In ninth grade English, Mrs. X required us to memorize and recite a poem, so I went and asked the Topeka High librarian to direct me to the shortest poem she knew, and she suggested Marianne Moore’s “Poetry,” which, in the 1967 version, reads in its entirety: I, too, dislike it. Reading it, however, withContinue reading “Şiir Nefreti / The Hatred of Poetry”
Tag Archives: The Louvre
Arkadaşınızın anlattığı hikaye yaşanmış olabilir, doğru değil
The story your friend told might have actually happened, but it’s not true. I, who, have seen everyone, have not been seen by anyone for many a year: deep under plaster they buried my fragile face, the most mysterious angel of the east. But I heard every single fragment of sound, I felt every movementContinue reading “Arkadaşınızın anlattığı hikaye yaşanmış olabilir, doğru değil”
Birbirine aşina duvarlar arasında
between the earth and sky tiny housesmurmuring rooms, half-open windowsutensils, chairs, a weary tablesmall habits, worn-out tastesa handful of dust, an afternoon shadowand time sitting proudly in a corner seat between walls familiar to one anotherso many belongings, so much anguish, so little lovea little bit of salt taken from the sea, a light-hearted feelingfrom theContinue reading “Birbirine aşina duvarlar arasında”
In the backstreets
I love museums and I am not alone in finding that they make me happier with each passing day. I take museums very seriously, and that sometimes leads me to angry, forceful thoughts. But I do not have it in me to speak about museums with anger. In my childhood there were very few museumsContinue reading “In the backstreets”
Socrates plots against the poets
‘The gravest charge against poetry still remains. It has a terrible power to corrupt even the best characters, with very few exceptions.’ ‘It is indeed terrible if it can do that.’ ‘Then listen. When we hear Homer or one of the tragic poets representing the sufferings of a hero and making him bewail them atContinue reading “Socrates plots against the poets”
Fine monuments
Some of you will have fine monuments by which the living may remember the evil done to you. Some of you will have only crude wooden crosses or painted rocks, while yet others of you must remain hidden in the shadows of history. You are in any case part of an ancient procession, and soContinue reading “Fine monuments”
Minerva with the Muses
No, the menace of the supernatural is that it attacks where modern minds are weakest, where we have abandoned our protective armor of superstition and have no substitute defense. — Shirley Jackson, The Haunting of Hill House Hayır, doğaüstü olayların tehlikesi çağdaş zihinlerin en zayıf olduğu noktadan saldırmalarıdır; o yerde koruyucu batıl inanç zırhımızı çıkarmış,Continue reading “Minerva with the Muses”