by Keith Mankin | May 12, 2021 | Uncategorized
“If you will tell me why the fenappears impassable, I thenwill tell you why I think that Ican get across it if I try.” Marianne Moore, “I May, I Might, I Must” The sheer, ornery passion of this poem is breathtaking, betokened by the escalating...
by Keith Mankin | May 9, 2021 | Uncategorized
“I took her dainty eyes, as wellAs silken tendrils of her hair:And so I made a Villanelle!” Earnest Thayer Dowson, “Villanelle of His Lady’s Treasures” Most of Dowson’s works are lugubrious and tortured. This poem is a confection. What upsweep of spirit put...
by Keith Mankin | May 7, 2021 | Uncategorized
“A bit of talcumIs always walcum.” O Nash, “Reflection on Babies”This tiny rhyme is almost an epitaph for Nash’s poems. The unexpected, absurd neologism that makes the rhyme and brings the chuckle is a hallmark of his brilliant light verses. Never (or seldom)...
by Keith Mankin | May 3, 2021 | Uncategorized
“Put the fragrant mignonette and the last red asterHere on the table.Let us talk again of love,As we did once in May.Give me your hand, that I may squeeze in secret,And if any see, we will not care.Give me just one of your sweet glances,As you did once in May.Today,...
by Keith Mankin | May 2, 2021 | Uncategorized
“Sleep, baby mine, Desire, nurse Beauty singeth,Thy cries, O baby, set mine head on aching;The babe cries, ‘Way, thy love doth keep me waking’.” Sir Philip Sidney, “Sleep, baby mine, Desire” A raucous parody of a lullaby as the poet tries to lay aside his...
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