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Would you buy a book of poetry?
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Would you buy a book of poetry?
Yes  
 26%  [ 23 ]
No  
 73%  [ 64 ]
Total Votes : 87



PinkFridge




 
 
    
 

Post Wed, Jun 16 2021, 3:23 pm
scruffy wrote:
I have God's Optimism by Yehoshua November.

Beautiful poetry by a frum man.

He wrote another volume which I'd like to get.

If you want a taste of his style, he has some poems up online.


I was just going to mention him. I heard about him on this site. Awesome.
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youngishbear




 
 
    
 

Post Wed, Jun 16 2021, 3:24 pm
scruffy wrote:
you made me smile:)

I think that not all rhyming poems deserve to be called poetry, they should be called rhymes.

And not all free verse poems deserve to be called poetry, they should be called prose:)


This.

And let's not add prose poems to the mix...

I still have a hard time answering the question of what makes a poem good. I know what I like, and I can answer that about the classic poets and some of the modern greats, but show me an amateur poem and I'm at a loss to explain why it does or doesn't work; all I can say is whether I like it.

I think that's true of all art. There are techniques, and there are messages (which frum poetry tends to hit you over the head with), but above it all there is taste. There are rules, and there are exceptions. I might claim not to love rhyming poems, but then I read The Raven.
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Crookshanks




 
 
    
 

Post Wed, Jun 16 2021, 3:32 pm
amother [ Gray ] wrote:
There was a frum woman whose poetry was sometimes featured in the Voice of Lakewood. I can't remember her name, but I really liked her poems and was disappointed when they stopped publishing them! I never was into poems but found those spoke to me, so if she would put out a book, I would buy it...

Fradl Adams? Elky Handler?
I really like Fradl Adams.
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advocate




 
 
    
 

Post Wed, Jun 16 2021, 6:24 pm
Thanks to Imamother, I bought two by Yehoshua November.

Hatzlocha!
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amother
Chicory


 

Post Wed, Jun 16 2021, 7:36 pm
tigerwife wrote:
Would you buy an aesthetically pleasing book, perhaps with some illustrations, maybe coffee table-sized, that contains a compilation of only poems in several styles?
Or would you only appreciate a classically written novel or memoir, fiction or non-fiction?
Do you appreciate a nice poem once, but don’t see yourself rereading it again?
Do you find meaning in words, and clever word combinations, or do you prefer words only that tell a longer story?


I don't buy books any more. Years ago I may have bought a book of poetry, but I've lost patience with a lot of poetry I used to like and got rid of the few volumes I had. I'd read a book of limericks from the library but wouldn't buy one. I do buy books of song lyrics, because I like to know ALL the lyrics, and the correct ones. Even if a song is wildly popular, most people remember only a stanza or two and mistake many words. (There's more than one website of misheard song lyrics. Did you ever hear of "The Sound of Sirens" by Simon and Garfunkel? Or" Excuse me While I Kiss this Guy" by Jimi Hendrix? Did you know that Hatikvah has something like nine stanzas? ) One time I bought a book of songs that are now classics and discovered that my teachers had massacred them. At times we were singing absolute gibberish. That's what happens when you rely on hearing a song on the radio or at a kumsitz or in camp.

Of course I take pleasure in a well-crafted phrase or sentence. Clever word plays make my day. Puns, too, extra credit if cross-lingual. Cross-lingual rhymes in humorous contexts. Sly twists on cliches. Verbal surprises. Love them all.

