What do you think?
Rate this book
The Energy of Slaves: Poems
To mark the publication of Leonard Cohen's final book, The Flame, McClelland & Stewart is proud to reissue six beautiful editions of Cohen's cherished early works of poetry.
A freshly packaged series for devoted Leonard Cohen fans and those who wish to discover one of the world's most adored and celebrated writers.
Originally published by McClelland & Stewart in 1972, The Energy of Slaves is Cohen's fifth collection, and one of his most controversial. A dark and intense book, described by one critic as deliberately ugly, offensive, bitter, anti-romantic, Cohen considered it a document of his struggle--I've just written a book called The Energy of Slaves, he told an interviewer at the time, and in there I say that I'm in pain. Bracing, challenging, and equally beautiful and off-putting, it remains one of his most compelling and complex works.
A freshly packaged series for devoted Leonard Cohen fans and those who wish to discover one of the world's most adored and celebrated writers.
Originally published by McClelland & Stewart in 1972, The Energy of Slaves is Cohen's fifth collection, and one of his most controversial. A dark and intense book, described by one critic as deliberately ugly, offensive, bitter, anti-romantic, Cohen considered it a document of his struggle--I've just written a book called The Energy of Slaves, he told an interviewer at the time, and in there I say that I'm in pain. Bracing, challenging, and equally beautiful and off-putting, it remains one of his most compelling and complex works.
128 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1981
17 people are currently reading
973 people want to read
About the author
Leonard Cohen
223 books2,114 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".
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 70 reviews
June 26, 2020
Leonard Cohen was a great singer, amazing stature on stage, great voice and brilliant song writer. This is the first book of poetry I've read by him and i've been surprised by just how insecure he was, at times he seems so lonely and at others he is doubting himself, including at one point his voice! Wha??? He has one of the best sounding voices in music. It's amazing what a bit of poetry can reveal about a person.
Some good poems here, a few made me laugh, like the threat against Norman Mailer and this one:
"I did not know
until you walked away
you had the perfect ass
Forgive me
for not falling in love
with your face or your conversation"
Some are incredibly bleak:
"I could not wait for you
to find me dead in a rented room
with my sunglasses dusty
on the card table
So once again
I tried to set my throat on fire
this time in silence
and not thinking of you at all
(I had so much time to kill)"
This was a real good place to start reading his poetry and I'll be checking out more. Here is my favourite from the book, shows what a rebel he was.
"Any system you contrive without us
will be brought down
We warned you before
and nothing that you built has stood
Hear it as you lean over your blueprint
Hear it as you roll up your sleeve
Hear it once again
Any system you contrive without us
will be brought down
You have your drugs
You have your guns
You have your Pyramids your Pentagons
With all your grass and bullets
you cannot hunt us any more
All that we disclose of ourselves forever
is this warning
Nothing that you built has stood
Any system you contrive without us
will be brought down"
Blog review> https://felcherman.wordpress.com/2020...
Some good poems here, a few made me laugh, like the threat against Norman Mailer and this one:
"I did not know
until you walked away
you had the perfect ass
Forgive me
for not falling in love
with your face or your conversation"
Some are incredibly bleak:
"I could not wait for you
to find me dead in a rented room
with my sunglasses dusty
on the card table
So once again
I tried to set my throat on fire
this time in silence
and not thinking of you at all
(I had so much time to kill)"
This was a real good place to start reading his poetry and I'll be checking out more. Here is my favourite from the book, shows what a rebel he was.
"Any system you contrive without us
will be brought down
We warned you before
and nothing that you built has stood
Hear it as you lean over your blueprint
Hear it as you roll up your sleeve
Hear it once again
Any system you contrive without us
will be brought down
You have your drugs
You have your guns
You have your Pyramids your Pentagons
With all your grass and bullets
you cannot hunt us any more
All that we disclose of ourselves forever
is this warning
Nothing that you built has stood
Any system you contrive without us
will be brought down"
Blog review> https://felcherman.wordpress.com/2020...
April 15, 2021
O rare and perfect creature
Who has made your nest in me
I'm on my way home to you
singing with the lips
you bloodied out of jealousy
I am your world
I am your wall
You are the last scorpion
Who never longed to be a man
It is only in my heart
that you can dream
of your relentless invasion
of the sunlit plain
when you moved among the numberless
and a woman far more beautiful
than I am
was your invisible queen
- - -
Why is it
I have nothing to say to you
Russian princess
in 1920 furs
coming down the steep steps
careful of the ice
on Ave de L'Esplanade
You were extremely fragile
in your hold on beauty
and I cared so much
you wouldn't slip
that I had to kick you
down the stairs
just to savour
unemployment once again
- - -
I see the ocean from my window
it is very dull
no whales today
no tidal wave
The fisherman fiddles
with his air conditioner
The sunset is slowly squashed
by the huge forces of night
I telephone my wife
We watch it in each other's arms
December 3, 2021
Poesía escrita del alma de la música.
