A contemporary requiem--an earthy yet elegant reconsideration of the Tristan and Iseult story, from the former poet laureate of Brooklyn.
In D. Nurkse's wood of Morois, the Forest of Love, there's a fine line between the real and the imaginary, the archaic and the actual, poetry and news. The poems feature the voices of the lovers and all parties around them, including the servant Brangien; Tristan's horse, Beau Joueur; even the living spring that flows through the tale ("in my breathing shadow / the lovers hear their voices / confused with mine / promising a slate roof, / a gate, a child . . . "). Nurkse brings us an Iseult who has more power than she wants over Tristan's imagination, and a Tristan who understands his fate early on: "That charm was so strong, no luck could free us." For these lovers, time closes like a book, but it remains open for us as we hear both new tones and familiar voices, eerily like our own, in this age-old story made new again.
The Living Spring
In my breathing shadow the lovers hear their voices confused with mine, promising a slate roof, a gate, a child, respite from the Absolute. Let them sleep.
Doesn’t God love them because they are like him, too broken to obey the rules of death?
In my ambit birdsong is slurred, nightingale’s loneliness, famished thrush, sparrow pining in the cold, each charged with rapt indifference.
Rest while I tremble. Isn’t God himself stubborn as water?
The Self
When we rolled in mottled oak leaves I shone, though the high hawk saw just two naked fugitives.
D. NURKSE is the author of eleven previous books of poetry. His many honors include a Literature Award from the American Academy of Arts and Letters and a Guggenheim Fellowship. His poems have appeared in periodicals such as The New Yorker,The American Poetry Review, and The Paris Review; he has taught poetry in prison, and, as Brooklyn poet laureate, in local schools and the public library system. He has also worked for human rights organizations. A resident of Brooklyn, he currently teaches in the MFA program at Sarah Lawrence College.
View titles by D. Nurkse
A contemporary requiem--an earthy yet elegant reconsideration of the Tristan and Iseult story, from the former poet laureate of Brooklyn.
In D. Nurkse's wood of Morois, the Forest of Love, there's a fine line between the real and the imaginary, the archaic and the actual, poetry and news. The poems feature the voices of the lovers and all parties around them, including the servant Brangien; Tristan's horse, Beau Joueur; even the living spring that flows through the tale ("in my breathing shadow / the lovers hear their voices / confused with mine / promising a slate roof, / a gate, a child . . . "). Nurkse brings us an Iseult who has more power than she wants over Tristan's imagination, and a Tristan who understands his fate early on: "That charm was so strong, no luck could free us." For these lovers, time closes like a book, but it remains open for us as we hear both new tones and familiar voices, eerily like our own, in this age-old story made new again.
Excerpt
The Living Spring
In my breathing shadow the lovers hear their voices confused with mine, promising a slate roof, a gate, a child, respite from the Absolute. Let them sleep.
Doesn’t God love them because they are like him, too broken to obey the rules of death?
In my ambit birdsong is slurred, nightingale’s loneliness, famished thrush, sparrow pining in the cold, each charged with rapt indifference.
Rest while I tremble. Isn’t God himself stubborn as water?
The Self
When we rolled in mottled oak leaves I shone, though the high hawk saw just two naked fugitives.
D. NURKSE is the author of eleven previous books of poetry. His many honors include a Literature Award from the American Academy of Arts and Letters and a Guggenheim Fellowship. His poems have appeared in periodicals such as The New Yorker,The American Poetry Review, and The Paris Review; he has taught poetry in prison, and, as Brooklyn poet laureate, in local schools and the public library system. He has also worked for human rights organizations. A resident of Brooklyn, he currently teaches in the MFA program at Sarah Lawrence College.
View titles by D. Nurkse