I wouldn't buy a coffee table book regardless of content or aesthetic value, nor would I appreciate receiving one as a gift. A nice up-to-date world atlas, OTOH...mine still shows Croatia---from its first gilgul, before it was part of Yugoslavia.
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Crookshanks




 
 
    
 

Post Wed, Jun 16 2021, 7:54 pm
amother [ Chicory ] wrote:
I don't buy books any more. Years ago I may have bought a book of poetry, but I've lost patience with a lot of poetry I used to like and got rid of the few volumes I had. I'd read a book of limericks from the library but wouldn't buy one. I do buy books of song lyrics, because I like to know ALL the lyrics, and the correct ones. Even if a song is wildly popular, most people remember only a stanza or two and mistake many words. (There's more than one website of misheard song lyrics. Did you ever hear of "The Sound of Sirens" by Simon and Garfunkel? Or" Excuse me While I Kiss this Guy" by Jimi Hendrix? Did you know that Hatikvah has something like nine stanzas? ) One time I bought a book of songs that are now classics and discovered that my teachers had massacred them. At times we were singing absolute gibberish. That's what happens when you rely on hearing a song on the radio or at a kumsitz or in camp.

Of course I take pleasure in a well-crafted phrase or sentence. Clever word plays make my day. Puns, too, extra credit if cross-lingual. Cross-lingual rhymes in humorous contexts. Sly twists on cliches. Verbal surprises. Love them all.

I wouldn't buy a coffee table book regardless of content or aesthetic value, nor would I appreciate receiving one as a gift. A nice up-to-date world atlas, OTOH...mine still shows Croatia---from its first gilgul, before it was part of Yugoslavia.

Lol re the atlas. In HS the history books in library hadn't been updated since the USSR fell and I was in HS in the late 2010s.
Also, can you link a video or lyrics for Hatikva? I want to learn the rest of the song.
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zaq




 
 
    
 

Post Wed, Jun 16 2021, 8:15 pm
wif wrote:
Ok. All of you who love Shel Silverstein: hold the phone.

See, when we were dating, my husband and I had a debate over who was the better poet. I said Shel Silverstein, and he said Ogden Nash, .


Ogden Nash of course of course. For some reason I think he was an antiSemite--could I be confusing him with someone else?-- but his humorous verse is unsurpassed. If I were going to buy a book of verse, which I'm not, it would have to include a goodly proportion of Nash. But Silverstein is no slouch, either.
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zaq




 
 
    
 

Post Wed, Jun 16 2021, 8:16 pm
Crookshanks wrote:
Lol re the atlas. In HS the history books in library hadn't been updated since the USSR fell and I was in HS in the late 2010s.
Also, can you link a video or lyrics for Hatikva? I want to learn the rest of the song.


I always thought it was more like 12 or 14 stanzas but it's "only" 9. Good luck memorizing!

http://www.nationalanthems.info/il_'.htm

כָּל עוֹד בַּלֵּבָב פְּנִימָה
,נֶפֶשׁ יְהוּדִי הוֹמִיָּה
,וּלְפַאֲתֵי מִזְרָח קָדִימָה
.עַיִן לְצִיּוֹן צוֹפִיָּה

CHORUS:
עוֹד לֹא אָבְדָה תִקְוָתֵנוּ
:הַתִּקְוָה הַנּוֹשָׁנָה
.לָשׁוּב לְאֶרֶץ אֲבוֹתֵינוּ
.לְעִיר בָּהּ דָּוִד חָנָה

2
כָּל-עוֹד דְּמָעוֹת מֵעֵינֵינוּ
,יִזְּלוּ כְגֶשֶׁם נְדָבוֹת
וּרְבָבוֹת מִבְּנֵי עַמֵּנוּ
.עוֹד הוֹלְכִים עַל קִבְרֵי אָבוֹת

Chorus

3
כָּל-עוֹד חוֹמַת מַחֲמַדֵּינוּ
,לְעֵינֵינוּ מוֹפָעַת
וְעַל חֻרְבַּן מִקְדָּשֵׁנוּ
.עַיִן אַחַת עוֹד דוֹמָעַת

Chorus

4
כָּל-עוֹד מֵי הַיַּרְדֵּן בְּגָאוֹן
,מְלֹא גְדוֹתָיו יִזֹּלוּ
וּלְיָם כִּנֶּרֶת בְּשָׁאוֹן
.בְּקוֹל הֲמוּלָה יִפֹּלוּ

