BRAVO! This is a wonderful tribute to George Oppen and, specifically, his poem "Psalm" in the book THIS IN WHICH.
"Ruse Oppenesque" is a self-effacing title, a good tone to begin with when paying homage to Oppen.
Oppen begins "Psalm" with a Latin epigraph, "Veritas sequitur. . ." Translated, that means "Truth follows. . ." Those are the first two words of a Thomas Aquinas statement: "Truth follows from the being of things." It would be difficult (if not impossible) to find a poet more concerned with truth, and more scornful of artifice and ruses, than Oppen. I imagine Oppen would've thanked Zambaras for this poem and appreciated how Zambaras recognizes his (Oppen's) integrity.
This Zambaras tribute to Oppen's combination of seriousness and tender yet unsentimental attentivness sings. And also the poem has the characteristic Zambaras wordplay in the last line's transformation of Oppen into "open."
Much obliged you were moved enough to comment on this particular poem, offering at the same time a gloss on an exceptional man whose singular poetry we both admire.
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ReplyDeleteBRAVO! This is a wonderful tribute to George Oppen and, specifically, his poem "Psalm" in the book THIS IN WHICH.
ReplyDelete"Ruse Oppenesque" is a self-effacing title, a good tone to begin with when paying homage to Oppen.
Oppen begins "Psalm" with a Latin epigraph, "Veritas sequitur. . ." Translated, that means "Truth follows. . ." Those are the first two words of a Thomas Aquinas statement: "Truth follows from the being of things." It would be difficult (if not impossible) to find a poet more concerned with truth, and more scornful of artifice and ruses, than Oppen. I imagine Oppen would've thanked Zambaras for this poem and appreciated how Zambaras recognizes his (Oppen's) integrity.
This Zambaras tribute to Oppen's combination of seriousness and tender yet unsentimental attentivness sings. And also the poem has the characteristic Zambaras wordplay in the last line's transformation of Oppen into "open."
Much obliged you were moved enough to comment on this particular poem, offering at the same time a gloss on an exceptional man whose singular poetry we both admire.
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