More Light: Father & Daughter Poems: A Twentieth-Century American Selection

by Ed: Jason Shinder | Poetry | This book has not been rated.
ISBN: 0156621428 Global Overview for this book
Registered by wingCordelia-annewing of Decatur, Georgia USA on 4/15/2018
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Journal Entry 1 by wingCordelia-annewing from Decatur, Georgia USA on Sunday, April 15, 2018
The American consumerist enshrinement of parenthood has begun. Though we are only half-way through April, there's no escaping the many advertisements aimed at Mother's Day next month. A month from now, we'll see the advertisement of "gifts for dad." I can't remember when I acquired this book, published in 1993 by the poet, poetry teacher and poetry editor Jason Shinder. Dipping into it again yesterday, I decided that it is NOT a book I'd share about fathers with a father or a daughter. There's disturbing stuff here from both sides, notably Sylvia Plath's "Daddy," a screed of hatred. Yet, reading editor Shinder's thoughtful introductory essay, I felt I should give this book my attention and read it chronologically. Shinder's father died early, before Shinder and his siblings could come to terms with their relationship. In the essay, Shinder particularly focuses on his sister's relationship with their father.

Sadly Jason Shinder died early, at the age of 53, only recently. So it particularly seemed that I should take the time to pay attention to his book. My father died at the beginning of old age, 73. Perhaps reading this might be a way to honor his memory.

"What thou lovest well remains,
the rest is dross
What thou lovest well shall not be refit from thee
What thou lovest well is thy true heritage. "
Ezra Pound

I like this choice of verse for the dedication page.


Journal Entry 2 by wingCordelia-annewing at -- Wild released somewhere in the state, Georgia USA on Wednesday, April 18, 2018
The view of the Father-Daughter relationship that comes through here is generally much too negative for my taste. Still, there are moments where startling love breaks through. Perhaps my favorite is Richard Wilbur's:

"The Writer"


The whole house seems to be thinking,
And then she is at it again with a bunched clamor
Of strokes, and again is silent.

I remember the dazed starling
Which was trapped in that very room, two years ago;
How we stole in, lifted a sash

And retreated, not to affright it;
And how for a helpless hour, through the crack of the door,
We watched the sleek, wild, dark

And iridescent creature
Batter against the brilliance, drop like a glove
To the hard floor, or the desk-top,

And wait then, humped and bloody,
For the wits to try it again; and how our spirits
Rose when, suddenly sure,

It lifted off from a chair-back,
Beating a smooth course for the right window
And clearing the sill of the world.

It is always a matter, my darling,
Of life or death, as I had forgotten. I wish
What I wished you before, but harder.

Richard Wilbur. From New and Collected Poems, published by Harcourt Brace, 1988.

Journal Entry 3 by wingCordelia-annewing at Dancing Goats Coffee in Decatur, Georgia USA on Thursday, May 3, 2018

Released 5 yrs ago (5/3/2018 UTC) at Dancing Goats Coffee in Decatur, Georgia USA

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I discovered this thought in one of my commonplace books recently. It seems like good fatherly advice so I am attaching it to this bookcrossing book:

Let me not pray to be sheltered from dangers but to be fearless in facing them. Let me not beg for the stilling of my pain but for the heart to conquer it. Let me not look for allies in life's battlefield but to my own strength. Let me not crave in anxious fear to be saved but hope for the patience to win my freedom. Grant me that I may not be a coward feeling Your Mercy in my success alone but let me find the grasp of Your Hand in my failure.

Tagore

Journal Entry 4 by wingCordelia-annewing at -- Wild released somewhere in the state, Georgia USA on Tuesday, May 8, 2018
When I stopped by the Dancing Goats Little Free Library earlier today, I was happy to see that a reader had chosen this book. May it bring its next reader and readers to come insight and entertainment. I appreciate having found the Richard Wilbur poem. Thanks dear poetry anthology!

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