Dear All,
A reminder to please make sure your books are purchased asap. And otherwise, this week’s readings are below. Looks like a lot, but all are short (approx. 1 pg) excerpts of poems or individual poems, except for the article below, which in part I chose for us to read because its focus is on the intertextuality of Oppen, that is, Oppen’s poetic responses to/readings of Whitman. The article–recommended, that is, read it only when you’ve finished reading the poetry–is not to suggest this is THE reading of Oppen’s work, or Whitman’s, i.e., correct or incorrect, but because it’s a kind of reading and interrelating indicative of what I’m asking us to do this week.
Come to lecture/discussion with questions about this work. Write them down so you can remember what they are. Come with your observations, etc. Enjoy, and see you Weds! Solidarity, david
Rob Halpern, from Music for Porn & other work
1. http://media.sas.upenn.edu/pennsound/authors/Halpern/Halpern-Rob_03_My-Operative-from-Music-For-Porn_May-2008.mp3 - audio poem, from PennSound author page
2. http://jacketmagazine.com/40/at-halpern-rob.shtml – from Jacket Magazine
3. http://galatearesurrection.blogspot.com/2006/03/featured-poet-rob-halpern.html – from Galatea Resurrects journal
George Oppen, from Of Being Numerous
Walt Whitman, from Leaves of Grass
6. http://www.bartleby.com/142/110.html – Drum-Taps
7. http://www.bartleby.com/142/116.html – The Centenarian’s Story
8. http://www.bartleby.com/142/122.html – Vigil Strange I Kept on the Field
Highly Recommended, after you’ve really closely read the poems above, taking your own notes on relations between them, and non-relations (disjunctions):
9. http://jacketmagazine.com/36/oppen-finch.shtml - Zach Finch article on Oppen’s critiques of/responses to Whitman