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Classic and Contemporary Poetry
ILLUSTRIOUS ANCESTORS, by DENISE LEVERTOV Poem Explanation Poet Analysis Poet's Biography First Line: The rav Last Line: Would pause with his needle in the air Subject(s): Ancestors & Ancestry; Hasidism; Zalman, Shneur (1745-1813); Heritage; Heredity | |||
The Rav of Northern White Russia declined, in his youth, to learn the language of birds, because the extraneous did not interest him; nevertheless when he grew old it was found he understood them anyway, having listened well, and as it is said, 'prayed with the bench and the floor.' He used what was at hand -- as did Angel Jones of Mold, whose meditations were sewn into coats and britches. Well, I would like to make, thinking some line still taut between me and them, poems direct as what the birds said, hard as a floor, sound as a bench, mysterious as the silence when the tailor would pause with his needle in the air | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...CRESCENT MOON ON A CAT?ÇÖS COLLAR by JUAN FELIPE HERRERA DOCKERY AND SON by PHILIP LARKIN GENEALOGY OF FIRE by KHALED MATTAWA EAST OF CARTHAGE: AN IDYLL by KHALED MATTAWA FOR AL-TAYIB SALIH by KHALED MATTAWA HISTORY OF MY FACE by KHALED MATTAWA BEGINNING WITH 1914 by LISEL MUELLER AN AMERICAN POEM by EILEEN MYLES TO THE DIASPORA: YOU DID NOT KNOW YOU WERE AFRIKA by GWENDOLYN BROOKS THE FOUNTAIN by DENISE LEVERTOV |
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