Weathering: Poems and Translations

by Alastair Reid

Alastair Reid began publishing poetry in the New Yorker in 1951 and has since contributed reviews, translations, stories, and reportage as well. Having lived variously in Scotland, the United States, Spain, France, Greece, Switzerland, Central and South America, Reid has until recently called Magazine his only permanent address.Many of the poems in Weathering arise from Reid’s itinerant life. Chosen by the poet from previous books published on both sides of the Atlantic since the 1950s, they range from the windowed corridors of New York city to Isla Negra, Chile, where the poet sits 'with the Pacific between my toes.'

Whether lyric or narrative, whether moved by wit, irony, or humor, all Reid’s poems test the strength of language to ‘summon the moment when amazement ran through the senses like a flame’ and gauge the power of words to catch fire in an instant of realization. Including translations of poems by Pablo Neruda, Jorge Luis Borges, and Jose Emilio Pacheco, Weathering displays the diverse talents of the poet, the recurring preoccupations of the itinerant traveler, seeking to encompass the world with words.

Genres: Poetry

144 pages, Paperback

First published June 26, 1978

About the author

Alastair Reid was a Scottish poet, translator, essayist, and scholar of Latin American literature. He joined the staff of The New Yorker in 1959 and translated works by Pablo Neruda and Jorge Luis Borges. Although he was known for translations, his own poems gained notice during his lifetime. He had lived in Spain, Switzerland, Greece, Morocco, Argentina, Mexico, Chile, the Dominican Republic, and in the United States.

Among his many books for children are A Balloon for a Blunderbuss, I Keep Changing, and Millionaires (all illustrated by Bob Gill), and Supposing (illustrated by Abe Birnbaum). In 2008 he published two career-spanning collections of work, Inside Out: Selected Poetry and Translations and Outside In: Selected Prose.

Reviews

[Nathan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some of his poems were wonderfully descriptive. I especially liked:
'Oddments, Inklings, Omens, Moments'
'Directions for a Map'
'Chelsea Reach'
'New Hampshire'
'Weathering'
'Black Holes'
Last line of 'Visiting Lecturer' - "Home is where new words are still to come"
From 'The Academy' - "I remember the thin librarian's look of hate as we left book holes in her shelves, like missing teeth"
'The O-Filler' - MY FAVORITE - and I couldn't resist doing it to the 'o' in meticulous
'A Lesson in Handwriting'
'Horses' by Pablo Neruda
'Poem Written in a Copy of Beowulf' by Jorge Luis Borges
'To My Reader' by Jorge Luis Borges

[Mmars · Rating 5 out of 5]

Title/subtitle: Weathering: Poems and Translations. Weathering contains the poet's choices from To Lighten My House (1953), Oddments Inklings Omens Moments (1959), and Passwords (1964), some previously unpublished poems and in the final selections his translations of Borges, Neruda, and Pacheco. Copyright dates go through 1977 but it is unclear if that later dates are for poems or translations, though one poem is titled "1973". The book was published in 1978.

I am rating the book solely on Reid's poems. Weathering begins with reminiscent childhood wonder and journeys through life. Reid progresses from the emergence of questioning and segues to adulthood through metaphors of loss, then uses poems of place, from Scotland to Chile, to metaphor expansion of knowledge. The last three sections of Reid's poetry are wisdom expressed as only a poet can and should.

Nearly any poem in this collection would be accessible to young adults and a good jumping off point for writing classes. Good use of form, meter, etc. Used in this manner the translations would also be useful.

Reid even chose to segue into the translations with two of his own poems, "Translator to Poet," an ode to Neruda and "What Gets Lost/Lo Que Se Pierde" underscoring the difficulties of translations.