A remarkable collection representing early and recent poems by David St. John, the critically acclaimed author of "Hush," "The Shore," and "No Heaven." GUITAR I have always loved the word "guitar." I have no memories of my father on the patioAt dusk, strumming a Spanish tune, Or my mother draped in that fawn wicker chairPolishing her flute; I have no memories of your song, distant SisterHeart, of those steel strings slidingAll night through the speaker of the car radioBetween Tucumcari and Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.Though I've never believed those storiesOf gypsy cascades, stolen hoses, castanets, And stars, of Airstream trailers and good fortune.Though I've never met Charlie Christian, thoughI've danced the floors of cold longshoremen's halls, Though I've waited with the overcoats at the rearOf concerts for lute, mandolin, and two guitars ?More than the music I love scaling its wovenStairways, more than the swirling chocolate of wood I have always loved the word "guitar."
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Book Description
Editorial Reviews
From Publishers Weekly
This dazzling collection opens with the cinematic "Slow Dance" from St. John's ( Hush ) first book, and ends with the brilliantly conceived title poem, an extended meditation on the "body of desire," placed alongside a skeletally-shaped elegy for a friend. Both poems use dance as a central metaphor for the movement of each individual through life, framing the volume's overarching concerns with the tensions between body and spirit, desire and fulfillment and the "balance of the promise with what lasts." The metaphor is an apt one for St. John's own evolving grace and style as a poet who invents richly textured narratives out of episodic detail, collage-like imagery and long rhythmic lines to create the effect of movement and suspension, not unlike a complexly choreographed dance. The book's final sections, featuring the poet's new work, confirm St. John's status as a poet of impressive aesthetic vision who continues to push the boundaries of narrative, language and imagination as he explores the "momentary resurrections" of human existence, "The stilled body / Giving the illusion / That it might be rising / Quite on its own."
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
From Library Journal
Desire, in both its erotic and spiritual manifestations, has been the central theme for St. John, who brings together the most evocative poems from his celebrated debut, Hush (LJ 10/1/76), and three subsequent collections-The Shore (LJ 10/15/80), No Heaven (LJ 6/1/85), and Terraces of Rain: An Italian Sketchbook (Recursos Sta. Fe, 1991)-with new work: ten pieces that explore the moral dimension of his subject and the long title poem (given its own section as "Coda"), in which he writes of "The corpses of lovers slowly walking/Across that sun-&-sinlit landscape/Of the world's body, calling out/To one another in those songs/By which we name a history, pale/& personal, or otherwise." St. John's is a highly personal vision, rendered her in language that resonates. Highly recommended.
David Sowd, formerly with Stark Cty. District Lib., Canton, Ohio
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
David Sowd, formerly with Stark Cty. District Lib., Canton, Ohio
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Great beauty,
By A Customer
This review is from: Study for the World's Body: New and Selected Poems (Paperback)
There is great beauty in David St. John's poems, and this selection contains some of his classics: "Guitar," "Hush," "No Heaven," among many others. There is something delicate and passionate in all his work. This book is haunting.
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