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Author Archives: Adam Penna
Two Attitudes: The Power of Poetry
There are two basic attitudes regarding the power of poetry. The first is summed up by Tennyson’s Ulysses who, though old, manages to convince his men to sail with him once again “to strive, to seek, to find and not … Continue reading
Posted in Starting from Poetry
Tagged Dante, humility, Milton, Poetry, Tennyson, Ulysses, Uses of Poetry
1 Comment
Humility & Poetry
Eliot says that humility is endless. And Thoreau says that “humility like darkness reveals the heavenly lights.” But I’ve been thinking lately about a book called The Wisdom of the Desert, translated by Thomas Merton, which is a compendium of meditations, lessons … Continue reading
Posted in Starting from Poetry
Tagged Eliot, God, humility, Merton, poem, Poems, poet, Poetry, poets, Revise, Revision, The Wisdom of the Desert, Thomas Merton, Thoreau, Yes
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On “Can Creative Writing Be Taught?”
This week in the New Yorker Louis Menand reviews a book called The Program Era by Marc McGurl. According to Menand, the book attempts to make the argument – and I’m simplifying here – that the proliferation of creative writing programs has not only affected the way we write … Continue reading
Posted in Starting from Poetry
Tagged Creative Writing, Eliot, Emerson, faith, genius, greatness, humility, Kafka, Menand, MFA, Poetry, teaching, the spirit, Whitman
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In the Highest Limb, Satisfied
My thoughts these days have revolved around prayer rather than poetry. For me these two aren’t so far apart. Many of the poems I have written are more prayer than poem, as far as I’m concerned anyway, especially if the aim … Continue reading
Posted in Starting from Poetry
Tagged confession, God, Hawk, Poetry, poets, prayer, psalms, Revise, Revision, Snake, sponsorship, therapy, Uses of Poetry
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On Poetic Insight
I listened to a good friend and a fine poet lecture on teaching writing a few weeks ago. I was impressed especially by how she goes about teaching. Her pedagogy is very similar to mine, and I chalk that up … Continue reading
Posted in Starting from Poetry
Tagged Change, God, Insight, Poems, Poetry, reading, Rilke, the spirit, Uses of Poetry, Writing
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A Few Thoughts After a Long Trip
It is part of the poet’s job to get used to his inner rhythms, those seemingly predictable patterns which, from a distance, map his temperament. I was reading some old poems yesterday and found that, as I have always hoped, the new poems … Continue reading
Posted in Starting from Poetry
Tagged Augustine, Change, Poems, Poetry, Rembrandt, Revision, Traveling, Uses of Poetry, Writing
3 Comments
The Dead Don’t Sing
I was feeling pretty awful the other day. It was the 17th. I know that because I picked up my Book of Common Prayer, turned to the psalm reading in the psalter for the 17th day, and read psalm 88. … Continue reading
Posted in Starting from Poetry
Tagged Emerson, God, Harold Bloom, Poems, Poetry, psalmists, psalms, reading, Stevens, Thomas Merton, Uses of Poetry, Whitman
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Ours to Love
I literally wrote myself sick last week. Mostly I think this was because I stayed awake for twenty-four hours the day of the big snowstorm to finish a series of poems, which I began perhaps a week before that. I don’t … Continue reading
Posted in Starting from Poetry
Tagged Change, Love, mumbo jumbo, Poetry, Uses of Poetry, Writing
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On Greatness
There seems to be an anxiety felt by the Baby Boomer generation that the world, when they have gone, will cease to be. It must be a consequence of their belief that the world, before they entered it, didn’t exist. … Continue reading
Posted in Starting from Poetry
Tagged Baby Boomers, David Orr, Emerson, greatness, NY Times, Obama, Poetry
6 Comments
Noli Me Tangere
Our conceptions of God and God are not the same thing. This is why, for me, poetry surpasses religion in the knowing of God, because poetry looks to discard the concepts that don’t work to discover and embrace the ones … Continue reading
Posted in Starting from Poetry
Tagged Carthusian, Dante, God, Noli me tangere, Poetry, Purgatory, The Divine Comedy, the spirit
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Adam Penna 