Essential Poems from the Staying Alive Trilogy (21 page)

James Wright
(
b.
St Martin’s Ferry, Ohio, 1927-80) was one of the most influential American poets of the 20th century. Whether drawing on his native Ohio, the natural world, or the luminous resonant Italy of his later work, his powerful yet vulnerable voice embraces many facets of human experience through shifting tones and moods, both lyric and ironic, autobiographical and social.
‘Lying in a Hammock at William Duffy’s Farm in Pine Island, Minnesota’ [24].

Adam Zagajewski
was born in 1945 in Lwów (or Lvov), a largely Polish city that became part of the Soviet Ukraine shortly after his birth. His ethnic Polish family, who had lived for centuries in Lwów, were then forcibly repatriated to Poland. He came to prominence as a leading figure in Poland’s Generation of ’68 or
Nowa Fala
(New Wave), and was later active in the Solidarity movement. After living in France from 1982 and also teaching in the US, he now divides his time between Kraków and Chicago. His luminous, searching poems are imbued by a deep engagement with history, art, and life.

The New Yorker
published Zagajewski’s ‘Try to Praise the Mutilated World’ [
105] on its back page shortly after 11 September 2001. It was a recent poem, not written in response to the Al-Qaeda attacks but was viewed as such, being given such prominent publication at just that time, and certainly took on new resonance in the aftermath to 9/11. In an interview in
Poets & Writers,
Zagajewski said: ‘Don’t we use the word poetry in two ways? One: as a part of literature. Two: as a tiny part of the world, both human and pre-human, the part of beauty. So poetry as literature, as language, discovers within the world a layer that has existed unobserved in reality, and by doing so changes something in our life, expands somewhat the space of what we are. So yes, it has the power to restore the mutilated world, even if no statistics ever show it.’

The poems in this anthology are reprinted from the following books, all by permission of the publishers listed unless stated otherwise. Thanks are due to all the copyright holders cited below for their kind permission:

Kim Addonizio:
Tell Me
(BOA Editions, USA, 2000).
Agha Shahid Ali:
The Half-Inch Himalayas
(Wesleyan University Press, 1987).
Yehuda Amichai
: ‘The Place Where We Are Right’ and ‘A Man in His Life’ from
The Selected Poetry of Yehuda Amichai
, tr. Chana Bloch & Stephen Mitchell (HarperCollins, 1986; rev. ed. University of California Press, 1996), by permission of the University of California Press; ‘The Diameter of the Bomb’ from
Selected Poems
, ed. Ted Hughes & Daniel Weissbort (Faber & Faber, 2000).
W.H. Auden
:
Collected Poems
, ed. Edward Mendelson (Faber & Faber, 1991), by permission of Curtis Brown, New York.

Mourid Barghouti
:
Midnight and other poems
, tr. Radwa Ashour (Arc, 2008). Elizabeth Bishop:
Complete Poems 1927-1979
(Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 1983), copyright © 1979, 1983 by Alice Helen Methfessel, by permission of Farrar, Straus and Giroux, LLC.
John Burnside
: ‘Unwittingly’ from
The Light Trap
(Jonathan Cape, 2002), part I of ‘Of Gravity and Light’, from
The Light Trap
(Jonathan Cape, 2002), by permission of the Random House Group Ltd.

Edip Cansever
:
Dirty August
, tr. Julia Clare Tillinghast & Richard Tillinghast (Talisman House, USA, 2009), by permission of the translators.
Raymond Carver
:
All of Us: Collected Poems
(Harvill Press, 1996), by permission by permission of Random House Group Ltd, copyright © 1996 Tess Gallagher.
Nina Cassian
:
Life Sentence: Selected Poems
, ed. William Jay Smith (Anvil Press Poetry, 1990).
Charles Causley
:
Collected Poems 1951-2000
(Picador, 2000), by permission of David Higham Associates Ltd.
C.P. Cavafy
:
Collected Poems,
revised edition, tr. Edmund Keeley & Philip Sherrard (Chatto & Windus, 1998).
Julius Chingono:
‘As I Go’, from
Poetry International Web
(Zimbabwe Domain, 2008, by permission of Poetry International on behalf of the estate of Julius Chingono.
Kate Clanchy
:
Newborn
(Picador, 2004), by permission of Macmillan Publishers Ltd.
Michael Coady:
Two for a Woman, Three for a Man
(1980) by kind permission of Michael Coady and the Gallery Press, Loughcrew, Oldcastle, Co. Meath, Ireland.
David Constantine
:
Collected Poems
(Bloodaxe Books, 2004).

