A Paradise of Poets: New Poems and Translations [Paperback]

Jerome Rothenberg (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 1999

A Paradise of Poets is Jerome Rothenberg's tenth book of poetry to be published by New Directions, beginning with his Poland/1931 (1974). In considering the title of his newest collection, he says: "Writing poetry for me has always included an involvement with the life of poetry -- & through that life an intensification, when it happened, of my involvement with the other life around me. In an earlier poem I spoke of this creating a paradise of poets.... I do not of course believe that such a paradise exists in any supernatural or mystical sense, but I have sometimes felt it come to life among my fellow poets and, even more, in writing -- in the body of the poem." In Rothenberg's hands, the body of the poem is an extraordinarily malleable object. Collage, translation, even visual improvisation serve to open up his newest book to the presence of poets and artists he has known and to others, past and present, who he feels have somehow touched him, among them Nakahara Chuya, Jackson Mac Low, Pablo Picasso, Leonardo da Vinci, Federico Garca Lorca, Kurt Schwitters, Vitezslav Nezval. Kenneth Rexroth once commented: "Jerome Rothenberg is one of our truly great American poets who has returned U.S. poetry to the mainstream of international modern literature.... No one has dug deeper into the roots of poetry." With A Paradise of Poets, it is clear that this evaluation is as fresh today as it was twenty-five years ago.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Rothenberg maps a visionary tradition at once diverse and humanly coherent" -- Michael Palmer

At The Poorhouse
Below
The Great Sadness
Memory
One
Prelude
Sketches
A Star
Swath
Ursa Major
Venus
The Whole Works
At The Grave Of Nakahara Chuya (1907-1937): 1
At The Grave Of Nakahara Chuya (1907-1937): 2. After Nakahara Chuya
At The Grave Of Nakahara Chuya (1907-1937): 3. At The Graveside
At Tsukiji Market Tokyo: 1
At Tsukiji Market Tokyo: 2. The Tale
At Tsukiji Market Tokyo: 3. For Makoto Oda
At Tsukiji Market Tokyo: [hojoki - Chomei At Toyama]
Autobiography 1997: The First One Hundred
Autobiography 1998: The Second One Hundred
Autobiography 3: Picasso's Hundred
The Burial Of The Count Of Orgaz After Pablo Picasso: 12.i.57
The Burial Of The Count Of Orgaz After Pablo Picasso: 14.viii.57
The Burial Of The Count Of Orgaz After Pablo Picasso: 16.i.58
The Burial Of The Count Of Orgaz After Pablo Picasso: 17.i.58
The Burial Of The Count Of Orgaz After Pablo Picasso: 19.vi.58
The Burial Of The Count Of Orgaz After Pablo Picasso: 2.xii.57
The Burial Of The Count Of Orgaz After Pablo Picasso: 20.viii.59
The Burial Of The Count Of Orgaz After Pablo Picasso: 21.vii.58
The Burial Of The Count Of Orgaz After Pablo Picasso: 27.i.57
The Burial Of The Count Of Orgaz After Pablo Picasso: 5.viii.58
The Burial Of The Count Of Orgaz After Pablo Picasso: 6.i.57. Cannes
The Burial Of The Count Of Orgaz After Pablo Picasso: 8.vi.58
The Burial Of The Count Of Orgaz After Pablo Picasso: 8.viii.58
The Burial Of The Count Of Orgaz After Pablo Picasso: 9.viii.58
The Burial Of The Count Of Orgaz After Pablo Picasso: Third Segment
Diabolo: A Poem Of The Night After Vitezslav Nezval
First Night Poem, For Jackson Mac Low: 1.
First Night Poem, For Jackson Mac Low: 2. Night Walk Variations
First Night Poem, For Jackson Mac Low: 3.
Five Kuwitter Poems After Kurt Schwitters: Autumn
Five Kuwitter Poems After Kurt Schwitters: The Meadow
Five Kuwitter Poems After Kurt Schwitters:roses Abloom Like Daisy ..
In The Shadow Of The 1000 Buddhas: Terror
The Leonard Project: 10 + 2
New Improvisations: 1
New Improvisations: 2
New Improvisations: 3
New Improvisations: 4
New Improvisations: 5
New Improvisations: 6
New Improvisations: 7
New Improvisations: 8
New Improvisations: 9
A Poem For The Cruel Majority
Three Paris Elegies*: 1
Three Paris Elegies*: 2
Three Paris Elegies*: 3
Toji Temple Kyoto 1997 (i): 1
Toji Temple Kyoto 1997 (i): 3
Toji Temple Kyoto 1997 (i): 4
Toji Temple Kyoto 1997 (i): 6
Toji Temple Kyoto 1997 (ii): 1
Toji Temple Kyoto 1997(i): 2
Toji Temple Kyoto 1997(i): 5
Toji Temple Kyoto 1997(i): 7
Toji Temple Kyoto 1997(ii): 2
The Treasures Of Dunhuang: 2000 Buddhas
A Walkaround, For Neko; Kamakura 11/10/96
Desire
From The Back & From The Front To Start
-- Table of Poems from Poem Finder®

Jerome Rothenberg is a DNA spaceman exploring the mammal caves of Now. -- Michael McClure

[A] transformational and personal journey of artistic risk and vitality of language. -- World Literature Today, Rochelle Owens, Summer 2000

Product Details

• Paperback: 119 pages
• Publisher: New Directions; 1 edition (October 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0811214273
• ISBN-13: 978-0811214278
• Product Dimensions: 8 x 5.2 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,038,586 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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3 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A collage of visual improvisation and translated poetry., February 4, 2000

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Midwest Book Review (Oregon, WI USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: A Paradise of Poets: New Poems and Translations (Paperback)

A Paradise Of Poets: New Poems & Translations is a new collection of collage, visual improvisation, and translated poetry inspired by poets and artists that Jerome Rothenberg (himself a renowned poet) has personally known or who have somehow touched his life: Nakahara Chuya, Jackson Mac Low, Pablo Picasso, Leonardo da Vinci, Federico Garcia Larca, Kurt Schwitters, and Vitezslav Nezval. The Treasures of Dunhuang (2000 Buddhas): a faceless buddha/a black buddha/buddhas with silver mustaches/& chin hairs/three transvestite buddhas/buddha with heads/around his head---/dozens of whirling heads/2000 buddhas/crouching buddha--/slits for eyes--/looks sleepy/a buddha with a dozen faces/& a thousand hands with eyes/buddha holds a fern--/he wears a scabbard/& the scabbard grows a hand/rays stream from buddha's eyes/--or tears/eyes wide in terror/open anguished mouth with fangs/he holds a dish with flaming eyes/but haloed/can this be buddha too?/think buddha/starving buddha/sitting hand to chin/& smiling.