Since I received my copies of CADUCEUS three weeks ago, I have given eight poetry readings of various kinds in a wide variety of venues. Each had a kind of theme or focus, so I'd like to report briefly on each one.
POETRY, DANCE, & THE PATTERNED GLORY OF THE UNIVERSE
Living Hope Church
4 March 2012
This has rapidly become my favorite event! I think I will make it my signature performance and try to take it on the road. If you know of a school, church, book club, artists' group, dance class, or other gathering that would enjoy this event, please let me know; I would love to share it with anyone and everyone.
This event usually breaks down into three sections (or, as Car Talk says, three halves), as follows.
I. POETRY READING FROM CADUCEUS
At Living Hope Church, I naturally chose the most obviously theological poems from my collection. I began, as usual, with "Dramatis Personae" and a discussion of the writer's dilemma: how taking on various personalities can be a slightly crazy process. Then I read
“Idol-Making, ” “Sounds of the Sculptor,” “Cosmology,” “Presence,” and “Communion.”
Then I pulled out my old powerpoint with lovely photographs to go with the seven-poem series “The Voice of God.” You can view the powerpoint here by scrolling down and opening the .pdf file.
I ended that section with “On Patmos,” a meditative sønnet in the voice of the Apostle John.
II. DISCUSSION & DEMONSTRATION OF METER, MUSIC, & FORM/PATTERN
Then things livened up a bit. I don't know about you, but I can only sit and listen to so much poetry at once without some kind of visual, musical, or other interdisciplinary interaction. As you read through this post, you can continue to follow along with the powerpoint here by scrolling down and opening the .pdf file.
So I began talking about meter in poetry, & the whole audience clapped along with the meter of “Sir Patrick Spens.”
Do you know of a great YouTube musical setting of “Sir Patrick Spens”? Or have you recorded it? If so, let me know!
Then I talked about how meter calmed down a bit by Shakespeare's time (although actors probably accentuated the iambic pentameter in a way that would sound “artificial” to our 21st-century ears).
Then I shared about the musical pitch-scale of vowels, the psychological effects of various sounds, and the emotional content associated with poetic forms. As a visual demonstration of poetic form, three of my friends volunteered to read a villanelle for me. Here is the text of the poem:
Wanderlüst
When I catch just a glimpse of the sky or the sea,
When the wind tosses gray on the clouds or the foam,
Then away from my land turn my eyes and my feet.
With the song long unheard of the deep sacred stream
Comes a wanderlust strong with a calling to roam.
Then away from my land turn my eyes and my feet.
When a flicker or stab of that Joy comes to me,
When the horns of the elves call in clear silver tones,
When I catch just a glimpse of the sky or the sea,
Then I must, oh I must, set my shoes to the street,
Set my mind to the wandering long dusty road,
And away from my land turn my eyes and my feet.
When the wind in defiance torments the tall trees
And the billowing leaves or the white frothing foam;
When I catch just a glimpse of the sky or the sea
Then my soul in its heavenward cry to be free
Longs for truth far away where its longings may feed:
Where the land is reality under my feet;
Where my eyes can feast long on the sky and the sea.
Here's the visualization/physicalization of the form, with the “choreography” written in:
Wanderlüst
Reader 1:
When I catch just a glimpse of the sky or the sea,
1 goes to back; 2 comes forward
Reader 2:
When the wind tosses gray on the clouds or the foam,
2 goes to back; 3 comes forward
Reader 3:
Then away from my land turn my eyes and my feet.
3 & 1 to back, circling w/2 so 2 comes forward
2: With the song long unheard of the deep sacred stream
Comes a wanderlust strong with a calling to roam.
2 goes to back; 3 comes forward
3: Then away from my land turn my eyes and my feet.
3 & 1 to back, circling w/2 so 2 comes forward
2: When a flicker or stab of that Joy comes to me,
When the horns of the elves call in clear silver tones,
2 goes to back; 1 comes forward
1: When I catch just a glimpse of the sky or the sea,
1 & 3 to back, circling w/2 so 2 comes forward
2: Then I must, oh I must, set my shoes to the street,
Set my mind to the wandering long dusty road,
2 goes to back; 3 comes forward
3: And away from my land turn my eyes and my feet.
3 & 1 to back, circling w/2 so 2 comes forward
2: When the wind in defiance torments the tall trees
And the billowing leaves or the white frothing foam;
2 goes to back; 1 comes forward
1: When I catch just a glimpse of the sky or the sea
3 & 1 to back, circling w/2 so 2 comes forward
2: Then my soul in its heavenward cry to be free
Longs for truth far away where its longings may feed:
2 goes to back; 3 comes forward
3: Where the land is reality under my feet;
3 goes to back; 1 comes forward
1: Where my eyes can feast long on the sky and the sea.
III. A DANCE and/or A DANCE DEMONSTRATION
OK, then Betsy Gahman (a local amateur English Country Dance teacher) and seven other young people walked through a dance, “The Duke of Kent's Waltz,” without music. The whole point was that the visual effect of the dance was the same as the visual effect of the poem: whoever started at the front ends back at the front; between sections, everybody circles around each other; the pattern is regular and repetitive and symmetrical; etc.
Then the group performed the dance! You should be able to view the video here.
Finally, Betsy took over and led the entire audience in an hour and a half of fun, lively, classy English Country Dances!!
To read poems mentioned in this post, you'll have to purchase Caduceus on amazon. If you do, please consider writing a little review on amazon or on your website -- and please let me know that you have done so. Thanks!
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