Let Us Compare Mythologies

by Leonard Cohen

Published in 1956 to immediate acclaim, Leonard Cohen’s first published book contains poems written between the ages of fifteen and twenty. Now new generations of readers will rediscover not only the early, though no less accomplished and passionate, work of one of our most beloved writers, but poetry that resonates loudly with relevance today.

Genres: Poetry, Canada, Music, Fiction, Mythology, Canadian Literature, Classics

80 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1956

About the author

Leonard Norman Cohen was a Canadian singer-songwriter, poet and novelist. Cohen published his first book of poetry in Montreal in 1956 and his first novel in 1963.

Cohen's earliest songs (many of which appeared on the 1968 album Songs of Leonard Cohen) were rooted in European folk music melodies and instrumentation, sung in a high baritone. The 1970s were a musically restless period in which his influences broadened to encompass pop, cabaret, and world music. Since the 1980s he has typically sung in lower registers (bass baritone, sometimes bass), with accompaniment from electronic synthesizers and female backing singers.

His work often explores the themes of religion, isolation, sexuality, and complex interpersonal relationships.

Cohen's songs and poetry have influenced many other singer-songwriters, and more than a thousand renditions of his work have been recorded. He has been inducted into the Canadian Music Hall of Fame and the Canadian Songwriters Hall of Fame and is also a Companion of the Order of Canada, the nation's highest civilian honour. Cohen was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame on March 10, 2008 for his status among the "highest and most influential echelon of songwriters".

Reviews

[Tony Vacation · Rating 3 out of 5]

Let Us Compare Mythologies is definitely the work of a young man. Published when he was only 22 – that’s twelve years before the release of his first LP of moody and emotionally battering tunes, Songs of Leonard Cohen - Cohen tries to inhabit the voice of the weary prophet who has abandoned the world so that he may better brood over all his losses in love. Every one of these poems comes armed with biblical imagery (plucked from Judaism and Christianity), references to Homer, quaint notions of Eastern mysticism, and enough allusions of antiquity to fill a Grecian urn. The result is pleasant enough, but one too many of these poems relies on trips to the river with women of the “they will only leave you” variety, as well as mentions of grass and shards from the True Cross. Cohen is also writing fully in the “poems are meant to be abstract and ungrammatical” school of thought, which is a style that makes my poor narrative-oriented brain go, Ouch! But Cohen does prove himself to be competently literate about his posey, and even though the wizened-old-man shtick wears thin, a handful of these poems have that magic you’ll find in his songs, those sobering moments of lucidity that make you want to tell the bartender to go ahead and pour you another stiff one.

[Janet · Rating 3 out of 5]

This first book of poetry by Leonard Cohen presents us, sadly, with the melancholy, the intellectual trappings and the world-weariness of the 22 year old poet without the earthier and more personal expression of vulnerability, sensuality and desire which will mark the work to come. The undigested religious imagery and self-conscious sense of tragedy fit him poorly, like a borrowed coat. Worth reading for background, the soil in the process of composting, out of which a richer art will emerge in the next years.

[pj · Rating 5 out of 5]

he just gets it, man

[Abigail Marshall · Rating 4 out of 5]

In the style of most men and poets, there are passages that make me want to put my hands on my hips and mutter, 'Touch grass, laddie'; at other times he writes something so well it's like he's unspooling a knot of my vague impression into ribbon.

[saturne ۶ৎ · Rating 5 out of 5]

── ᨳଓ Let Us Compare Mythologies by Leonard Cohen.
Started: 30.07.2026.
Finished: 31.08.2026.

[DW · Rating 4 out of 5]

My Highlights: Song of Patience, These Heroics, Song, Had we Nothing to Prove, On Certain Incredible Nights, and Story.

[TaraReadsBooks · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some poems hit, others didn’t. More classically structured than most poetry I read, but it was cool to see the influence of songwriting in some of these poems.

[Elvira Pomar · Rating 4 out of 5]

que livro irresistível, hei de voltar cá muitas vezes. poesia quente e espiritual, daquela tão diferente da francesa mas que sabe igualmente bem ler.
boa prenda, manhã bem passada 🫀

[Ben Oldham · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this a month or two ago but forgot to log it. This collection is magnificent. Even in his teens and into university (when he wrote this collection), Leonard Cohen has an incredible depth of perspective into the world that is, in my mind, the only real criteria to be a poet.

