Tuesday, March 1, 2011

ONE YEAR LATER.....

What a year it has been....

I started this project exactly one year ago with several objectives in mind.  The principal one was to create my own anthology of love poetry, a project I had considered for years.

While this was not accomplished, I am not disappointed, as the revisiting of the thousands of poems from which these selections came was a blessing in disguise: my physical copies of them were destroyed in the December fire of my apartment.  Reading, reflecting and commenting was immensely satisfying, a meditative time I will always cherish.

Reviewing the poems and their subject of Romantic Love, it's an obvious conclusion that Pascal was right with "Le couer a ses raisons quil la Raison ne conait point".  What the heart does is, indeed, unguided by logic, Reason, and analysis.  We pursue the object of our love irrespective of recompense, emotional or material, fruitlessly searching for a return that will validate the investment.  We think nothing of losing sleep (like now), friends, family, and freedom for the merest possibility that our sentiments will be returned redoubled.  And all while facing a growing file of evidence - unanswered letters, unreturned calls, unopened gifts - blaring their clear message.


Though few readers have left comments on individual poems, I have been amazed at the diversity of the readership.  As of today, 84 (!) countries are represented: click on the  section on the left with the little flags to see which ones.  (Update: as of September 17, 2017, visitors have come from 156 countries!)

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

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Sakoon N Singh said...

I just stumbled upon this blog quite by chance while searching for a Neruda poem. I must compliment you on the absolutely delightful collection you have put together. It has for me become a resource and I have recommended it to many friends. I am from chandigarh, India and I teach Literature and therefore my interest. However the blog is equally interesting for somebody interested in diverse poems from many cultures and epochs. Thanks once again for refining the process of selecting great poetry for the use of our likes. ~
Sakoon N Singh.

Unknown said...

Discovered this while looking for works by Amichai. Thanks for this great compilation. While I have no talent to create, I do love poetry's ability to distill the essence of meaning and feeling from language
Thanks for your work and hope you update it with more