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Selected Poems, 1956-1968
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.
245 pages, Paperback
First published June 1, 1968
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1513 people want to read
About the author
Leonard Cohen
225 books2,112 followersLeonard 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".
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".
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 91 reviews
December 20, 2019
I've read a lot of poetry in the last year or so, maybe even more than all the other years put together. My poetry binge, which has gone on for months, had to end somewhere, and if this selection of Cohen poems is the last book of poetry I read in 2019 then I've most definitely gone out on a high!
lyrical, emotive, with strong social and religious overtones, this book is made up of a selection of poems from the volumes 'Let Us Compare Mythologies' (1956), 'The Spice-Box of Earth' (1961), 'Flowers for Hitler' (1964), 'Parasites of Heaven' (1966), plus a collection of twenty-three newly written songs and verses. With his flowing lines and sensory images, all I can say is that the guy was a genius. He certainly stirred something in me.
lyrical, emotive, with strong social and religious overtones, this book is made up of a selection of poems from the volumes 'Let Us Compare Mythologies' (1956), 'The Spice-Box of Earth' (1961), 'Flowers for Hitler' (1964), 'Parasites of Heaven' (1966), plus a collection of twenty-three newly written songs and verses. With his flowing lines and sensory images, all I can say is that the guy was a genius. He certainly stirred something in me.
October 27, 2016
Absolutely beautiful. I find this is Cohen at his best - in his poetry. Brilliant rhythms, cutting lines and a sense of all-encompassing raw feeling is what you see in all of his poems. This is poetry for the soul.
July 4, 2023
it should be read quietly, under one's breath, like a prayer to the lord of song
November 15, 2016
RIP Leonard. A favorite poem from this collection was For Wilf and His House. In college I tediously clipped letters from newspapers and made a giant ransom note of this poem. The process gave me deeper insight into the meaning and having the poem as a wall hanging gave me several years to integrate the language into my being.
January 17, 2022
Poems 1956 - 1968 contains poems from Let Us Compare Mythologies, The Spice-Box of Earth, Flowers for Hitler, and Parasites of Heaven, along with a selection of New Poems.
From Let Us Compare Mythologies ...
From The Spice Box of Earth ...
From Flowers for Hitler ...
From Parasites of Heaven ...
From New Poems...
From Let Us Compare Mythologies ...
If I had a shining head
and people turned to stare at me
in the streetcars;
and I could stretch my body
through the bright water
and keep abreast of fish and water snakes;
if I could ruin my feathers
in flight before the sun;
do you think that I would remain in this room,
reciting poems to you,
and making outrageous dreams
with the smallest movements of your mouth?- These Heroics, pg. 8
* * *
I heard of a man
who says words so beautifully
that if he only speaks their name
women give themselves to him.
If I am dumb beside your body
while silence blossoms like tumors on our lips
it is because I hear a man climb stairs
and clear his throat outside our door.- Poem, pg. 16
From The Spice Box of Earth ...
A kite is a victim you are sure of.
You love it because it pulls
gentle enough to call you master,
strong enough to call you fool;
because it lives
like a desperate trained falcon
in the high sweet air,
and you can always haul it down
to tame it in your drawer.
A kite is a fish you have already caught
in a pool where no fish come,
so you play him carefully and long,
and hope he won't give up,
or the wind die down.
A kite is the last poem you've written,
so you five it to the wind,
but you don't let it go
until someone finds you
something else to do.
A kite is a contract of glory
that must be made with the sun,
so you make friends with the field
the river and the wind,
then you pray the whole cold night before,
under the travelling cordless moon,
to make you worthy and lyric and pure.- A Kite Is A Victim, pg. 21
* * *
When you kneel below me
and in both your hands
hold my manhood like a sceptre,
When you wrap your tongue
about the amber jewel
and urge the blessing,
I understand those Roman girls
who dances around a shaft of stone
and kissed it till the stone was warm.
