Like a Bulwark: New Poems.

by Marianne Moore

book

Genres: Poetry

Hardcover

First published October 9, 1956

About the author

Marianne Craig Moore (November 15, 1887 – February 5, 1972) was an American Modernist poet, critic, translator, and editor. Her poetry is noted for formal innovation, precise diction, irony, and wit.

Reviews

[sigurd · Rating 4 out of 5]

in questo libro mi sono imbattuto in quella poesia di Marianne Moore- che forse voi già conoscete e io no - sul rosmarino, una spezia senza la quale non potrei vivere. Rosmarino deriva da ros marinus che sta per rugiada del mare; "germogliando da pietre lungo il mare", in antichità il rosmarino era associato al culto di Venere, dea che nacque infatti dal mare. in inglese prima divenne rosemarine, ma poi a causa dell'attrazione troppo forte tra le parole rose e mary, si trasformò in Rosemary (potenza delle parole e della loro magia). a comprovare il fatto che il rosmarino è in qualche modo legato alla madre di dio, c'è una leggenda spagnola. Secondo questa leggenda i suoi fiori, bianchi in origine, divennero azzurri quando la madonna, durante la fuga in Egitto, lasciò cadere il suo manto su un cespuglio di rosmarino. la pianta, inoltre, pare non superi mai l'altezza che il cristo aveva a trentatré anni. è una sorta di albero di natale.
sulle patate, è la morte sua.

http://youtu.be/c8c6BTVMP64

[Illiterate · Rating 3 out of 5]

Modernist nature poems and a few others. Top tip: Apparition of Splendor.

[Kelly · Rating 3 out of 5]

Totally worth it for the opening poem ("Like a Bulwark") and the closing poem ("Blessed is the Man") - some really interesting thoughts in both. You've also got to give Moore credit for comparing rosemary to "a kind of Christmas-tree" and two references to Dürer. Middle poems were mostly too obscure and Modernist to really bother with.

Memorable lines:
-"Hard pressed, you take the blame and are inviolate." (Like a Bulwark)
-"Foiled explosiveness is yet a kind of prophet" (Then the Ermine)
-"Be infallible at your peril, for your system will fail" (Tom Fool at Jamaica)
-"A commonplace: there's more than just one kind of grace." (The Sycamore)
-"...Love... illogically wove what logic can't unweave." (Logic and "The Magic Flute")
-"Blessed the geniuses who know that egomania is not a duty.
...
"Diversity, controversy; tolerance" - in that "citadel of learning" we have a fort that armor us well. Blessed is the man who "takes the risk of decision" asks himself the question: "Would it solve the problem? Is it right as I see it? Is it in the best interest of all?"
...
Blessed, the unaccommodating man.
...
Blessed the man whose faith is different than possessiveness...who will not visualize defeat, too intent to cower." (Blessed is the Man)

[Sarah · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very, very difficult to read. But the struggle is a bit rewarding.

[Brian · Rating 2 out of 5]

Completely unspectacular and I genuinely don’t know why I’m continuing to read through them all. What am I hoping to find? To learn? Maybe the next one will be my last.

[Michael P. · Rating 2 out of 5]

Yes, I know that Moore is one of the great modernist poets of the twentieth century. That is why I keep reading her book, which I do not like. I hope to "get" her someday.

[Emma Cam]

pg 190