LIFE, LIFE BY ARSENY TARKOVSKY A book of poetry by Russian poet Arseny Tarkovsky, translated by Virginia Rounding. Includes many poems used in Arseny's son's films (Andrei Tarkovsky). With a bibliography of both Arseny and Andrei Tarkovsky, and illustrations from Tarkovsky's movies. FROM THE INTRODUCTION: Arseny Aleksandrovich Tarkovsky was was born in June 1907 in Elizavetgrad, later named Kirovograd. He studied at the Academy of Literature in Moscow from 1925 to 1929, and also worked in the editorial office of the journal Gudok. He was well respected as a translator, especially of the Oriental classics, but was little known as a poet for most of his life, being unable to get any of his own work published during the Stalinist era. His poems did not begin to appear in book form until he was over fifty. Illustrated. With bibliography and notes. ISBN 9781861714169. www.crmoon.co
Gathered here in one handy volume are 62 poems about nature and the ecology. But, as the author notes in her preface, these are not all praise-poems"celebration and fear of loss are necessarily conjoined". This compact gift-book will have special appeal to those who love Mother Earth.
“The quirky and macabre [ninth] book from Thomson is rich with breathtaking juxtaposition. ... These elegant poems are full of surprising and moving revelations.” —Publishers Weekly
Here in one volume is a selection of the extraordinary poems of Rita Dove, who, as the nation's Poet Laureate from 1993 to 1995, brought poetry into the lives of millions of people. Along with a new introduction and poem, Selected Poems comprises Dove's collections The Yellow House on the Corner, which includes a group of poems devoted to the themes of slavery and freedom; Museum, intimate ruminations on home and the world; and finally, Thomas and Beulah, winner of the Pulitzer Prize in 1987, a verse cycle loosely based on her grandparents' lives. Precisely yet intensely felt, resonant with the voices of ordinary people, Rita Dove's Selected Poems is marked by lyric intensity and compassionate storytelling.
Presents a collection of poems published by the author during the 1970s and 1980s, along with some previously unpublished works and a chronology that provides details about his life.
Nina Cassian's irrepressible voice has outlasted the Romanian dictatorship. The deeply affecting, magical poems of Life Sentence, a selection spanning 45 years, come to us through vivid translations made by 20 poets.
AL-MUTANABBI: LIFE & SELECTED POEMS Translation & Introduction Paul Smith Abu 'l-Tayyib Ahmad ibn Husain al-Mutanabbi, (915-965 A.D.), was one of the greatest of Arabic poets (many say the greatest), was born in the town of al-Kufah in Iraq. He was the son of a water carrier who was said to be of noble and ancient southern Arabian descent. In his youth, al-Mutanabbi was educated in Syria in Damascus. He lived among the Bedouin of the Banu Qalb tribe and learnt their skills. In his youth he received his nickname 'al-Mutanabbi', meaning 'one who wants to be a prophet'. Why he was named so is unclear, but... he was the leader of a revolutionary movement and, claiming to be a prophet, led a revolt in his home-town in 932 at the age of 17. It was suppressed and he was imprisoned. During this period he began to write his first poems. R.A. Nicholson in his 'Translations of Eastern Poetry and Prose' says, "Any one who reads him in Arabic must admire the splendour of his rhetoric, the luxuriance of his imagination, and the energy and aptness of his diction; but in a translation these great qualities are overshadowed by others less pleasing to our taste, which have left their mark on the poetic style of many who wrote after him in Arabic and Persian." Al-Mutanabbi is mainly known for his many wonderful qasidas, being one of the true masters of this form. A.J. Arberry says of him... "Greatness, in whatever field of human endeavour, always stems from and thrives upon controversy, and al-Mutanabbi certainly was, and continues to be, a highly controversial figure. That is perhaps the surest proof of his universal greatness." Here is a selection of his most famous qasidas and qit'as in the correct rhymes. Introduction on The Abbasid Caliphate, Poetry of the Abbasid Period, The Forms of Arabic Poetry of the Abbasid Period, The Life & Times & Poetry of al-Mutanabbi. Large Format Paperback 7" x 10" 176 pages. COMMENTS ON PAUL SMITH'S TRANSLATION OF HAFIZ'S 'DIVAN'. "It is not a joke... the English version of ALL the ghazals of Hafiz is a great feat and of paramount importance." Dr. Mir Mohammad Taghavi (Dr. of Literature) Tehran. "Superb translations. 99% Hafiz 1% Paul Smith." Ali Akbar Shapurzman, translator of many mystical works in English into Persian and knower of Hafiz's Divan off by heart. Paul Smith (b.1945) is a poet, author and translator of many books of Sufi poets from the Persian, Arabic, Urdu, Turkish, Pashtu and other languages including Hafiz, Sadi, Nizami, Rumi, 'Attar, Sana'i, Jahan Khatun, Obeyd Zakani, Nesimi, Kabir, Anvari, Ansari, Jami, Khayyam, Iqbal, Rudaki, Yunus Emre, Ghalib, and many others, as well as his own poetry, fiction, plays, biographies and a dozen screenplays. www.newhumanitybooks.com
"This is an utterly compelling, harrowing and masterfully written body of poetry. Its publication is a major literary event". -- The Los Angeles Times Book Review