Kneel, love, a thousand feet below me,
so far I can barely see your mouth and hands
perform the ceremony,
Kneel till I topple to your back
with a groan, like those gods on the roof
that Samson pulled down.- Celebration, pg. 36
From Flowers for Hitler ...
I do not know if the world had lied
I have lied
I do not know i the world has conspired against love
I have conspired against love
The atmosphere of torture is no comfort
I have tortured
Even without the mushroom cloud
still I would have hated
Listen
I would have done the same things
even if there were no death
I will not be held like a drunkard
under the cold tap of facts
I refuse the universal alibi
Like an empty telephone booth passed at night
and remembered
like mirrors in a movie palace lobby consulted
only on the way out
like a nymphomaniac who binds a thousand
into strange brotherhood
I wait
for each one of your to confess- What I'm Doing Here, pg. 43
* * *
The pain-monger came home
from a hard day's torture.
He came home with his tongs.
He put down his black bag.
His wife hit him with an open nerve
and a cry the trade never heard.
He watched her real-life Dachau,
knew his career was ruined.
Was there anything else to do?
He sold his bag and tongs,
went to pieces. A man got to be able
to bring his wife something.- The Failure of a Secular Life, pg. 53
From Parasites of Heaven ...
Snow is falling.
There is a nude in my room.
She surveys the wine-coloured carpet.
She is eighteen.
She has straight hair.
She speaks no Montreal language.
She doesn't feel like sitting down.
She shows no gooseflesh.
We can hear the storm.
She is lighting a cigarette
from the gas range.
She hold back her long hair.- Snow Is Falling, pg. 75
* * *
This morning I was dressed by the wind.
The sky said, close your eyes and run
this happy face into a sundrift.
The forest said, never mind, I am as old
as an emerald, walk into me gossiping.
The village said, I am perfect and intricate,
would you like to start right away?
My darling said, I am washing my hair in the water
we caught last year, it tasted of stone.
This morning I was dressed by the wind,
it was the middle of September in 1965.- This Morning I Was Dressed by the Wind, pg. 80
From New Poems...
The reason I write
is to make something
as beautiful as you are
When I'm with you
I want to be the kind of hero
I wanted to be
when I was seven years old
a perfect man
who kills- The Reason I Write, pg. 86
* * *
Do not forget old friends
you knew long before I met you
the times I know nothing about
being someone
who lives by himself
and only visits you on a raid- Do Not Forget Old Friends, pg. 91
June 20, 2018
Thank God it's over. I only finished this out of guilt because he had to go and die on me as I was reading it.
It wasn't good.
I mean, you like breasts, I get it. I like breasts too. At a certain point you tried to insult your audience. But no, I didn't find that thought interesting. In fact, your poetry pretty much sucks.
I still like Suzanne and will never stray from that. Most likely. It's a good song (and Judy Collins performs it well). But geez, get a grip, your various lovers aren't that interesting.
It wasn't good.
I mean, you like breasts, I get it. I like breasts too. At a certain point you tried to insult your audience. But no, I didn't find that thought interesting. In fact, your poetry pretty much sucks.
I still like Suzanne and will never stray from that. Most likely. It's a good song (and Judy Collins performs it well). But geez, get a grip, your various lovers aren't that interesting.
October 2, 2015
I am more a fan of Cohen the songwriter than I am of Cohen the poet, and this collection did not change my mind. The offerings are uneven, some bordering on the narcissistic and others somewhat overladen with biblical imagery, mostly Judaic, though some Christian as well, but on occasion Cohen the moral prophet gives way to Cohen the compassionate chronicler, and that is when he is at his best.
Read
December 31, 2019No stars, probably my fault, it took me quite long to read this short book, I still think I didn't understand much, although I read twice most (if not all) of the poems. So I tried.
Also there's no reason for me to give up reading poetry, since I do discover at times ”stuff that speaks to me”. Let's see the next one.
Also there's no reason for me to give up reading poetry, since I do discover at times ”stuff that speaks to me”. Let's see the next one.
