tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3383938214852108244.post1303038629762522538..comments2024-03-29T03:04:00.853-05:00Comments on Wuthering <br>Expectations: Sophia de Mello Breyner Andresen: Fantastic sea gods stroll at the edge of the world, or She asked each thing its nameAmateur Reader (Tom)http://www.blogger.com/profile/13675275555757408496noreply@blogger.comBlogger9125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3383938214852108244.post-70208235580868758282012-06-17T23:17:52.624-05:002012-06-17T23:17:52.624-05:00That seems clear enough. I wish the collection I ...That seems clear enough. I wish the collection I read had included all seven of the Reis poems.<br /><br />Your <a href="http://storberose.blogspot.com/2012/06/pursuit-of-real-poetry-of-sophia-de.html" rel="nofollow">post on Sophia</a> is outstanding, although I have not given it a fifth of the attention it deserves.Amateur Reader (Tom)https://www.blogger.com/profile/13675275555757408496noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3383938214852108244.post-33271176367368774402012-06-17T17:30:36.277-05:002012-06-17T17:30:36.277-05:00I cannot tell if Sophia is speaking to Reis or as ...<i>I cannot tell if Sophia is speaking to Reis or as Reis.</i><br /><br />After having re-read the poems in question, I think she's clearly emulating his voice. She wrote seven poems in homage to him, published in the book 'Dual' (1972), and they were clearly made to look like Ricardo Reis poems - they're numbered by Roman numerals like his, they address women like Lydia and Neera too, they're about the pagan gods and enjoying life before it's over. You could read them and think Reis wrote them. I think she did a great job with them.LMRhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08538873868140070018noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3383938214852108244.post-13327234333623229662012-02-10T09:26:09.520-06:002012-02-10T09:26:09.520-06:00Paraphrase and misrepresentation - a fair descript...Paraphrase and misrepresentation - a fair description of how philosophy works! That is not meant as a criticism of philosophy.<br /><br />You are describing with uncanny accuracy the poem Sophia wrote about Lord Byron that I discuss today. So you must be on the right track. <br /><br />Hölderlin, yes, yes! Another poet for whom the gods were real. Pessoa must not have known him - Reis would have loved Hölderlin.<br /><br />I don't know Bachelard - sounds interesting.Amateur Reader (Tom)https://www.blogger.com/profile/13675275555757408496noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3383938214852108244.post-29707565047065714572012-02-10T09:14:59.726-06:002012-02-10T09:14:59.726-06:00I was thinking of Heidegger's move in "Bu...I was thinking of Heidegger's move in "Building, Dwelling, Thinking" in Poetry, Language, Thought that language provides a sort of structure in which we dwell, but through dwelling, speech falls away and we are left with silent (but still active) thought. I think I'm paraphrasing and perhaps misrepresenting Heidegger; forgive me, it is early in the day. But it seems to me that Sophia's "In the Poem" is achieving precisely this same move.<br /><br />I agree that Heidegger lends himself too easily to poetic readings as to almost render his poetic theory useless. But there is something particularly interesting about these poems that remind me of Hoderlin (or even Coleridge).<br /><br />Gaston Bachelard's Poetics of Space might provide a more useful critical framework than Heidegger. I will have to think about this more.Annahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00961332983813359209noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3383938214852108244.post-23259243804085269632012-02-10T08:59:45.302-06:002012-02-10T08:59:45.302-06:00The problem with linking Heidegger to Sophia speci...The problem with linking Heidegger to Sophia specifically is that Heidegger seems to argue that <i>all</i> poets, all real ones, are doing what Sophia does. Maybe she is a particularly stark example. That cat is actually doing what H. says poets do: they are the people who name things.<br /><br />Sophia's pagan mysticism is fascinating. Catholic pagan mysticism. Man should become one with nature, but nature is very broadly defined. No need to go live in the woods.<br /><br />I mention some of this shallowly, when I write about Sophia and Ricardo Reis, in a piece that should go up 45 seconds from now.Amateur Reader (Tom)https://www.blogger.com/profile/13675275555757408496noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3383938214852108244.post-71779262054317002632012-02-10T03:35:54.749-06:002012-02-10T03:35:54.749-06:00That's an interesting way of connecting Sophia...That's an interesting way of connecting Sophia to Heidegger. But I think her 'poetry of the moment' has more to do with her pagan mysticism. She exalts nature and think Man needs to become one with it again - many of her poems focus on this - and so every aspect of life, every moment is special. <br /><br />I think it's something like that, anyway.LMRhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08538873868140070018noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3383938214852108244.post-59438718153259978252012-02-09T21:49:33.441-06:002012-02-09T21:49:33.441-06:00In the end, it is all just a text. I resort to sh...In the end, it is all just a text. I resort to shorthand more. "When the poet writes C, she means..." is a more compact way of saying "When the poet writes something like C, which is translated as C~, she may well mean..." <br /><br />Plus, I can avoid the hard word of interpretation by fussing about the translation. Sophia herself claims that translating poetry is <i>easier</i> than translating prose "because it has rhythm." The quote is from Richard Zenith.<br /><br />I'm glad Heidegger is good for something.Amateur Reader (Tom)https://www.blogger.com/profile/13675275555757408496noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3383938214852108244.post-43018592867947292122012-02-09T21:24:17.106-06:002012-02-09T21:24:17.106-06:00Just taken as a bundle of imagery I find a lot to ...<em>Just taken as a bundle of imagery I find a lot to like here.</em><br /><br />Yes, a lot. And perhaps the good of the Heidegger is some reassurance that this is (all of?) what we should be looking for.nicolehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17532641082944082516noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3383938214852108244.post-47121273865123790322012-02-09T20:15:32.330-06:002012-02-09T20:15:32.330-06:00Writing about poetry in translation might be the h...Writing about poetry in translation might be the highest degree of difficulty blog dive of all, Tom. Please keep up the interesting--and risky--work.Richardhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01746599416342846897noreply@blogger.com