Robinson Jeffers and Emily Dickinson

Hullo, All.

Our poets this week are Robinson Jeffers and Emily Dickinson. Here's our poem to discuss this week, by Dickinson:

#1695

There is a solitude of space
A solitude of sea
A solitude of death, but these
Society shall be
Compared with that profounder site
That polar privacy
A soul admitted to itself--
Finite Infinity.

(I picked this partly because I'm not sure what it means. So please bring your poetic insight. :) )

Also, we're going to do an extra public reading this semester, because we want to. It'll be a play, and we'll just have people take parts and read them. We're doing this the afternoon of Saturday, September 15. The play is Eliot's Murder in the Cathedral, and we'll probably do it at Midnight Oil.

See you Thursday!

- Joanna

Shelley and Sandburg

Hello, friends.

Welcome to anyone new to Souvenirs who's wandered here!

Our poets for this week are Percy Shelley and Carl Sandburg. So bring your favorite Shelley and Sandburg to read -- or brush up on some to recite.

We're also going to try something new this semester: We're choosing a specific poem for discussion from one of our poets. Here's this week's poem, Shelley's "Invocation":

RARELY, rarely, comest thou,
Spirit of Delight!
Wherefore hast thou left me now
Many a day and night?
Many a weary night and day	5
'Tis since thou art fled away.
How shall ever one like me
Win thee back again?
With the joyous and the free
Thou wilt scoff at pain.	10
Spirit false! thou hast forgot
All but those who need thee not.
As a lizard with the shade
Of a trembling leaf,
Thou with sorrow art dismay'd;	15
Even the sighs of grief
Reproach thee, that thou art not near,
And reproach thou wilt not hear.
Let me set my mournful ditty
To a merry measure;	20
Thou wilt never come for pity,
Thou wilt come for pleasure:
Pity then will cut away
Those cruel wings, and thou wilt stay.
I love all that thou lovest,	25
Spirit of Delight!
The fresh earth in new leaves drest
And the starry night;
Autumn evening, and the morn
When the golden mists are born.	30
I love snow, and all the forms
Of the radiant frost;
I love waves, and winds, and storms,
Everything almost
Which is Nature's, and may be	35
Untainted by man's misery.
I love tranquil solitude,
And such society
As is quiet, wise, and good;
Between thee and me	40
What diff'rence? but thou dost possess
The things I seek, not love them less.
I love Love—though he has wings,
And like light can flee,
But above all other things,	45
Spirit, I love thee—
Thou art love and life! O come!
Make once more my heart thy home!

I hope to see you Thursday! Bring a friend (besides Shelley and Sandburg). :D

- Joanna

Shakespeare!

Welcome back, all!

We're reading Shakespeare at our first meeting, as is traditional. So come, read and recite Shakespeare, and catch up with all the spiffy poetry people.

Bring a lost freshman with you if possible! Also, we'll be chalking poetry on campus this Wednesday night to advertise our first meeting (and also because we like poetry). Contact me or Nathan (commenting on this post will work) if you'd like to help.

We're excited about Souvenirs this semester, and we'll also talk about some plans for the semester at the first meeting.

- Joanna

Officers, Summer

Hullo again,

We've chosen officers for the next year of Souvenirs.

-Nathan will continue as president.
-I'll be vice-president this year.
-Jessica Roper will take over as secretary/treasurer.
-Katie Cozzens and Emily Daw will share the public relations office, since Emily will be overseas the fall semester and Katie will graduate in December.
-Johnna is secretary to the vice-president, but we're thinking this isn't a real officer position anymore but that she should make tea anyway.
-Luke Jones, as a spiffy graphic design major, will also be helping us with advertising.
-Thanks to Dr. Claxton for continuing as sponsor and to Dr. Cameron for joining us as co-sponsor.

So yes.

Have a grand summer with plenty of poetry. :) Some showdowns to start off next semester would be amazing, so get with people and memorize stuff over the summer.

-- Joanna

Party

Hullo,

I apologize for last week's lack of blog. We did W.H. Auden and Shel Silverstein (quite an odd combination).

