Billy Collins is one of those I’ve sampled some this summer and I’ve heard several of his read on the radio locally. Some of it spoke to me and some didn’t. Need to take another look at him.

I think I’ll like some of the more flowery stuff and some of the plainer stuff but not much of the modern–or perhaps post-modern–stuff.

I’ve heard good things about Rilke and thanks for the heads up on the dual language edition. That’ll be nice, especially since German is probably my best 2nd language. But then seeing as I don’t have a 2nd language that isn’t saying much.

I did check out a goodly handful (two hands really) of books today, more on writing, reading and appreciation, though. Borges, This Craft of Verse, looks quite interesting and easy to read.

Some of my favourites that you might enjoy:

Seamus Heaney’s translation of Beowulf, which has the original Old English on the facing page. The prose versions of this poem leave much to be desired, but Heaney’s is the closest thing I’ve seen to the feel and spirit of the Old English.

Anything by Billy Collins. I loved his clear word pictures even before getting to see him speak them in person a few years ago. Very down-to-earth writing. And of course, there’s his Introduction to Poetry.

A few others: Nikki Giovanni, Sandra Cisneros, and Rainier Maria Rilke (especially his Book of Hours as translated by Barrows and Macy; it has the German on the facing page).

Most of all though, I hope you just enjoy yourself. Poetry shouldn’t be a torturous experience!

I doubt I will come to love poetry in general but will also pick a few dozen favorite poems and even fewer poets that I love. Some others I will probably tolerate and perhaps even enjoy. Most I will probably deplore.

I also imagine that I’ll go in more for the bluntness and plain-spokenness. Nonetheless, I think (and so I read) that there are some important things going on in “typical” poetic language use and form that is much reduced or absent in most other uses of language. And that is what I want to at least get my mind wrapped around, even if that kind of poetry and poem does not become my favorite or even appeal to me. Much is of value that is not appealing to the individual.

Lucille Clifton esp. Wishes for Sons ( http://www.poets.org/viewmedia.php/prmMID/15601 )

Dorothy Parker esp. Frustration ( http://www.cs.rice.edu/~ssiyer/minstrels/poems/878.html )

Carl Sandburg esp. Fog ( http://www.bartleby.com/104/76.html )

As far as the ladies go, not all their poems are as acrid as those two…but that is the element I seem to enjoy the most, personally. That Dorothy Parker poems was the first poem I ever memorized. You can imagine how well it went down when we had to recite poems from memory in 9th grade English