July 25, 2018
What a great collection. I'm a big fan of The Spice-Box of Earth, especially.
June 13, 2017
Shortly before his death, I discovered some donated books of Cohen's poetry at the library. I placed them in my bag, took them home with me, and leafed through both volumes. Spurred by the loss of this influential artist, I began working my way through 'Selected Poems.' In spite of the length of most of the work, there is nothing brief about this collection. Owning the text, I was able to take my time with it. Process and pinpoint what it was I needed to take away from each verse that struck within me something penetratingly deep and divine. I found myself wishing for a better understanding of Cohen's spiritual foundations with each reference to Judaism and Catholicism. Recommended reading for those interested in freestyle, for those in the midst of lust, and for those yearning for intimate and erotic words on the page.
Some favourites, including but not limited to, and in no particular order: Pagans, Credo, Destiny, I Had It For a Moment, Three Good Nights, As the Mist Leaves No Scar, Beneath My Hands, Owning Everything, One Night I Burned the House I Loved, and, I've Seen Some Lonely History.
Some favourites, including but not limited to, and in no particular order: Pagans, Credo, Destiny, I Had It For a Moment, Three Good Nights, As the Mist Leaves No Scar, Beneath My Hands, Owning Everything, One Night I Burned the House I Loved, and, I've Seen Some Lonely History.
February 15, 2021
A lot of incredible poems in this collection. A handful of clunkers as well. This was my first dive in his pre-music poetry and I found it rather enlightening. Reads easy, but like I said, some of those clunkers really drag it down. Hence the 3 star rating. But Leonard Cohen will always be an unrivaled master of the written word.
November 7, 2022
After having read Sappho’s works earlier in the year, I became really intrigued by poetry again and bought this book as a guide into writing. Cohen talks so magnificently of the human experience, the Jewish experience, and the pain of a faulty love. He made me laugh and made me sigh at the immense connection that I felt myself making to many of his poems. He is a one of a kind writer and artist and I made the correct choice in using his work side by side with my own to help me find my own voice. Hope to read more of his stuff in the future.
July 21, 2024
Wow! What a talent. I have never read poetry like it.
June 10, 2025
greatest of all time
December 19, 2016
I found my place in the chain.
Even damnation is poisoned with rainbows
2.5/ 5, които обаче вдигам на три звезди- заради необичайната зрялост и адекватност на стиховете спрямо крехката възраст, в която са били писани. Интересно ми е какъв Cohen ще видя в следващите стихосбирки.
Even damnation is poisoned with rainbows
2.5/ 5, които обаче вдигам на три звезди- заради необичайната зрялост и адекватност на стиховете спрямо крехката възраст, в която са били писани. Интересно ми е какъв Cohen ще видя в следващите стихосбирки.
February 3, 2015
In short: I feel like even Cohen's less-engaging poems have a voice that's easy to enjoy and contain enough personal emotion and address that reading them is enjoyable. When he strikes past some of his meandering musings and obscurity, and hits you with a piercing truth about the way the world and the heart works—those are the moments I find to be most worthwhile.
There weren't many poems in this book I didn't like; I enjoyed most, and was floored by a few. None of them were difficult to read, and overall I think the mix between biblical mysticism and old-man-babbling works very well, for the most part. Not awe-inspiring, but very close in some parts.
There weren't many poems in this book I didn't like; I enjoyed most, and was floored by a few. None of them were difficult to read, and overall I think the mix between biblical mysticism and old-man-babbling works very well, for the most part. Not awe-inspiring, but very close in some parts.
June 27, 2008
My ex-boyfriend bought me this in a little used bookshop in Minneapolis because he knew I love Leonard Cohen. My copy looks just as yellow and battered as the cover shown here and has many dog-eared folded pages where my favorites of his poems live. Because of that night, I always associate it with rainy city streets and crowded bookshelves and the smell of a damp wool coat.