Video reseña completa en:
https://www.instagram.com/p/CVDzJKLlujR/
Video reseña completa en:
https://www.instagram.com/p/CVDzJKLlujR/
June 11, 2021
i hardly read poetry. i am forever picky about because it can become very boring very fast for me if i am not wooed from the get go. actually, not just wooed. i would even appreciate being disgusted, but instead, i found this to be astoundingly honest, ruthless and crucial medicine. this is for the ones who want to keep that mind openly educated and fed. after this, i am most definitely stuffed yet yearning dazedly for more. yum.
December 2, 2014
“Who could have foretold
the heart grows old
from touching others”
the heart grows old
from touching others”
June 5, 2017
These poems are angry and addicted to sex and sadness. Found the descriptions of women quite harsh and offensive.
April 30, 2020
I read this when I was 15 and it absolutely changed me. I loved it so much I would consecutively rent it from the library for years at a time. I copied the entire book into a comp notebook that I still have. Someone ended up requesting it from the library so I finally had to return it. It's so bad but I wish I would've just kept it because the next time I went to rent it the library had gotten rid of it and now this book is almost impossible to buy for under $100. This will forever be my favorite Cohen collection. It's been about 15 years since I've held this in my hands but I treasure the copy I made.
April 8, 2019
My first review of The Energy of Slaves from a couple years back was so off that I had to delete it. This second reading has been enlightening. The Energy of Slaves marks Cohen's first decline in mental health. Its themes are undeniably darker as the voice of suicide, pedophilia, and pessimism can be heard in nearly every single poem. Cohen's following volume, Death of a Ladies Man marks his darkest time in writing, but even so, there is no doubt that The Energy of Slaves stands out as seriously depressing and worthy of investigation.
March 20, 2013
I really enjoyed this collection of poems. It has a vibrant sense of youth - full of anger, lust, insecurity, sarcasm, and a disguised kind of idealism. I think it feels much more raw and therefore in some ways more powerful than the other works by Cohen that I have read. It doesn't hurt that I literally LOLed at times, too - would never have expected that from this book!
July 15, 2014
Surprisingly not very good. I think he was saving all the best lines for his songs.
January 14, 2013
Mostly immature and way too fond of the word "cunt", but I did like this one:
Love is a fire
It burns everyone
It disfigures everyone
It is the world's excuse
for being ugly
Love is a fire
It burns everyone
It disfigures everyone
It is the world's excuse
for being ugly
November 11, 2016
Feels eerie, having read this today.
Beautiful and earnest as everything else he wrote.
The world is poorer without him.
Beautiful and earnest as everything else he wrote.
The world is poorer without him.
July 11, 2023
'La energía de los esclavos' es un fascinante viaje a través de la mente poética de Leonard Cohen, donde explora temas profundos con su característico estilo lírico y reflexivo. Publicado en 1972, este poemario muestra la maestría poética de Cohen y su capacidad para evocar emociones complejas y pensamientos profundos con palabras sencillas pero impactantes.
Los poemas abordan una amplia gama de temas, desde el amor y el deseo hasta la soledad y la espiritualidad. Cohen utiliza una mezcla de imágenes vívidas, metáforas ingeniosas y observaciones agudas para transportar al lector a través de un viaje emocional y existencial. Sus versos están imbuidos de melancolía y una profunda contemplación sobre la condición humana.
La colección destaca por su honestidad y vulnerabilidad. Cohen no teme explorar los aspectos más oscuros y complejos de la vida y el amor, y lo hace con una sinceridad desarmante. Sus poemas son una introspección poética, donde desentraña las complejidades del ser humano y examina tanto sus luchas internas como su capacidad para encontrar belleza y significado en medio del caos.
Una obra que invita a sumergirse en la profundidad de las palabras y a explorar los matices de la existencia humana con una mirada poética única.
Los poemas abordan una amplia gama de temas, desde el amor y el deseo hasta la soledad y la espiritualidad. Cohen utiliza una mezcla de imágenes vívidas, metáforas ingeniosas y observaciones agudas para transportar al lector a través de un viaje emocional y existencial. Sus versos están imbuidos de melancolía y una profunda contemplación sobre la condición humana.
La colección destaca por su honestidad y vulnerabilidad. Cohen no teme explorar los aspectos más oscuros y complejos de la vida y el amor, y lo hace con una sinceridad desarmante. Sus poemas son una introspección poética, donde desentraña las complejidades del ser humano y examina tanto sus luchas internas como su capacidad para encontrar belleza y significado en medio del caos.