I recently saw an original print edition of this book going for $10,000 at an antique book fair.

[🌶 peppersocks 🧦 · Rating 4 out of 5]

Reflections and lessons learned:
“And I know your dreams
of crumbling cities and galloping horses
of the sun coming too close
and the night never ending
but these mean nothing to me
beside your body”

Originally bought as a gift for a friend, a parent on a weekend away enjoying being an adult and individual again, but instead I greedily consumed on a train journey home. He’s still a saucy minx is mr cohen, and I can completely see the Cave lyrical echoes

[Hanneleele]

Alati on kuidagi imelik, kui mul pole raamatut siin kusagile paigutada. Kas ma vajan üldise luule sahtlit? Ma ei oska selle kohta midagi öelda: see on Coheni esimene luulekogu ajast kui ta oli 22 või umbes nii ning hiljem on ta sõnaseadmises osavam, aga paha pole ka. Kui siin on midagi diipi (ma ütleksin, et on vähemalt nooruslikku diibi-püüdlust), siis see kindlasti libiseb mul sõrmede vahelt läbi nagunii.

Palju religioosseid teemasid, täpselt nagu Cohenist ootakski, mis tekitab mus ikka tunde, et ma ei mäleta piisavalt piiblilugusid. Miski tekitas mus hiljuti veel sellist tunnet. Igatahes, see on üsna püsiv tunne, sest ma tõesti ei mäleta neid eriti, aga nad poevad igale poole sisse. Ma mäletan, et tahtsin keskkoolis Vana Testamenti korralikult otsast lõpuni läbi lugeda (no inimeste nimekirjad jms vahele jättes, ega ma "Iliases" ka laevade nimekirja loe), aga pidin alla andma, sest meie kodus leidus ainult Uus Testament ja sinnapaika see jäigi. Nii on alati veider lugeda tekste, mis on kahekõnes piiblilugudega, sest ma olen alati ebamääraselt kindel, et see peab olema viide millelegi (ma veidi mäletan Taaveteid ja Joosepeid ja Jaakobeid ja lõvisid ja värvilisi kuubesid ja asju - lugesin lapsena ümberjutustatud piiblilugusid hästi palju kordi nagu meeldivaid muinasjutte ikka), aga ma ei ole kunagi päris kindel, millele ja et mis see mulle ütlema peaks. Eriti et inglise keeles on veel kõigil isikutel teised nimed ja need kuidagi ei paigutu mu peas samadesse mustritesse: on ikka vaks vahet, kas mõelda Taavetist või Davidist...

Igatahes, ma siis tunnistan oma lugematust ja teadmatust säärase tüviteksti nüanssidest, ehk ma ühel päeval parandan seda viga. Enamasti pole mul halli aimugi, mida Cohen öelda püüab, või kas ta midagi öelda püüab. And it's fine.

[Judy Croome · Rating 3 out of 5]

The seeds of Cohen’s greatness as a songwriter are clear in these poems, but there was a dissonance in them. The imagery & rhythm was beautiful, but poetic voice was too intellectually cynical, rather than being an emotional expression of a lived experience. The experiences from which Cohen wrote these poems were the collective religious and other mythologies of different peoples; there were some incandescent lines and images describing these. Unfortunately, overall, the poems - as lyrical as they were - lacked cohesion.

Poems that stood out for me:

Lovers
The Warrior Boats
Letter
Twilight
On Certain Incredible Nights

[Ffiamma · Rating 3 out of 5]

questi versi eroici
"se avessi una testa scintillante
e la gente si voltasse a guardarmi
nei tram;
se potessi distendere il mio corpo
nell'acqua limpida
e nuotare a fianco dei pesci e dei serpenti marini;
se potessi rovinarmi le piume
volando davanti al sole;
credi che me ne rimarrei in questa stanza,
a recitarti poesie,
e a fare sogni sconci
al più insignificante movimento della tua bocca?"

[Allen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Young, lustful, shining with wisdom but lacking the sorrowful regret old age brings, the poems are a beautiful collection of a young creative artist engaging in life. Some of them punched me in the gut hard - for which, I was thankful.

[Tom Walsh · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting Early Work Prefigures his Future Writing.

While this is the work of an poet finding his themes, his language and his wings, it is worth reading for his imagery and his questions. Not great poetry but I’m glad I heard his words.