November 27, 2016
Strange and lovely. Sometimes they're transcendent and sometimes they're just weird. (I found myself occasionally rolling my eyes at Leonard's young man angst. But only because I know what it means to be young and dramatic and attach too much meaning to things.) Beautiful girls and biblical references and cigarettes and rooms.
May 12, 2012
I still have my mother's copy from the 60s when she started reading it in "art school". I've read it many times, and used some of the poems for dramatic readings in high school -- well, some teachers weren't impressed, but I was.
March 30, 2020
Dark, passionate, weird and compelling
November 24, 2016
Leonard Cohen died earlier this month; which reminded me that he had, like Bob Dylan whom I've been reading since he won the Nobel Prize, been one of my favorite singers when I was in high school back in the 1960's. I can still remember fifty years later the night I first heard "Suzanne" on the album station from Hartford and was totally blown away. By good luck, I discovered these two books (this and The Spice-Box of Earth while unpacking my book boxes in my garage this week (I'm still looking for his novel Beautiful Losers which I know is in one of the yet to be unpacked boxes).
Like Dylan, Cohen is best known for his surrealistic song lyrics, but unlike Dylan, he was an accomplished poet before taking up music and much of his poetry was not intended to be sung. The Selected Poems contains selections from his first four books of poetry, Let Us Compare Mythologies (1956), The Spice-Box of Earth (1961), Flowers for Hitler (1964), and Parasites of Heaven (1966), as well as a few previously uncollected poems from the years 1966-1968. Since I read the whole of The Spice-Box of Earth, there was a certain amount of overlap. There is a good deal of religious imagery (mainly Jewish at this point -- he later passed through Christianity and Scientology, and became a Buddhist monk), and some political poems, but the majority of the poetry is love and relationship poetry (again much like Dylan, except that the religion is less dogmatic and the break-ups less vicious.) I'd say the two middle collections are the best; the final book is mostly "prose poems" and more obscure.
Like Dylan, Cohen is best known for his surrealistic song lyrics, but unlike Dylan, he was an accomplished poet before taking up music and much of his poetry was not intended to be sung. The Selected Poems contains selections from his first four books of poetry, Let Us Compare Mythologies (1956), The Spice-Box of Earth (1961), Flowers for Hitler (1964), and Parasites of Heaven (1966), as well as a few previously uncollected poems from the years 1966-1968. Since I read the whole of The Spice-Box of Earth, there was a certain amount of overlap. There is a good deal of religious imagery (mainly Jewish at this point -- he later passed through Christianity and Scientology, and became a Buddhist monk), and some political poems, but the majority of the poetry is love and relationship poetry (again much like Dylan, except that the religion is less dogmatic and the break-ups less vicious.) I'd say the two middle collections are the best; the final book is mostly "prose poems" and more obscure.
March 8, 2023
Years ago I picked this book off my mother's shelf of books she had since high school or college; I'm glad I finally got around to going through it. For the most part, I enjoy mid-twentieth century poetry. There is a sense of restlessness as well as a deep sadness that seems to run as a cultural undercurrent in a lot of what I have read of this time; Cohen fits into that same sense here. He uses a whole lot of religious imagery, which is not really my cup of tea but it remains mostly accessible. He crafts sparsely worded images that just cut with their power. And, although I don't know much of his music, it is fun to see what would later become song lyrics at this stage of their creation; for instance, an early version of "Avalanche" is included here.
My one drawback is that he is writing from a comfortable place of heteronormativity, and although he was well a part of the counterculture of his time, the pervading straightness of his writing about women is off-putting to me. Leonard I promise you it is possible to write a poem about a woman without mentioning her breasts, but I am not sure you tried.
My one drawback is that he is writing from a comfortable place of heteronormativity, and although he was well a part of the counterculture of his time, the pervading straightness of his writing about women is off-putting to me. Leonard I promise you it is possible to write a poem about a woman without mentioning her breasts, but I am not sure you tried.
January 11, 2019
ABD için ileri seviyede bir sanatçı, şarkıcı ve yazar. Nitelikleri ile güzel ürünler üretmiş birisi.