Una obra que invita a sumergirse en la profundidad de las palabras y a explorar los matices de la existencia humana con una mirada poética única.
February 9, 2017
"Elígeme con voz más fuerte, por favor
aunque sólo sea en el momento en que te hundes."
"Yo estaba hojeando las páginas amarillas
de mi viejo corazón de esclavo
en busca de algo mejor que la gratitud."
"Cada hombre
tiene una manera de tracionar a la revolución.
Esta es la mía."
Es la primera vez que leo poemas de Cohen. En este libro se adivinan anécdotas, revoluciones, enojos, reclamos, dedicatorias y recuerdos. El ritmo de los versos, incluso en español, deja entrever la voz de Leonard. Esa voz apacible, que sin subir el tono grita siempre verdades intensas.
aunque sólo sea en el momento en que te hundes."
"Yo estaba hojeando las páginas amarillas
de mi viejo corazón de esclavo
en busca de algo mejor que la gratitud."
"Cada hombre
tiene una manera de tracionar a la revolución.
Esta es la mía."
Es la primera vez que leo poemas de Cohen. En este libro se adivinan anécdotas, revoluciones, enojos, reclamos, dedicatorias y recuerdos. El ritmo de los versos, incluso en español, deja entrever la voz de Leonard. Esa voz apacible, que sin subir el tono grita siempre verdades intensas.
March 8, 2019
It's hard to rate and review this book because of the tone of the poems. I get that it's meant to go back and forth between "beautiful" and "deliberately ugly", but I'm still not entirely sure that I liked it. Some of the more beautiful poems I liked, and I even liked some of the really bitter ones, but others were puzzling. It could be that there are some historical references I'm not getting, given the year it was written.
Hmm. I'll give it three stars for now. I might flip through it until it's due back at the library, so I can better understand it.
Hmm. I'll give it three stars for now. I might flip through it until it's due back at the library, so I can better understand it.
May 26, 2010
Absolutely loved some of the poems, liked many others, did not feel much for the rest.
both political and emotional... Cohen is personal as always
two of my favorite ones:
"All men delight you
If you ever read this
think of the man writing it
he hated the world on your behalf"
&
"Each man
has a way to betray
the revolution
This is mine"
both political and emotional... Cohen is personal as always
two of my favorite ones:
"All men delight you
If you ever read this
think of the man writing it
he hated the world on your behalf"
&
"Each man
has a way to betray
the revolution
This is mine"
September 10, 2010
My introduction to Cohen's poetry...I have a deeply nostalgic attachment to this work. Even so I feel confident in recommending to new readers and the younger audience who loves his evocative and deeply personal/mystical style.
March 28, 2021
I really enjoyed the book. The poems are mainly focused on heavy subjects such as pedophilia, violence or suicide but it was beautifully designed to be ugly.
November 22, 2024
The most insane and jarring collection of poems I've ever read
June 5, 2018
"Love is a fire
It burns everyone
It disfigures everyone
It is the world's excuse
for being ugly."
"I could not wait for you
to find me dead in a rented room
with my sunglasses dusty
on the card table
So once again
I tried to set my throat on fire
this time in silence
and not thinking of you at all
(I had so much time to kill.) "
One reviewer wrote " These poems are angry and addicted to sex and sadness." and that's a solid summation of this work, and the writer's work as a whole. But in more detail I'd say...
Dark, cynical, concerned mainly with conflict of one variety or the other. Though a solid volume released between two of his best albums, Songs of Love and Hate and New Skin for the Old Ceremony, I can't help but get the impression that he released this as a collection of poems that, for one reason or the other, he didn't (or couldn't) translate to song. All of these poems have a debris like quality to them, like they were either snipped from something else or just merely half-finished. It's unlike Cohen to leave a poem underdeveloped, but at many points he references leaving both music and writing entirely, so perhaps we can lay some of the blame there. After all, he even hints (not too subtly) about the passion for his work dying, his inspiration drying up.
Perhaps this is an odds-and-ends collection, or maybe it's a would-have-been last gasp. Either way, while far from the standard he set for himself the book is still worth three stars, if for nothing more than it's heavy darkest-night-of-the-soul atmosphere.
"Dear Mailer
don’t ever fuck with me
or come up to me
and punch my gut
on behalf of one of your theories
I am armed and mad..."
It burns everyone
It disfigures everyone
It is the world's excuse
for being ugly."
"I could not wait for you
to find me dead in a rented room
with my sunglasses dusty
on the card table
So once again
I tried to set my throat on fire
this time in silence
and not thinking of you at all
(I had so much time to kill.) "
One reviewer wrote " These poems are angry and addicted to sex and sadness." and that's a solid summation of this work, and the writer's work as a whole. But in more detail I'd say...
