Sunday, June 22, 2008

First Lady of France's Poetry CD

"Come, let me sing into your ear," Whispering Poetry Manifesto- Before Carla Bruni married French President Nicolas Sarkozy she put out a CD of classic poems set to her music.


The opening track is Yeats'
"Those Dancing Days Are Gone"

Come, let me sing into your ear;
Those dancing days are gone,
All that silk and satin gear;
Crouch upon a stone,
Wrapping that foul body up
In as foul a rag:
I carry the sun in a golden cup.
The moon in a silver bag.


Curse as you may I sing it through;
What matter if the knave
That the most could pleasure you,
The children that he gave,
Are somewhere sleeping like a top
Under a marble flag?
I carry the sun in a golden cup.
The moon in a silver bag.


I thought it out this very day.
Noon upon the clock,
A man may put pretense away
Who leans upon a stick,
May sing, and sing until he drop,
Whether to maid or hag:
I carry the sun in a golden cup,
The moon in a silver bag.


Click here to listen to the track
"No Promises," The CD consists of 11 adaptations of poems by WB Yeats, Emily Dickinson, Dorothy Parker, Christina Rossetti, WH Auden and Walter de la Mare.

Friday, June 20, 2008

Tiny Books


I am smitten with these Tiny Books from Meritage Press. Not only do they "Feed the World," but they are HOD or Handwritten-on-Demand by MP's publisher, Eileen Tabios. Read all about it at THE BLIND CHATELAINE'S KEYS. You can see some of the books at Crg Hill's Poetry Score Card. What a delightful image of Eileen sitting on her porch in St. Helena drinking a glass of wine and printing these books by hand. The image of the book is from dbqp: visualizing poetics where you can see more of the books and read commentary on Eileen as transcriber.


Each “Tiny Book” costs $10 plus $1.00 shipping/handling in the U.S. (email us first for non-U.S. orders). To purchase the “Tiny Books” and donate to Heifer International, send a check for $11.00 per book, made out to "Meritage Press" to


Eileen Tabios
Meritage Press
256 North Fork Crystal Springs Rd.
St. Helena, CA 94574