What do you think?
Rate this book
Slowly
"I am very much interested in abstraction in language, in pushing language to the point that it becomes fact itself rather than some intermediary or condition."—Lyn Hejinian
Written between November 20, 2000, and September 24, 2001, SLOWLY explores a longer breath than Hejinian's previous poetry, and a more variable, percussive rhythm than her previous prose. The distinction between Sentences and Lines; that which pitches a work towards poetry or secures it within prose, is more difficult here than before, and whatever it is, it stops. It backs up and picks a new direction: "A pelican becomes a cloud, a cloud becomes / a wire, a wire binds Shostakovitch to the stained wall / of a small room becoming this in other words that / becoming my decision And how!"
Written between November 20, 2000, and September 24, 2001, SLOWLY explores a longer breath than Hejinian's previous poetry, and a more variable, percussive rhythm than her previous prose. The distinction between Sentences and Lines; that which pitches a work towards poetry or secures it within prose, is more difficult here than before, and whatever it is, it stops. It backs up and picks a new direction: "A pelican becomes a cloud, a cloud becomes / a wire, a wire binds Shostakovitch to the stained wall / of a small room becoming this in other words that / becoming my decision And how!"
- GenresPoetry
43 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2002
45 people want to read
About the author
Lyn Hejinian
95 books105 followersLyn Hejinian (born May 17, 1941) is an American poet, essayist, translator and publisher. She is often associated with the Language poets and is well known for her landmark work My Life (Sun & Moon, 1987, original version Burning Deck, 1980), as well as her book of essays, The Language of Inquiry (University of California Press, 2000).
(from Wikipedia)
(from Wikipedia)
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
January 22, 2023
'There carefully by water momentarily a painter paints light but it must be on something briefly
Light does not form to free us
Light emotionally drifting forms faintly
Light out of nowhere forms boldly
It falls—on your face or mine
On phrases between films
On dialogue in frames
Light is constructed in the way of things out of what and shadow out of what
Light darts shadows back deeply
But light and shadow are not things, they are furtively ways of things (things slightly)’ (p39)
Light does not form to free us
Light emotionally drifting forms faintly
Light out of nowhere forms boldly
It falls—on your face or mine
On phrases between films
On dialogue in frames
Light is constructed in the way of things out of what and shadow out of what
Light darts shadows back deeply
But light and shadow are not things, they are furtively ways of things (things slightly)’ (p39)
February 2, 2023
not super for me. there were lines and moments that had me, but as a whole it didn’t land as much as I wanted it to.
still thinking about the kissing lines
I think to imagine the word slowly being said very slowly in a slightly comical way. slowwwllyyyyy. slowwwly. slowly.
still thinking about the kissing lines
I think to imagine the word slowly being said very slowly in a slightly comical way. slowwwllyyyyy. slowwwly. slowly.
November 6, 2021
Very different from “My Life” …. where “My Life” is based on loosely constructed memories, “Slowly” is rooted in existing deliberately in the present moment, and this allows for Hejinian’s language to be more fully formed, less refracted. Very beautiful work!
January 24, 2023
This woman is a genius.
March 24, 2024
Abandon is not something to abandon
January 30, 2023
2.5/5, for class
would never pick this up on my own. time is weird.
“at that / sensing suddenly that we are spectators in the crowd… Now we are pedestrians wondering what to / become”
love the end a lot
would never pick this up on my own. time is weird.
“at that / sensing suddenly that we are spectators in the crowd… Now we are pedestrians wondering what to / become”
love the end a lot
December 31, 2022
Slowly is a 43 page poem (with section breaks) best read in a single sitting.
The book details aspects of the everyday routine, but the narration quickly turns philosophical about most observations or tasks. There's a playfulness with words here as well. I feel like the book left me with impressions about not only time and language, but pigeons and Beethoven as well. I'm not sure how much more I got beyond impressions, but I enjoyed my time reading.
The book details aspects of the everyday routine, but the narration quickly turns philosophical about most observations or tasks. There's a playfulness with words here as well. I feel like the book left me with impressions about not only time and language, but pigeons and Beethoven as well. I'm not sure how much more I got beyond impressions, but I enjoyed my time reading.
July 21, 2010
a completely different style than My Life, but not... a meditation on writing slowly.
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews