Songs Are Thoughts: Poems of the Inuit

by Neil Philip (Editor), Maryclare Foa (Illustrator)

The stark, powerful poetry of the Inuit was created out of the need to share individual joy or sorrow with others. Spare and bold, the poems in this selection-- the first for young readers-- speak straight to the heart.
For the Inuit, to make poetry is as natural as to breathe; indeed, the same word covers both activities. Poems are literally "sung out with the breath."
One poet told the explorer Knud Rasmussen, who collected many of the poems, "All songs are born to man out in the great wastes. Sometimes they come to us like weeping, deep from the pangs of the heart, sometimes like a playful laughter which springs from the joy that life and the wonderful expanses of the world around us provide."
In this selection, poems by Inuit men and women are accompanied by the expressive oil paintings of the artist Maryclare Foa. Like the poems themselves, her painting are at once direct and mysterious, as if they cloak some inner mystery.
As Piuvkaq, a poet of the Utkuhikjalik of Great Fish River, puts it:
A wonderful occupation
Making songs!
The poems in this book were largely collected by the Danish ethnologist Knud Rasmussen or his colleague, Peter Freuchen, in the course of the Fifth Thule Expedition of 1921-24, the most accessible account of which is in Rasmussen's Across Arctic America (1927, reprinted 1970).
Rasmussen's book and his expedition reports vividly portray many of the poets, including Aua and Uvavnik, a man and woman of the Iglulik people of Lyon Inlet; Orpingalik and Nakasuk of the Netsilingmiut; Igjugarjuk of Pâdlermiut; and other poets, named and anonymous, of the Inuit peoples of North America and Greenland.
The poems have been selected by folklorist Neil Philip, who also provides an introduction.

Genres: Poetry

25 pages, Hardcover

First published March 1, 1995

About the author

Neil Philip is a writer, folklorist and poet. He is married to the artist Emma Bradford, and lives in the Cotswolds, England. Neil loves words, poetry, and the art of storytelling in all its forms. Among his many books are A Fine Anger, Victorian Village Life, The Cinderella Story, The Penguin Book of English Folktales, Mythology (with Philip Wilkinson), The Great Mystery, War and the Pity of War, The New Oxford Book of Childrens Verse, The Tale of Sir Gawain, Horse Hooves & Chicken Feet, and The Adventures of Odysseus. Neil has contributed to numerous journals, including The Times, and Signal: Approaches to Childrens Books, and has also written for stage, screen, and radio. His work has won numerous awards and honours, including the Aesop Award of the American Folklore Society and the Literary Criticism Book Award of the Childrens Literature Association. Outside of the storied world, Neil is passionate about cats, art, music, France, food & wine, and friendship.

Reviews

[Sabrina Henry · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is filled with great poems that are to be sung instead of read. One great thing about it too is that you can add your own music, rhythm, or pace to the words. THe poems are short and simple. My favorite poem in thsi book is: Words.

The illustrations were different for each poem and were just plain and simple. This book can used to teach children vocabulary, improve their phonemic awareness and get them to enjoy movement through poetry.

[Linda Rusche · Rating 4 out of 5]

The art is lovely. Learning about my heritage and enjoyed the book of poem songs.

[Crystal M · Rating 4 out of 5]

Well this was nice! I didn’t really care for the illustrations, but its fun to read poetry from unfamiliar cultures.

[Danielle · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm using this as a place holder for my reread of The Blue Castle, which I already read this year.