Chorus

5
כָּל-עוֹד שָׁם עֲלֵי דְרָכַיִם
,שַעַר יֻכַּת שְׁאִיָּה
וּבֵין חָרְבוֹת יְרוּשָׁלַיִם
.עוֹד בּת צִיּוֹן בּוֹכִיָּה

Chorus

6
כָּל-עוֹד דְּמָעוֹת טְהוֹרוֹת
,מֵעֵין בַּת עַמִּי נוֹזְלוֹת
וְלִבְכּוֹת לְצִיּוֹן בְּרֹאשׁ אַשְׁמוֹרוֹת
.עוֹד תָּקוּם בַּחֲצִי הַלֵּילוֹת

Chorus

7
כָּל-עוֹד נִטְפֵי דָם בְּעוֹרְקֵינוּ
,רָצוֹא וָשׁוֹב יִזֹּלוּ
וַעֲלֵי קִבְרוֹת אֲבוֹתֵינוּ
.עוֹד אֶגְלֵי טַל יִפֹּלוּ

Chorus

8
כָּל-עוֹד רֶגֶשׁ אַהֲבַת הַלְּאוֹם
,בְּלֵב הַיְּהוּדִי פּוֹעֵם
עוֹד נוּכַל קַוּוֹת גַּם הַיּוֹם
.כִּי עוֹד יְרַחֲמֵנוּ אֵל זוֹעֵם

Chorus

9
שִׁמְעוּ אַחַי בְּאַרְצוֹת נוּדִי
,אֶת קוֹל אַחַד חוֹזֵינוּ
כּי רַק עִם אַחֲרוֹן הַיְּהוּדִי
!גַּם אַחֲרִית תִּקְוָתֵנוּ

The Star-Spangled Banner

O say can you see, by the dawn's early light,
What so proudly we hailed at the twilight's last gleaming,
Whose broad stripes and bright stars through the perilous fight,
O'er the ramparts we watched, were so gallantly streaming?
And the rocket's red glare, the bombs bursting in air,
Gave proof through the night that our flag was still there;
O say does that star-spangled banner yet wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave?

On the shore dimly seen through the mists of the deep,
Where the foe's haughty host in dread silence reposes,
What is that which the breeze, o'er the towering steep,
As it fitfully blows, half conceals, half discloses?
Now it catches the gleam of the morning's first beam,
In full glory reflected now shines in the stream:
'Tis the star-spangled banner, O long may it wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave.

O thus be it ever, when freemen shall stand
Between their loved homes and the war's desolation.
Blest with vict'ry and peace, may the Heav'n rescued land
Praise the Power that hath made and preserved us a nation!
Then conquer we must, when our cause it is just,
And this be our motto: 'In God is our trust.'
And the star-spangled banner in triumph shall wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave![52]

I've omitted what is the third stanza because it's gross and hateful
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zaq




 
 
    
 

Post Wed, Jun 16 2021, 8:28 pm
scruffy wrote:
Interesting because I feel differently.

Some poetry is enhanced by rhyming but it oftens feels forced to me and it feels like the poet cared more about getting it to fit than the meaning and emotion behind the words.

.


Sadly, most English-language frum verse, and even more so the stuff written for children's books, is of this sort. There are a few frum writers who do verse books well, but most do not. Let's not talk about the imamother obsession with "poems" for all occasions. As if putting it in rhyme makes a thank-you note more meaningful.
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zaq




 
 
    
 

Post Wed, Jun 16 2021, 8:36 pm
tigerwife wrote:
Yes, I agree with this very much.
To me, the most important part is the rhythm. Even if I read a poem alone to myself, I whisper it out loud. Poems need to be recited, not read.


Except for the ones that must be read, not recited. These include those with visual rhyme and those like the Song of the Decanter
https://www.poetry-archive.com......html
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youngishbear




 
 
    
 

Post Wed, Jun 16 2021, 8:55 pm
zaq wrote:
Except for the ones that must be read, not recited. These include those with visual rhyme and those like the Song of the Decanter
https://www.poetry-archive.com......html


"To read a poem is to hear it with our eyes; to hear it is to see it with our ears."