Imtiaz Dharker
:
I Speak for the Devil
(Bloodaxe Books, 2001).
Michael
Donaghy
:
Collected Poems
(Picador, 2009), by permission of Macmillan Publishers Ltd.
Mark Doty:
Atlantis
(Jonathan Cape, 1996), by permission of the Random House Group Ltd.
Rita Dove
:
On the Bus with Rosa Parkes
(W.W. Norton & Company, 1999).
Alan Dugan
:
Poems Seven: New and Complete Poetry
(Seven Stories Press, NY, 2001).
Helen Dunmore:
Out of the Blue: Poems 1975-2001
(Bloodaxe Books, 2001).
Stephen Dunn:
Between Angels
(W.W. Norton & Company, New York, 1989).

T.S. Eliot
:
The Complete Poems and Plays
(Faber & Faber, 1969).

U.A. Fanthorpe:
New & Collected Poems
(Enitharmon Press, 2010).
Robert Frost
:
The Poetry of Robert Frost
, ed. Edward Connery Lathem (Jonathan Cape, 1967), by permission of Random House Group Ltd.

Jack Gilbert:
Transgressions: Selected Poems
(Bloodaxe Books, 2006).
Dana Gioia
:
Daily Horoscope
(Graywolf Press, 1986).
Lars Gustafsson
:
A Time in Xanadu
, tr. John Irons (Copper Canyon Press, 2008), www.coppercanyonpress.org.

Kerry Hardie
: ‘Sheep Fair Day’ from
Selected Poems
(Gallery Press/Bloodaxe Books, 2011), reprinted from
The Sky Didn’t Fall
(Gallery Press, 2003), by permission of The Gallery Press.
Seamus Heaney
:
Opened Ground: Poems 1966-1996
(Faber & Faber, 1998).
Geoffrey Hill
:
Collected Poems
(Penguin, 1985).
Nâzim Hikmet:
Poems of Nâzim Hikmet
, tr. Randy Blasing & Mutlu Konuk (Persea Books, Inc, NY, 1994; second edition, 2002).
Jane Hirshfield
: ‘The Weighing’ from
Each Happiness Ringed by Lions: Selected Poems
(Bloodaxe Books, 2005); ‘Burlap Sack’ from
After
(Bloodaxe Books, 2006).
Miroslav Holub:
Poems Before & After: Collected English Translations
, second edition (Bloodaxe Books, 2006).
Langston Hughes:
The Collected Poems of Langston Hughes
(Alfred A. Knopf, Inc, 1994), by permission of David Higham Associates.

Mohja Kahf
:
E-mails from Scheherazad
(University of Florida Press, 2003).
Jaan Kaplinski
:
Selected Poems
(Bloodaxe Books, 2011).
Doris Kareva
:
Shape of Time,
tr. Tiina Aleman (Arc, 2010).
Jackie Kay
:
Darling: New & Selected Poems
(Bloodaxe Books, 2007).
Brendan
Kennelly:
Familiar Strangers: New & Selected Poems 1960-2004
(Bloodaxe Books, 2004).
Jane Kenyon:
Let Evening Come: Selected Poems
(Bloodaxe Books, 2005), copyright © 2005 Estate of
Jane Kenyon, from
Collected Poems,
by permission of Graywolf Press, Minneapolis, www.graywolf press.org.
Galway Kinnell:
Selected Poems
(Houghton Mifflin, USA, 2000; Bloodaxe Books, UK, 2001).
Stanley Kunitz
:
Passing Through: The Later Poems, New and Selected
(W.W. Norton & Company, 1995).

Philip Larkin:
Collected Poems,
ed. Anthony Thwaite (Faber & Faber, 1990).
Li-Young Lee:
‘From Blossoms’ from
From Blossoms: Selected Poems
(Bloodaxe Books, 2007), reprinted from
Rose
(BOA Editions, USA, 1986).
Denise Levertov
:
New & Selected Poems
(Bloodaxe Books, 2003).
Philip Levine
:
Selected Poems
(Bloodaxe Books, 2006), by permission of Alfred A. Knopf, Inc. and Random House, Inc.
Michael Longley
:
Collected Poems
(Jonathan Cape, 2006), by permission of the Random House Group Ltd.
Thomas Lux:
New and Selected Poems 1975-1995
(Houghton Mifflin, 1997), by permission of the author.

