy! This is my first comment here so I just wanted to give a quick shout out and tell you I truly enjoy reading your articles.
Can you suggest any other blogs/websites/forums that cover the same topics?
Thanks a ton!

Also visit my web site - Mario Lemieux Black Jersey

Anonymous said...

I was curious if you ever considered changing the structure of your blog?

Its very well written; I love what youve got to say.
But maybe you could a little more in the way of content so
people could connect with it better. Youve got an awful lot
of text for only having 1 or two images. Maybe you could space it out better?


Also visit my homepage :: Christian Louboutin

Anonymous said...

You probably have to have a refresher on the useful tips every online company
owner should know about. So unless service repair shop completes the formalities and
find the necessary certifications they're able to't
start their business. ll possess the practical guidance you'll need on how to take up a concierge
business''.

Feel free to visit my website - lomsaklocal.thaiddns.com

Anonymous said...

hey there and thank you for your info – I've definitely picked up anything new from right here.
I did however expertise a few technical points using this web site, since I experienced to reload the web site a lot of
times previous to I could get it to load correctly.
I had been wondering if your web host is OK? Not
that I am complaining, but sluggish loading instances times will often affect your placement in google and can damage your quality
score if ads and marketing with Adwords. Anyway I'm adding this RSS to my
email and could look out for much more of your respective fascinating content.
Make sure you update this again very soon.

my web blog ... heroes of camelot hack

Anonymous said...

It increases the blood flow to the scalp and the hair follicles beneath it.

Tender coconut water increases glow and fairness of skin. Coconut oil
extract benefits our health in many ways.

Feel free to visit my site - Mikki More (investor.bahrainnews.net)

Post a Comment