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book review poetry reading

Book Two Down: Vala, or The Four Zoas

You may recall I wrote at some length about William Blake’s Four Zoas, so I’ll keep this fairly brief: I just read the whole shebang from start to finish in a few days! I find completing two books in a week, even if one (the Blake) is only 100 pages long, an auspicious beginning to […]

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reading

The Four Zoas: Personal Response and Discussion

So, I’ve already broken my promise a little—but perhaps only a little.  I don’t have  deep close reading in this entry. What I’m offering instead is some observations on my responses to Night the First of The Four Zoas (outlined in more detail here). Those who read my last blog posts on Blake will notice Blake’s […]

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reading

The Four Zoas: Night the First, Summary with Extensive Quotation

TL;DR A being who is part of William Blake and all people, Tharmas, takes in the wives/significant others and creations of other self-components. Tharmas’s own wife/SO Enion becomes jealous and kills them (at least, so we’re told later). Tharmas disintegrates and Enion tried to weave a covering for her sins, but a part of Tharmas […]

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reading

Introduction to the Poetry Blog Series

This is the first blog post in my poetry series. Here is how (in theory) I imagine this series working: each entry will deal with a longer work (chapbook or long poem) by a single poet. In it, I will engage in both general description of everything I’ve read and close reading of some part […]

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quotations writing

A Different Face

O why was I born with a different face Why was I not born like the rest of my race When I look each one starts! when I speak I offend Then I’m silent & passive & lose every Friend Then my verse I dishonor. My pictures despise My person degrade and my temper chastise […]