Octavio Paz
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amother
Lawngreen


 

Post Wed, Jun 16 2021, 9:02 pm
There were some good poems in the Our Lives anthologies published some time ago.
I've only read a very few in the frum magazines that I liked. I do remember one by Rikki Ehrlich (pen name, I assume) that was excellent.
Overall the poems I've liked are random ones I've come across, not as part of an anthology.
I think an anthology of poetry only is a bit overwhelming to wade through.
Favorite poems: Prayer by Jorie Graham and Red Riding Hood by Christina someone (it's the foreword to the book Brightest Star in the Sky by Marian Keyes and it gives me chills every time I read it).
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amother
Gray


 

Post Wed, Jun 16 2021, 10:43 pm
Crookshanks wrote:
Fradl Adams? Elky Handler?
I really like Fradl Adams.


Elky Handler, thank you!

Fradl Adams is in the Lakewood Shopper, right? I like her stuff too, come to think of it. I don't get the Shopper for some reason so I rarely get to read it.

So I guess there are some frum poets worth reading out there!
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Crookshanks




 
 
    
 

Post Wed, Jun 16 2021, 11:55 pm
Yes she's in the Shopper. I don't take it in either much 🙃
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tigerwife




 
 
    
 

Post Thu, Jun 17 2021, 12:36 am
zaq wrote:
Except for the ones that must be read, not recited. These include those with visual rhyme and those like the Song of the Decanter
https://www.poetry-archive.com......html


Love it! But I still whispered it out loud Smile despite the atypical line breaks (that formed the decanter), this poem still has perfect rhythm.
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youngishbear




 
 
    
 

Post Thu, Jun 17 2021, 12:38 am
tigerwife wrote:
Love it! But I still whispered it out loud Smile despite the atypical line breaks (that formed the decanter), this poem still has perfect rhythm.


And rhyme.
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wif




 
 
    
 

Post Thu, Jun 17 2021, 3:02 am
zaq wrote:
Ogden Nash of course of course. For some reason I think he was an antiSemite--could I be confusing him with someone else?-- but his humorous verse is unsurpassed. If I were going to buy a book of verse, which I'm not, it would have to include a goodly proportion of Nash. But Silverstein is no slouch, either.


Oof. I hope not. Are you perhaps thinking of Roald Dahl?

I find it hard to believe, considering he is the one crediting with countering W. N. Ewer's poem:

How odd
Of God
To choose
The Jews.

with this poem of his own:


It’s not so odd,
The Jews chose God.
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Crookshanks




 
 
    
 

Post Thu, Jun 17 2021, 8:07 am
How slow am I that I just read the decanter poem and didn't even realize that it was in a wine bottle shape? 😹
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enneamom




 
 
    
 

Post Thu, Jun 17 2021, 11:17 am
How about a poetry forum?
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amother
Junglegreen


 

Post Thu, Nov 18 2021, 7:35 pm
Crookshanks wrote:
I have two books of poetry on my shelf right now. One is a coffee table edition of Shel Silverstein poems, and one is Memo to Self by Ruth Lewis. I don't know why you say here is no frum poetry-did you ever read Memo to Self?


Old thread, but I'm reviving it.

I love Memo to Self! I reread it every once in a while.

One of the Jewish magazines had an article about Ruth Lewis a"h after she was niftar. The article had more of her poems, really beautiful. I hope her family publishes another book of her work.

Shabbos zmiros are very poetic, as are selichos and kinnos. My Hebrew is not great, but it's a joy when I can appreciate them.

I'm not a poetry maven, but recently found the poems of Mary Oliver. I really appreciate some of her poems.

I also like Emily Dickinson. Although, since my sister expressed reservations about reading her work, because it was published posthumously against her express wishes (which were that her writing be burned), I've felt guilty doing so as well. Sad

Would I buy a book of poetry? If it was good and I could appreciate it, then yes. That said, I'm not sure there's enough of a market to make this venture profitable.
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