"The Summer We Crossed Europe in the Rain" by Kazuo Ishiguro

One item on a page of new books caught my eye – a new work by Novel Prizewinner Kazuo Ishiguro entitled The Summer We Crossed Europe in the Rain. The last work I’d read by him was The Buried Giant, something of a early medieval story set not long after the age of King Arthur’s reign. I loved the story, so I went looking to find out more about this new work. 

Ishiguro was born in Japan but raised and educated in Britain. He’s likely best known for two works that out-British the British – Never Let Me Go and The Remains of the Day (which won the Booker Prize in 1989).  But among many other books, he’s written stories set in Japan, delved into crime fiction (When We Were Orphans), and most recently written Klara and the Sun, which might be defined as literary science fiction.

 

And now he’s written song lyrics, many of which look suspiciously like poetry.

To continue reading, please see my post today at Tweetspeak Poetry.

Some Thursday Readings

 

A Burning Spear: Poetry and the Rebellion of Small, Good Things – Paul Pastor at Mere Orthodoxy.

 

“A Lament,” poem by Wilfrid Wilson Gibson – Joseph Bottum at Poems Ancient and Modern.

 

By the Rues: A Poem for Veterans Day – Maureen Doallas at Writing Without Paper.

 

After Apple-Picking – poems by Megan Willome (and Rpbert Frost).

 

“A Spur to Genius,” poem by Charles Woodward Hutson – Anthony Esolen at Word & Song.

 

British Poet Laureate Writes Song Lyrics

British Poet Laureate Simon Armitage has translated medieval poems like Pearl and Sir Gawain and the Green Knight. He’s tackled The Odyssey. He’s written plays, like about the last days of Troy. He’s written novels and published numerous poetry collections. He’s retold the death of King Arthur and published two poetry travel books. 

And, perhaps most surprisingly, this most literate of literary writers has also performed in two bands and written the lyrics for a considerable number of songs.

 

Perhaps I shouldn’t be surprised. Poet Malcom Guite (another Brit) found time from his day job as Cambridge University college chaplain to perform in a band (he retired from the day job but still performs in gigs). And in 2016, American Bob Dylan won the Nobel Prize for Literature. The literary times they are a changin’.

 

In his new publication Never Good with Horses: Assembled Lyrics, Armitage says right up front that “song lyrics are not poems and poems are not song lyrics.” The primary reason is that song lyrics come packaged with the significant element of music, which can change everything about the words.

To continue reading, please see my post today at Tweetspeak Poetry.

Some Tuesday Readings

 

Many do – poem and artwork by Sonja Benskin Mesher.

 

The Babylon Bee Founder Leaves the Company Due to ‘Burnout’ – Liz Lykins at The Roys Report.

 

Childhood Stories #1 – poem by Paul Wittenberger at Paul’s Substack.

 

On Writing Oklahoma City – Rod Roensch at Front Porch Republic.

"A Modern Day Psalm" by Jeff Todd

The subtitle of A Modern Day Psalm by Jeff Todd tells you what to expect: “an inspired poetry and song collection.” Most of the 77 written works included in the collection are song lyrics. In fact, they are a very specific type of song lyric, and that is worship songs.

The psalms of the Old Testament are written in poetic form, but they were meant to be sung. They are songs of rejoicing, of lament, of faith, of pain – all very human expressions but sung to God in praise to him.

Todd’s songs include lyrics expressing love for God, words of warning about darkness and destruction coming, backsliding, weariness of soul, experiencing God’s presence, pain in the world, missions and evangelism, and a considerable number of additional topics.

About 10 of the works included in the collection are poems. Here is one example, entitled "Mr Jones:"

                                                      

Mr Jones left this world way too soon

You should have heard the music play

He was all dressed up in his Sunday suit

When they took him away

I remember sitting on his porch

And the stories he would tell me

He spoke of this place he called Heaven

And how mice it would be

Mr Jones never met a stranger

And he always stopped to tell

The stories about salvation

And of Heaven and Hell

He talked to me about his love

That he died on a cross

He took the burdens of all man’s sins

And will save the ones who’s lost

The years passed since I was young

And Mr Jones grew older, too

Because of him I know the man

The friend that he knew

Jeff Todd

Todd is best known for his humorous “Redneck Guides” to a wide array of topics – the parables, being a dad, the epistles, the miracles of the Bible, the Book of Acts. Marriage, and several other topics. He’s also written a layman’s commentary on the New Testament and several devotionals. He lives in Georgia.

A Modern Psalm is a simple collection of songs and poems, written from the heart

Related:

Jeff Todd talks about himself and his books.

Top photograph by Alex Wigan via Unsplash. Used with permission.