I did some searching and couldn't really find a good thread for this. Cog, if I missed one please merge this. Who is your favorite poet? Mine is almost obscure; not sure how many people have heard of him. I read a lot by Catullus, the Roman poet who wrote a series of poems over his lifetime that were intensely modern for the period in which they were written. He was vulgar, crude, and spoke his mind. His poems are truly enjoyable. Anyone else ever heard of him?
I've heard of him, but I've taken Latin. Philip Larkin and I are compadres. I like his rigid formality and the effects he turns it to, even if he's kind of a sad guy. I like Howard Nemerov, Andrew Marvell, George Herbert, Ezra Pound, Coleridge, Keats, Yeats, lots of others I'm too tired to list.
Robinson Jeffers, or at least his pre-World War Two stuff. He wrote like he was 500 feet tall and spoke with the voice of Zeus. After him, Walt Whitman, I guess. Then Yeats, William Blake, maybe Homer in the Fagles translations (I haven't read any other translations, so I don't know about them).
Oh! And the World War (Two) stuff jogged my memory: I like Wilfred Owen too (yes, WW1, but still came to mind.)
I've heard of Catullus but have never read anything by him. My favorite would have to be Yeats. I took a class on him and now appreciate him a lot more than I did before.
Huge fan of Charles Bukowski - he has a series of poems about a woman he loved - can't remember her name. They are beautiful and sad. Also, his piece called "The Last Days of the Suicide Kid" is one of my favorite poems. Great stuff. I love Frost, particularly for his piece titled "Design." Awesome! Gary Snyder, Billy Collins (he's so much fun!), Keats (especially - "When I have fears that I may cease to be"), Emily Dickinson, Wordsworth! There are probably many others. But I'm miles away from my bookshelf and my exhaustion is insisting I not remember names. Oh oh! Pound too, yes! I love Ezra Pound. His work is great. And William Carlos Williams.
I second Billy Collins! Also, the lyrical poetry of Yeats and Wordsworth is pretty amazing. I also really love Alan Ginsberg, probably more than any of the other Beat poets.
Ahh, yes! I love Ginsberg, too. "SQUARES SHUT UP & LEARN OR GO HOME!" Gotta appreciate his anger towards the literary community.
I've been reading some Ginsberg 'cause he's my boyfriends absolute hero, and I am intensely impressed. His stuff is brilliant. I can't stop reading it.
Haven't read enough to have a favorite. Some poets that I know I like: Cummings Blake Coleridge Tennyson Dickinson
I love Burns and Shakespeare Others would be: Roger McGough Phillip Larkin Tennyson Pam Ayres Siefred Sassoon Wilfred Owen
I second Charles Bukowski. His poem "The Bluebird" is my favorite, and I have it framed on my desk. T.S. Eliot is my second favorite, if only for his poem "The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock".
I enjoy poets like Poe and Frost and even Dickinson from time to time, but the poetry I read and listen to on a regular basis is contemporary slam poetry. I enjoy hearing it performed the way the poet wants it to be heard. My three favourite poets are Sage Francis, Buddy Wakefield, and Anis Mojgani (see my signature). Sage Francis, who experiments with beat poetry that can be considered underground hip-hop, has this great straight poem called "Mermaids Are Sea Sluts" (my favourite poem ever). Particularly in that poem but in most of his pieces, he uses a lot of double meanings that I really enjoy finding. I have a sweatshirt of his that I wear most days. He started out on a small label but now runs his own label which manufactures his small empire of music, poetry, eco-causes, political causes, and clothing. I actually had the honor of performing "Mermaids Are Sea Sluts" in front of about forty people one time. It was wonderful to be able to share the poem with everyone, but I'm never doing it again. What not everyone understands is that when you speak your poetry, when you give it breath, you're adding another layer to it, and it becomes even more personal. It was hard! And I admire anyone who gets up and performs. Anis Mojgani is a US National Slam Poetry Champion who I really like. What Francis has in biting sarcasm, Mojgani has in kindness and love. You can really tell from his poems that he is a humble, happy man who enjoys the simple things and moving people --and sometimes making them laugh. His poems are an extension of himself, and hearing and reading them makes you feel humble and happy too. Buddy Wakefield has worked with both Francis (his famous poem "Human the Death Dance" can be heard as an outro on one of Francis' songs his album of the same name, which he borrowed from Wakefield) and Mojgani in the past, and is an International Slam Poetry Champion. Wakefield generally has the saddest poems of all three, but he's also the funniest. He puts out poems like "Human the Death Dance" (a poem about being broken but that "there is live after survival") and "Arizona Summers" (a sarcastic poem about heat; I've not laughed so hard in a long time). I really appreciate him because of his personal story and his beliefs, which I also believe, which are really evident in his poems. Out of all three, I think Wakefield has the best stage presence. Wakefield, Mojgani, Derrick Brown, and other guests go on an annual, nationwide poetry revival every autumn. I'm waiting on the tour dates to be released, but I'm pretty sure I'll be able to go this year. I want to ask Buddy Wakefield if he'll marry me.
I've been listening to Mermaids are Sea Sluts on repeat all night...I'm looking forward to listening to the rest soon... So what I guess I mean is thanks! Also, Buddy Wakefield's Hurling Crowbirds at Mockingbars literally had me in tears...seriously people, listen to these poets!!
You're welcome! I cant remember how I found Buddy Wakefield, but I had more or less the same reaction when someone sent me some Sage Francis material for the first time. And I was totally shocked when I found out that Buddy had worked with Sage before, and all this time I had never heard of him. My favourite Sage Francis: Mermaids Are Sea Sluts, Crumble, Crack Pipes, Inherited Scars, Slow Down Gandhi, Conspiracy to Riot, Sea Lion My favourite Anis Mojgani: Shake the Dust, Invincible, Milos, Rock Out, Come Closer, For Those Who Can Still Ride an Airplane for the First Time My favourite Buddy Wakefield: Hurling Crowbirds at Mockingbars, Human the Death Dance, Aaron, Arizona Summers, Flockprinter, The Information Man, Convenience Stores
Add Arthur Rimbaud to my list. The man was a genius. How could I forget T.S. Eliot? The man was great!
I actually didn't like Rimbaud's poems much. I feel like he never gained the maturity needed to be a great poet.
As mentioned before Yeats, Eliot, Frost (who shares his birthday with me) South African Poets : Adam Small - HIGHLY recommended, Dennis Brutus, Roy Campbell, Mzi Mahola, Ingrid Jonker, Antjie Krog, Gadeba baderoon
Yusef Komunyakaa (Check out "Facing It" especially) Wilfred Owen Robert Browning (Mostly because of "Prospice") e. e. cummings James Dickey (Check out "Falling")