But this week, we have our end-of-the year party. It's be at the home of Andrea, Ashley, and Jo Jo. Bring food, games, and/or literary movies if you like. :)

Here are the directions:
Take Grand (the street that starts at the American Studies building and goes between College Church and Subway) across RACE and turn RIGHT on MOORE Ave. Then, turn LEFT at the third street on the LEFT, N CEDAR ST. The house is on the RIGHT. It's 906 N. Cedar St.

We'll also be having our officer elections. Andrea has explained that in the newsletter. So, please run for offices. :)

Jo Cleveland, Naomi Nye, and Souvenirs

We have a lot of poetry stuff going tomorrow, so here it is for reference:

3:00
Question and answer time with Naomi Shihab Nye in American Studies 200. Everyone is welcome, and I believe it's come-and-go.

6:30
Jo Cleveland awards in Cone Chapel (a.k.a., "the new wedding chapel").

7:30
Reading and presentation by Naomi Shihab Nye, also in Cone Chapel.

9:30
Souvenirs is meeting on the deck at Midnight Oil for mass poetry showdown and general spiffiness.

So come and enjoy as many of these events as possible. :)

Camping Trip Canceled

Hullo,

The weather hasn't cooperated,* so we shan't be camping this weekend. :(

Instead, we plan to have a cookout at Berryhill Park. We'll have hot dogs, snacks, and s'mores and read poetry. So bring spiffy poetry and a couple of dollars for the food. You can post here with questions or if you'd like to let me know you're coming (i.e., assure that we buy enough marshmallows for you).

We'll plan on camping properly some time next semester. :)

Congratulations to Katie on winning the Shelley showdown tonight!

-- Joanna

* Thunderstorms and hail are predicted.  Cf. Shelley:

 Thou on whose stream, 'mid the steep sky's commotion,

Loose clouds like Earth's decaying leaves are shed,

Shook from the tangled boughs of Heaven and Ocean,



Angels of rain and lightning: there are spread

On the blue surface of thine airy surge,

Like the bright hair uplifted from the head



Of some fierce Maenad, even from the dim verge

Of the horizon to the zenith's height,

The locks of the approaching storm. Thou dirge



Of the dying year, to which this closing night

Will be the dome of a vast sepulchre

Vaulted with all thy congregated might



Of vapours, from whose solid atmosphere

Black rain, and fire, and hail will burst: O hear!

Tennyson and Naomi Shihab Nye

Our poets for tomorrow are Tennyson and Naomi Shihab Nye. (Nye will be coming next week to speak after the Jo Cleveland awards.)

Katie Cozzens and I also hope to bring you a showdown of Shelley's "Ode to the West Wind." We do know that it isn't autumn, but Shelley is pretty spiffy all year. Also, the dramatic expression of angst really fits this time of the semester rather well.

The camping trip is planned for this weekend, but we may have rain. I'll update with alternate plans when/if we have them.

- J.E.B.

Plath and Hughes

Hullo,

Tonight's poets are Sylvia Plath and Ted Hughes.

We'll also be discussing further plans about the upcoming camping trip. :)

- Joanna

Robert Browning and Langston Hughes

Our poets for tonight are Robert Browning and Langston Hughes.

We'll also have the showdown that was planned for last week, as well as more information about the camping trip, a possible service project, and the end-of-the year party.

- J.B.

Robert Pinsky and Sir Philip Sidney

Hullo All,

Welcome back!

Our poets for this week are Robert Pinsky (recent-ish US Poet Laureate) and Sir Philip Sidney (Elizabethan courtier poet). A reminder: If you're planning to print out poems, please do so before you come, because we don't have easy access to a computer in the Honors House now.

Emily and Nathan plan to give us a showdown of "Supernatural Love" by Gertrude Schnackenberg. (The internet doesn't know very much about Gertrude Schnackenberg, but she's pretty spiffy, as you shall know when we hear the poem. It's on last year's CD as well, I believe.)

Also, the camping trip is coming up, and we'd like to get an idea of who'll be going. So think about that so you can let us know. It'll be April 13-14.