Dark, cynical, concerned mainly with conflict of one variety or the other. Though a solid volume released between two of his best albums, Songs of Love and Hate and New Skin for the Old Ceremony, I can't help but get the impression that he released this as a collection of poems that, for one reason or the other, he didn't (or couldn't) translate to song. All of these poems have a debris like quality to them, like they were either snipped from something else or just merely half-finished. It's unlike Cohen to leave a poem underdeveloped, but at many points he references leaving both music and writing entirely, so perhaps we can lay some of the blame there. After all, he even hints (not too subtly) about the passion for his work dying, his inspiration drying up.
Perhaps this is an odds-and-ends collection, or maybe it's a would-have-been last gasp. Either way, while far from the standard he set for himself the book is still worth three stars, if for nothing more than it's heavy darkest-night-of-the-soul atmosphere.
"Dear Mailer
don’t ever fuck with me
or come up to me
and punch my gut
on behalf of one of your theories
I am armed and mad..."
April 16, 2017
Dragi moj Leonarde, 42 godine nas dele između ove tvoje pesme i današnjice u Srbiji i kako je čitam tako drhtim.. gde je snaga robova osim u trpljenju?
"Ubice koje vladaju
drugim zemljama
pokušavaju da nas nateraju
da zbacimo ubice
koje vladaju našom
Ja lično
više volim vladavinu
domaćih ubica
Ubeđen sam
da će strani ubica
ubiti više nas
nego stari poznati ubica
Iskreno govoreći ne verujem
da iko od njih
zaista želi da reši
naše socijalne probleme
Zasnivam sve ovo na osnovu onoga što osećam
prema susedu
Samo se nadam Da neće
još poružneti
Zato sam rodoljub
Ne volim da vidim
zastavu koja gori
jer to uzbuđuje
ubice obe strane
do žalosnih preterivanja
koja se nastavljaju veselo
potpuno neobuzdano
dok svi ne budu mrtvi"
"Ubice koje vladaju
drugim zemljama
pokušavaju da nas nateraju
da zbacimo ubice
koje vladaju našom
Ja lično
više volim vladavinu
domaćih ubica
Ubeđen sam
da će strani ubica
ubiti više nas
nego stari poznati ubica
Iskreno govoreći ne verujem
da iko od njih
zaista želi da reši
naše socijalne probleme
Zasnivam sve ovo na osnovu onoga što osećam
prema susedu
Samo se nadam Da neće
još poružneti
Zato sam rodoljub
Ne volim da vidim
zastavu koja gori
jer to uzbuđuje
ubice obe strane
do žalosnih preterivanja
koja se nastavljaju veselo
potpuno neobuzdano
dok svi ne budu mrtvi"
April 15, 2018
this is the second leonard cohen book i have read, and that too in this same year. after field commander cohen impressed me with his magnum opus "beautiful losers", he enthralled me with this book of poems. man, oh man! what poems they are! astounding, hurting, burned with desire, longing, and lovelessness. he again mesmerised me with no inhibition but with a power so shy that i felt comfortable snuggled in the poems. beautiful.
February 5, 2018
To my taste, this collection swings wildly between accomplished, insightful poems, and mediocre poems with a sexist streak. The quality seems to vary more than in Cohen's earlier and later collection. In terms of his artistic development, he seems to wobble between poet and songwriter, unsure of his center.
February 17, 2013
Not as powerful to my mind as Beautiful Losers - though I certainly much preferred this to The Book of Mercy! I am exploring Cohen's work and I am going to read Favourite Game and the selected poems next
January 30, 2024
“let me be your bright new toy
I am the first to wear your shackles like a bracelet”
“the blue sky
makes the plane go slow
they say I stole their money
which is true
let the proprietors of the revolution consider this:
a song the people loved was written by a thief”
I am the first to wear your shackles like a bracelet”
“the blue sky
makes the plane go slow
they say I stole their money
which is true
let the proprietors of the revolution consider this:
a song the people loved was written by a thief”
May 20, 2008
My love 8
February 28, 2009
I bought a man his dinner
He did not wish to look me in the eyes
He ate in peace
Cohen is probably my favorite living poet/songwriter. I find his voice sexy, although perhaps not musical.
He did not wish to look me in the eyes
He ate in peace
Cohen is probably my favorite living poet/songwriter. I find his voice sexy, although perhaps not musical.
April 4, 2011
Dark & sublime.
July 28, 2012
9-26-2010
February 11, 2013
Contundente... Para leer y releer varias veces a lo largo de toda la vida.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 70 reviews