May 3, 2011

"The Wild Swans at Coole" and "Song of the Wandering Aengus" by W.B. Yeats (poetry reading)

"The Wild Swans at Coole" is okay, though not my favorite Yeats.  However, I think this reading of it is perfect, a comment you don't often hear from Banjo-grouch (see my extended complaints here last October 15 & 19, February 19-20) about the mosh pit of poetry readings and the Hollywoodizing groupie-grope poet-hugging that abounds therein (should there be a comma in there somewhere?).

Also, I just happen to have a swan shot or two.  

YouTube - "The Wild Swans at Coole" by W.B. Yeats (poetry reading)



 




Notice this elegant pair, who think they are somebody, swimming in mud, more or less, and pretending to be too symmetrical and lofty to care about food, while in the foreground three mallards manically bob for minnows, octopi, or corndog leavings.



Actually, I was misremembering. I was thinking of a Canada Goose in a setting I like. But you can have him too if you'll admit to liking "Song of Wandering Aengus" just a little. Last time this came up (November 28, 2010), only one of you rose to the occasion. (Do you know who you are?).

"Aengus" is an early (1899) Yeats poem that draws little enthusiasm from serious scholars or those readers of Banjo52 who are full of gravitas. I admit it's a bit sappy and perhaps too reliant on Gaelic mythology, but I like it anyway. Here is the same guy reading; maybe his presentation will sell the poem. That can happen.

YouTube - "The Song of the Wandering Aengus" by W.B. Yeats (poetry reading)

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6 comments:

Pasadena Adjacent said...

I think it was AH (she's a fan of Yeats; me thinks) <--- Shakespeare.

If you become admired by the many then your bound to attract a following. Human nature...and yes, I liked the fellow doing the reading. Regrets/egrets; yeah, why not?

Anonymous said...

Dat him? Yes, I liked the reading, and the poem was nice and soothing. Particularly like your photo of the aristocratic swans and the ducky riff-raff.

Of poets who read their own work, I may like Dylan Thomas the best. But then I grew up listening to his Christmas piece.

Brenda's Arizona said...

Of poets who read their own work, Arlo Guthrie is my favorite with his Alice's Restaurant.
OK.
This is poem/reading/reader was something. Not a bit Yeats fan, but I could learn...

And the goose/geese. Big fan.

Ken Mac said...

a life of bliss

Banjo52 said...

PA, your Elizabethan English is superb. And you're right about mob mentality, but you know I'm enough of a traditionalist to say Yeats and some others deserve it.

AH, thanks. And yes, why not Dylan Thomas. He and T.S. Eliot reading T.S. Eliot remind me a little of each other--a little chant-y, but maybe not quite over the top?

Brenda, I'll take your word for on Arlo. Since we've established that I speak Bird, I pass on the goose's thanks.

Ken, sure looks like it. But then why do they get so cranky? I know, I know, the nest or the troop of munchkins waddling along behind them.

Jean Spitzer said...

Thanks for the swans and geese.

The second poem has a children's fairytale lilt. I can see why the more serious of your followers are underwhelmed.

Lovers' Lane