[Best · Rating 4 out of 5]

Refreshing read interspersed with lines of striking brilliance

[Nolan Cooper · Rating 5 out of 5]

This compilation nails your betrayed flesh to a crucifix, and perpetuates the ever-present sense of longing that “embroiders the throat.” It abandons you again and again. It beheads you like an ancient, defeated general of some forgotten empire. It slaughters your lovers with its men of war, who burn and plunder your home. It conceals you in Hydra, recounts your divine loneliness, and takes that divinity away from love, frightfully humanizing that which was holy. It foresees every brutish punishment that the pogroms of the world will inflict upon you, and then that pogrom stones you for your perceived apostasy.

Impersonally carving out that perverted, idealist romance from your side, Leonard’s first published collection of poems crumbles the structures of your life into an ancient ruin.

I was the wall of Jericho, and the Israelites, blessed by His right hand, have trumpeted at my collapse by G-d’s left hand. It must have been a sin to be born a Canaanite, and I shall not forget, thank you Leonard.

[ск · Rating 5 out of 5]

only as a 22 year old can you be so preciously preoccupied with beauty and ugliness, with religion and with myth, with great and small men, with the good and the bad, with destruction and creation and with war and with peace, with obsession and tranquility, with nature and with bustle, with the body, down to the decay of its flesh.


“May soft birds
soft as a story to her eyes
protect her face from my enemies and vicious birds whose sharp wings
were forged in metal oceans
guard her room
from my assassins

And night deal gently with her
high stars maintain the whiteness
of her uncovered flesh
And may my bronze name
touch always her thousand fingers
grow brighter with her weeping
until I am fixed like a galaxy
and memorized
in her secret and fragile skies.”

[Veronica · Rating 5 out of 5]

A wonderful insight into young Leonard's mind. Most of what I've read from him before is from the 60s at earliest, when he was already in his thirties, so it was fascinating to read what he wrote at 22. There are some clear themes that stayed consistent in his writing through his life. While he still had a lot of maturing to do as a writer, his poems are beautiful and poignant and just as intelligent as some of his best work.

[Mikaela Collins · Rating 1 out of 5]

To say nothing of the man later in life, this is the most purposefully obtuse college boy poetry I've ever had the misfortune of seeing published in a solo volume. Written by someone who doesn't yet realize that women are people and can be alluded to using imagery other than legs. The only good thing about this book is that his following works are allegedly better.

[André · Rating 5 out of 5]

As the cover suggests, this book is about Cohen's relationship woth his Jewish ancestry and History. He uses metaphor and imagery in a way that makes the reader wonder about the deeper meanings of each poem.

[Erin Estes · Rating 4 out of 5]

wdym he wrote all these a teenager! tony stark was able to build this in a cave with a box of scraps type beat
like sometimes you can sorta tell, but at the end of the day i dont know of any teenagers who are sayin stuff like when young the christians told me how we pinned Jesus like a lovely butterfly against the wood

[Charlotte · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.75

[claire · Rating 4 out of 5]

poems about the crucifixion or sex, sometimes both. brilliant.

[Max van Tongeren · Rating 2 out of 5]

I love Leonard Cohen. But this set of poems does not approach the depth and quality of the lyrics he wrote for his music.

[Dani Quinteiro · Rating 4 out of 5]

some hit, some miss
still worth a read if you like leonard cohens work, this was his first book of poems, he was 22yo i think

[Darcy Blaik · Rating 4 out of 5]

Young Lenny, cheeky bugger

[Sophia Eck · Rating 4 out of 5]

Kinda crazy he wrote these at 22

[Cathryn · Rating 2 out of 5]

Impressed that he wrote these between the ages of 15-20 but I didn't like many of the poems in this book.

[Sampsa · Rating 2 out of 5]

Sattumalta kirjastosta poimimani Leonard Cohenin ensimmäinen runokokoelma tuntuu 1950-luvun painolastin vuoksi yksinkertaiselta, kristilliseltä ja nuoren runoilijan raskaalla juutalaisella paatoksella ladatulta. Sen modernistinen symboliikka ja sävy ovat monin paikoin rumasti ikääntyneet. Kokoelma on enemmän dokumentti runoilijan etsikkovaiheesta, portfolio eikä elävä runoteos.