1956-1968 arasında yazdığı, isyankar bir o kadar da arayış içindeki şiirleri içeren bir kitap olmuş.
Aklıma takılan o güzel şiiri de paylaşmak istiyorum:
SİNEK
Freia'nın uyuyan kalçaları üstünden geziniyordu
Siyah zırhına bürünmüş sinek
Metelik vermiyordu Freia'nın
Onun kovalamak için yaptığı
El hareketlerine
Tüm günümü mahvetti bu
Onu etkilemeyi ya da sevindirmeyi
Hiç mi hiç düşünmeyen bir sineğin
Titreyen dizlerimi koyabilmek için
Canımı çıkardığım
O bölgede korkusuzca gezinmesi...
L.Cohen
Aslında şiirinde çok gerçekçi bir anın betimlemesini, iç dünyasıyla savaşarak anlatmasının getirdiği gerçekçilik durumu hakim. Kitabın içindeki şiirler de genellikle kendisi ve iç dünyasının çatışması arasında gidip geliyor. Dünyada yaşamak zorunda olduğu "benlik" ile olmak istediği "benlik" arasındaki uçurum konusundaki tartışmalar üzerine.
Tabi bu kadar bahsetmişken bir de şarkısını paylaşmaz isek olmaz: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=46cSk...
1956-1968 arasında yazdığı, isyankar bir o kadar da arayış içindeki şiirleri içeren bir kitap olmuş.
Aklıma takılan o güzel şiiri de paylaşmak istiyorum:
SİNEK
Freia'nın uyuyan kalçaları üstünden geziniyordu
Siyah zırhına bürünmüş sinek
Metelik vermiyordu Freia'nın
Onun kovalamak için yaptığı
El hareketlerine
Tüm günümü mahvetti bu
Onu etkilemeyi ya da sevindirmeyi
Hiç mi hiç düşünmeyen bir sineğin
Titreyen dizlerimi koyabilmek için
Canımı çıkardığım
O bölgede korkusuzca gezinmesi...
L.Cohen
Aslında şiirinde çok gerçekçi bir anın betimlemesini, iç dünyasıyla savaşarak anlatmasının getirdiği gerçekçilik durumu hakim. Kitabın içindeki şiirler de genellikle kendisi ve iç dünyasının çatışması arasında gidip geliyor. Dünyada yaşamak zorunda olduğu "benlik" ile olmak istediği "benlik" arasındaki uçurum konusundaki tartışmalar üzerine.
Tabi bu kadar bahsetmişken bir de şarkısını paylaşmaz isek olmaz: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=46cSk...
September 3, 2020
I've been a fan of Cohen's music for a long time. How he blends stark lyricism with flamenco guitar and a relaxed baritone. Yet I'd never encountered his poems until this came thru order on the local library. My copy was from 1969 and beautiful and worn and just a little bit yellow but in good shape.
The lyrics and poems here are well crafted with an emphasis on eros and transgression, as in Cohen's songs. What makes these so enjoyable is the ability too slow and see them on the page. Furthermore he adds details both ghostly and humorous to the poems. He could be writing about women he's known or he could be writing about ghost towns. The poems are more focused than expected but like a good poem they end somewhere besides their starting place. The king of orphic lyricism exhibited here in full glory.
The lyrics and poems here are well crafted with an emphasis on eros and transgression, as in Cohen's songs. What makes these so enjoyable is the ability too slow and see them on the page. Furthermore he adds details both ghostly and humorous to the poems. He could be writing about women he's known or he could be writing about ghost towns. The poems are more focused than expected but like a good poem they end somewhere besides their starting place. The king of orphic lyricism exhibited here in full glory.
March 6, 2021
I prefer his early acoustic songs, the lyrics of 2 faves are included here ‘Suzanne’ and the brilliant ‘I walked into an Avalanche’. Of the others I’d say about a dozen I really liked and a dozen more I liked phrases.
