And we're back ...

It's been quite some time since I last posted in my blog, and a lot has certainly happened since then ...

... of course, there was that incident where my blog was hacked and tampered with- which thankfully I was able to remedy. Then there was a trip I took in August to the east coast (visiting Philadelphia, New Jersey, and New York)- a trip that has inspired in me a great deal of imagery and ideas for future works of mine. Then there was that discovery of hundreds of etchings that were done by the poet William Blake- a really awesome modern day find in the world of poetry. And then there was the publication of not just one, but two chapbooks by Colorado poet, Daniel Klawitter- reads that I highly recommend. In short, a lot has happened.

During this time I did a comprehensive study of both Shakespeare's Hamlet (which I'm please to say I'll be seeing next month), and the history and tradition of Russian poetry, studies that were exceedingly informative and edifying.

Just yesterday I posted a biography that was done by Poets.org on a very popular Russian poet, Osip Mandelstam- an interesting man full of conviction and an awesome writer whose life under the Bolsheviks was heavy laden. His poetry is beautiful, and radical, and was clearly in a state of perpetual evolution, even to the very end.

I think everyone should check out these poets, even if unfortunately some of the substance of their works are lost in translation. These poets, from Trediakovsky to Brodsky, are an incredible breed. Indeed,  Fyodor Ivanovich Tyutchev (as translated by Vladimir Nabokov) is one of my all-time favorite poets- I mean absolutely amazing, amazing works of art.

Anyhow, my sabbatical is ended, and I can't wait to share more tidbits that pertain to the works of poets, to the poets themselves, and to poetry in general. Here ... here's one of the first poems written by Mandelstam that I read and that I'm sure you'll appreciate (keep in mind that he emerged during the Symbolist period of Russian literature):

I Could Not Among the Misty Clouds

I could not among the misty clouds
Your unstable and painful image catch,
'Oh, my God', I promptly said aloud,
Having not a thought these words to fetch.

As a bird -- an immense bird and sound --
Holly Name flew out of my chest.
And ahead the mist mysterious crowds,
And the empty cage behind me rests.

- Osip Mandelstam