- Joanna

Winter and Spring Poems

Hullo All,

Tonight we're reading any poems involving winter and/or spring, so bring your favorites. (Oddly, Wikipedia has a lot more to say about winter than about spring.)

Also, consider getting with someone and working on a showdown for after spring break. In American Poetry class the other day, Nathan and I found the perfect poem for those intimidated by showdowns. It's "In a Station of the Metro" by Ezra Pound:

The apparition of these faces in the crowd;
Petals on a wet, black bough.

Well, I hope to see you tonight.

- Joanna

Sandburg and Shelley

Hullo, All.

Our poets for next week are Carl Sandburg and Percy Bysshe Shelley. I'm sure it'll be an interesting juxtaposition of subject matter. Skylarks and their Romantic ilk probably don't get to Chicago much. We also hope to have a short showdown of Shelley.

And our bookstore trip is coming up this Saturday, so be there!

In other news, our tentative camping trip dates are March 30-31 (Friday-Saturday). If something comes up and that time won't work, another option is April 13-14.

-- Joanna

Emerson and Goethe

Greetings, ladies and gentlemen.

This week's poets are Emerson and Goethe. You can find some Goethe poetry with English and German side by side here. I imagine you can find your own Emerson without much trouble. ;)

Remember to bring money and pay Andrea for your t-shirts.

Also, we're scheduling the camping trip, so look at your schedule to see which weekend(s) after Spring Break might work for you so we can discuss it Thursday.

- Joanna

Dylan Thomas and Walt Whitman

Hullo All,

We're reading Dylan Thomas and Walt Whitman this Thursday. We also plan to have a three way showdown of Thomas' "The Force that Through the Green Fuse Drives the Flower."

Also, on Valentine's Day (Wednesday), we'll have the booth in the student center. So please come by. Also, we'd still like another person to help work the booth from 1 to 2.

- Joanna

Beat Poets

(Beat above is not a verb. Please do not assault poets.)

Yes, so we're doing the Beat Poets tomorrow night. Here's another link to some Beat Poets and poems. I know almost nothing about this movement, so I hope to learn.

We're also finishing the love and anti-love CDs, so please bring poems again to read for those.

I apologize for neglecting this blog; in the future it should be updated at least once a week with the next meeting's poets and other pertinent news.

- Joanna

Meeting Update

Hullo,

Our plans for this Thursday have changed. We're starting off the semester with Shakespeare; Donne, Millay, and the "Renascence" showdown will be the following week. So, bring the Bard. :)

- Joanna

Welcome Back!

Welcome back to school and to Souvenirs, ladies and gentlemen.

We're starting the semester with John Donne and Edna St. Vincent Millay. So please bring your favorites to read and recite. Nathan and I also hope to bring you a showdown of Millay's "Renascence."

Speaking of showdowns, we didn't have very many showdowns or features last semester. We'd really like more in the future, because we think memorizing and dramatizing poetry is pretty spiffy. So if you'd like to recite, dramatize, juxtapose or make up something else interesting to do with poetry, we would love to have you do it at a Souvenirs gathering.

We have many glorious endeavors planned for the coming semester, of which Andrea shall no doubt inform you in the newsletter.

I hope you've all had a grand Christmas break, and I'm very much looking forward to this semester with you.

- Joanna

Christmas Party

Merry December to all!


It's time for our Christmas party. We shall celebrate at Dr. Claxton's house on Thursday starting at 7:30. Please bring food, games and other entertainment if you wish.

Here are directions to Dr. Claxton's house from the Honors House:

1. Go left onto center.

2. Follow the left through Grand to Race Street.

3. Go right on Race Street (towards Wal-Mart).

4. Turn left on Hawkins, the street between Arby's and the hospital.

5. At the four-way stop, go straight.

6. Take the 3rd street on the left, River Oaks Commons.

7. Dr. Claxton's condo is the last one on the right, number 97.

9. If you are lost, call one of your intrepid officers.

10. If you are an intrepid officer and you are lost, figure something out.

11. The intrepid officers were thinking that there is a decoy street on the way with almost the same name as River Oaks Commons, and that turning on this street caused some of us confusion last year. So watch out for that.

- Joanna