We share an obsession with Joan of Arc so I was surprised only ‘I Met You’ pg 227 directly featured her. That’s one of my 12 faves.
Cohen is post Beat Generation and more interesting than Rod McKuen but still that side of Bukowski, but if you like any of or all of those then you should enjoy this. There’s a lot of ponderous thought about love and relationships, sex, the Jewish experience, song and friendship.
I liked She Sings pg 231 which reminds me of Plath. But my favourite isThe Bus pg 128. It was when I first read this collection in the early 1990’s and still is today.
We share an obsession with Joan of Arc so I was surprised only ‘I Met You’ pg 227 directly featured her. That’s one of my 12 faves.
Cohen is post Beat Generation and more interesting than Rod McKuen but still that side of Bukowski, but if you like any of or all of those then you should enjoy this. There’s a lot of ponderous thought about love and relationships, sex, the Jewish experience, song and friendship.
I liked She Sings pg 231 which reminds me of Plath. But my favourite isThe Bus pg 128. It was when I first read this collection in the early 1990’s and still is today.
September 3, 2024
The Flowers That I Left in the Ground
"The flowers that I left in the ground,
that I did not gather for you,
today I bring them all back,
to let them grow forever,
not in poems or marble,
but where they fell and rotted..."
I don't always know what Cohen means. I won't pretend that I understand each of his complex, overarching messages. His writing is riddled with the subjective, bursting with biblical and otherworldly imagery. At times I feel I'm drifting away in a metaphor. But I enjoy the journey of it. Of imagining it for myself- being punched with the most poignant and longing lines. And even if I don't fully understand it, I know what it makes me feel.
This is what I search for in poetry.
"The flowers that I left in the ground,
that I did not gather for you,
today I bring them all back,
to let them grow forever,
not in poems or marble,
but where they fell and rotted..."
I don't always know what Cohen means. I won't pretend that I understand each of his complex, overarching messages. His writing is riddled with the subjective, bursting with biblical and otherworldly imagery. At times I feel I'm drifting away in a metaphor. But I enjoy the journey of it. Of imagining it for myself- being punched with the most poignant and longing lines. And even if I don't fully understand it, I know what it makes me feel.
This is what I search for in poetry.
August 18, 2023
Enjoyed some of the poems, loved some, disliked some, and some were poor (I thought). Poetry collections are difficult.
I wasn't able to grasp what a lot were about..... and did not sympathise sometimes when I did, but when the poems come together they work whether I sympathise or not. But religious references certainly turn me off.
Some of my favourites are: Warning, There are Some Men, Owning Everything, The Hearth, The Music Crept By Us.
I wasn't able to grasp what a lot were about..... and did not sympathise sometimes when I did, but when the poems come together they work whether I sympathise or not. But religious references certainly turn me off.
Some of my favourites are: Warning, There are Some Men, Owning Everything, The Hearth, The Music Crept By Us.
May 17, 2019
With the subtly of his songwriting style, many of these poems tough the heart. They make you think and you can hear echoes of the times in which they were written shine through. Deep thoughts are contained in simple, calming words. It was deep, thoughtful and political.
December 15, 2022
I think I like his music a bit more
here are some poems I enjoyed:
- The Cuckold's Song
- As the Mist Leaves No Scar
** - My Teacher Is Dying
- Queen Victoria and Me
- The New Step: A Ballet-Drama in Once Act
- In the Bible Generations Pass...
- He Was Beautiful When He Sat Alone
here are some poems I enjoyed:
- The Cuckold's Song
- As the Mist Leaves No Scar
** - My Teacher Is Dying
- Queen Victoria and Me
- The New Step: A Ballet-Drama in Once Act
- In the Bible Generations Pass...
- He Was Beautiful When He Sat Alone
March 2, 2025
As much as I love Leonard Cohen's lyrics and music, I find it difficult to understand or enjoy many of the poems in this collection. They are often dark or strangely violent or brutal in nature. Perhaps he let his darker side come through in the poems. But a few of them are really lovely.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 91 reviews