Poems for March 23

The Fiddler of Dooney by W.B. Yeats
The Host of the Air by William Butler Yeats
Girlhood by Jonathan Galassi
Ithaca by C.P. Cavity (Emily brought up)
Two Husbands Meet in Heaven by Susan Dworski Nusbaum

The last two poems are grouped this way in Eureka Street: "Mortality made articulate : Two Comments"
Following me, old footprints by Chris Wallace-Crabbe
A deceptive calm by Chris Wallace-Crabbe

A father's tenderness, seeing what's ahead for his girl, the taste of"the color of crushed time"; the multiplicity of "Ithaca" which gives you reason for the marvelous journey; the fun of imagining 2 husbands, with a snapshot of their wife (and
I trust the group will enjoy Nusbaum's volume "What we Take with Us".).

I chose the Galassi is because Katha Pollitt used an epigram he provides in her poem Archeology we discussed 3/9
"Our real poems are already in us, and all we can do is dig.”
-Jonathan Galassi : http://www.poetryfoundation.org/bio/jonathan-galassi

I will not be there except in spirit...

A note about Yeats from Elizabeth Bodien: “The Host of the Air,”
the host of the air are the Sluagh Gaoith (versus the host of Sidhe).
And the host of the air that lived in clouds and mist were the worst,
apparently said to steal brides.
Yes, notes indicate that the story is based on an old Gaelic ballad
from a woman in Balissodare in County Sligo
but it also may be that the host of the air may be interpreted more generally to refer to the
shared heritage that floats in the air of Ireland, the heritage that Yeats was so eager to breathe.



Summary by Kathy:
Paul gave us a lovely reading/recitation of the 2 Yeats poems. He also played a recording of Yeats himself reading his work. The group was split about discussion of Ithaka as some remembered reading it before. Bernie provided a solution - we listened to Sean Connery reading Ithaka on YouTube We spent the most time on Galassi's Girlhood and thought it a poem worthy of more attention. Lastly, we enjoyed ending the session with the humor of Two Husbands.