Subscribe: by Email | in Reader

Villanelle -- William Empson

       
(Poem #706) Villanelle
 It is the pain, it is the pain endures.
 Your chemic beauty burned my muscles through.
 Poise of my hands reminded me of yours.

 What later purge from this deep toxin cures?
 What kindness now could the old salve renew?
 It is the pain, it is the pain endures.

 The infection slept (custom or changes inures)
 And when pain's secondary phase was due
 Poise of my hands reminded me of yours.

 How safe I felt, whom memory assures,
 Rich that your grace safely by heart I knew.
 It is the pain, it is the pain endures.

 My stare drank deep beauty that still allures.
 My heart pumps yet the poison draught of you.
 Poise of my hands reminded me of yours.

 You are still kind whom the same shape immures.
 Kind and beyond adieu. We miss our cue.
 It is the pain, it is the pain endures.
 Poise of my hands reminded me of yours.
-- William Empson
1935.

Empson's blend of emotion and intellect is very reminiscent of John Donne,
and like Donne, his poems, though dense and impenetrable at first, reward
the reader willing to explore their intricacies. Today's poem is as
metaphysical as they come: the central conceit [1] is reinforced and given
depth by the precise use of terminology [2], yet not so much as to detract
from the essentially human feeling that gives rise to it. The choice of form
is equally inspired - the strict constraints of the villanelle, like Donne's
convoluted syntax, work to harness the flood of emotion that would otherwise
sweep the poet away. Wonderfully done.

thomas.

[1] "Better living through chemistry!"... errm... maybe not.
[2] chemic, purge, toxin, salve, infection, poison... a Physick's Delight of
jargon.

[Minstrels Links]

Poems by John Donne:
Poem #330, "A Valediction: Forbidding Mourning"
Poem #384, "Song"
Poem #403, "A Lame Beggar"
Poem #465, "The Sun Rising"

Poems by William Empson:
Poem #202, "Missing Dates"
Poem #233, "Let It Go"
Poem #351, "The Teasers"
"The Teasers" has an Empson biography attached; "Missing Dates" includes an
assessment of his contribution to twentieth-century poetry and criticism.

Villanelles:
Poem #38, "Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night", Dylan Thomas
Poem #202, "Missing Dates", William Empson
Poem #393, "Villanelle (minimalist): One Drunken Night", Peter Schaeffer
Poem #639, "One Art", Elizabeth Bishop
Poem #677, "Villanelle", W. H. Auden

Poems that use the word 'chemic':
Poem #568, "Especially When The October Wind", Dylan Thomas

14 comments: ( or Leave a comment )

JAck Patel said...

It is a very good poem. Good Examples. Thank You.

Anonymous said...

If you're going to come from indoor gardening nearly the most important options you can make will be the kind of grow light you utilize. You'll be able to choose an LED grow light, HID, Metal Halide, fluorescent, sodium lights amongst others. Many individuals who had been gardening inside for quite some time applied high-intensity lights (HIDs)and have you don't need to change to LEDs. But in addition for beginners, LED grow lights is often the simplest and lots of economical options. check this out

Anonymous said...

Hey I know this is off topic but I was wondering if you knew of any widgets I could add
to my blog that automatically tweet my newest twitter updates.
I've been looking for a plug-in like this for quite some time and was hoping maybe you would have some experience with something like this. Please let me know if you run into anything. I truly enjoy reading your blog and I look forward to your new updates.

Review my homepage :: Enduros Male Enhancement

Anonymous said...

Hi there! I know this is somewhat off topic but I
was wondering which blog platform are you using for this site?
I'm getting sick and tired of Wordpress because I've had issues with hackers and I'm looking at alternatives for another platform. I would be awesome if you could point me in the direction of a good platform.

Feel free to surf to my webpage ... tao of badass secrets

Anonymous said...

I think the admin of this web site is genuinely working hard for his web
site, because here every material is quality based
data.

Here is my web page - tao joshua pellicer

unsgu said...

Thank's have shared the info,, success always for the info and the website,,, and be the best cara memperbesar penis terbaik to the next information,,

deviyudis said...

Thank you for sharing this poem.
pasang iklan gratis

Unknown said...

all of which have been price specification toyota presented by this bedroom design ideas website was perfect, good appearance and artikelnya..penuh color and modern home design full of meaning ..

Post a Comment