Things on Which I've Stumbled

by Peter Cole

Remarkable poetry by the widely acclaimed poet and translator of Hebrew and Arabic poetry. In Peter Cole's remarkable new book, the forces and sources that have long driven his work come together in singular fashion. Things on Which I've Stumbled rides a variable music that takes it from an archeology of mysterious poetic fragments unearthed in an ancient Egyptian synagogue to poignant political commentary on the blighted hills surrounding modern Jerusalem. Cole's vision of connectedness, his wit, and his grounded wisdom, along with his keen sense of literature's place in a meaningful life, render these poems at once fresh and abiding. Widely acclaimed for his translations from Hebrew and Arabic, Cole is also the author of two highly praised collections of poems. Writing in The New York Review of Books , Harold Bloom called Peter Cole "a major poet-translator." In Things on Which I've Stumbled , he turns to translating the world.

Genres: Poetry

96 pages, Paperback

First published September 23, 2008

About the author

Peter Cole has published several books of poems and many volumes of translations from Hebrew and Arabic, both medieval and modern. He has received numerous honors for his work, including a Guggenheim Fellowship and an American Academy of Arts and Letters Award in Literature, and in 2007 he was named a MacArthur Fellow.

Reviews

[Melissa Stacy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Published in 2008, the poetry collection, "Things on Which I've Stumbled," by Peter Cole, is definitely not light reading. These poems are challenging, and even with multiple readings, accompanied by the notes to help explain certain poems, I don't think I understood at least half of these pages.

Cole is a brilliant translator. I've read some of his works of translation.

I also had the honor of meeting him in person in 2009. Hearing him speak about history, politics, translation, poetry, and the current state of Israel is immensely rewarding. He's an amazing individual.

But this collection of poetry was a bit beyond me. Parts of certain poems had discernible meaning, but I was never sure if I understood particular poems as a whole.

Definitely recommended for poetry lovers.

Five stars.

[Peter · Rating 5 out of 5]

Not easy poetry but wonderful;. Moves easily from concepts to the concrete. Full of historical allusions to the old testament and of course to medieval poets whom he has translated. Definately not for the timid intellectually.

[T J · Rating 5 out of 5]

Poetry without pretension, written for the human mind and soul. Mystical, intellectual, real. There's even a love poem from Cole to Adina Hoffman.