Norman MacCaig:
The Poems of Norman MacCaig
, ed. Ewen McCaig (Polygon/Birlinn, 2009).
Louis MacNeice
:
Collected Poems
, ed. Peter McDonald (Faber, 2007), by permission of David Higham Associates Ltd.
Derek Mahon:
New Collected Poems
(Gallery Press, 2011).
Czesław Miłosz:
New & Collected Poems 1931-2001
(Allen Lane The Penguin Press, 2001), copyright © Czesław Miłosz Royalties Inc., 1988, 1991, 1995, 2001.
Edwin Morgan:
Collected Poems
(Carcanet Press, 1996).
Les Murray
:
New Collected Poems
(Carcanet Press, 2003).

Pablo Neruda:
‘Sweetness, Always’ from
Extravagaria,
tr. Alastair Reid (Farrar, Straus & Giroux, 1974), by permission of Farrar, Straus and Giroux, LLC.
Alden Nowlan:
Between Tears and Laughter: Selected Poems
(Bloodaxe Books, 2004), by permission of the House of Anansi, Toronto, and the Estate of Alden Nowlan.
Naomi Shihab Nye
: ‘Kindness’ from
Tender Spot: Selected Poems
(Bloodaxe Books, 2008), reprinted from
Words under the Words: Selected Poems
(Far Corner Books, USA, 1995).

Dennis O’Driscoll:
New and Selected Poems
(Anvil Press Poetry, 2004).
Sharon Olds:
Selected Poems
(Jonathan Cape, 2005), by permission of the Random House Group Ltd.
Mary Oliver:
Dream Work
(Grove/Atlantic, 1986), by permission of Grove/Atlantic, Inc., and the author.
Alice Oswald
:
The Thing in the Gap-Stone Stile
(Oxford University Press, 1996), by permission of United Agents and the author.

Fernando Pessoa:
A Little Larger Than the Entire Universe: Selected Poems
, tr. Richard Zenith (Penguin Books, 2006).
Rainer Maria Rilke
: ‘Archaic Torso of Apollo’ from
Ahead of All Parting: The Selected Poetry and Prose of Rainer Maria Rilke
, ed. & tr. Stephen Mitchell (The Modern Library, New York, 1995), copyright © 1995 Stephen Mitchell, by permission of Modern Library a division of Random House, Inc.
Rumi:
The Essential Rumi: Translations
by Coleman Barks (HarperSanFrancisco, USA, 1995; expanded edition, 2004), copyright in both volumes © Coleman Barks, also by kind permission of the Reid Boates Literary Agency.

Gjertrud Schnackenberg:
Supernatural Love: Poems 1976-2000
(Bloodaxe Books, 2001).
Ken Smith:
The Poet Reclining: Selected Poems 1962-1980
(Bloodaxe Books, 1982).
William Stafford
:
The Way It Is: New & Selected Poems
(Graywolf Press, 1998), by permission of Graywolf Press, Minneapolis, www.graywolfpress.org.
Anne Stevenson
:
Poems 1955-2005
(Bloodaxe Books, 2005).
Ruth Stone:
What Love Comes To: New & Selected Poems
(Bloodaxe Books, 2009).
Arundhathi Subramaniam:
Where I Live: New & Selected Poems
(Bloodaxe Books, 2009).
Anna T. Szabó:
‘She Leaves Me’, tr. Clive Wilmer & George Gömöri, from
New Order: Hungarian Poets of the Post 1989 Generation,
ed. George Szirtes (Arc, 2010).
Wisława Szymborska
:
Poems New & Collected
, tr. Stanisław Baranczak & Clare Cavanagh (Faber & Faber, 1999).

Toon Tellegen:
About Love and About Nothing Else,
tr. Judith Wilkinson (Shoestring Press, 2008).
R.S. Thomas:
Collected Poems 1945-1990
, by permission of J.M. Dent & Sons, a division of the Orion Publishing Group Ltd, and Gwydion Thomas.
Tomas Tranströmer
:
New Collected Poems,
tr. Robin Fulton (Bloodaxe Books, 1997/2011).

Derek Walcott:
Collected Poems 1948-1984
(Faber & Faber, 1986).
James Wright:
Above the River: Complete Poems
(Bloodaxe Books, 1992), by permission of Wesleyan University Press.

Adam Zagajewski:
Without End: New and Selected Poems
(Farrar, Straus & Giroux, 2002), by permission of Farrar, Straus and Giroux, LLC.

Every effort has been made to trace copyright holders of the poems published in this book. The editor and publisher apologise if any material has been included without permission or without the appropriate acknowledgement, and would be glad to be told of anyone who has not been consulted.