What poets are you reading now?

I'm reading 'The Complete Poetical Works of Oliver Goldsmith.' A reprint from 1912. First published in 1907. Edited with introduction and notes by Austin Dobson.

Fascinating reading the notes by Mr Dobson before I even get to the poems.

I found it in a charity shop in Brecon recently. I say recently but it was a couple of years ago really.

Whats a couple of years considering Goldsmith was born in 1728...

First impressions are: the poet uses rhyme masterfully and the topical nature of the poems from 200 years ago offer a magical window through which to glimpse history as seen by someone who was actually of the time.

e.g. 'Stanzas On The Taking Of Quebec, And Death Of General Wolfe' prompt me now to research the subject matter.

Fascinating!

I'm currently leafing through Pauline Johnson's poetry.

One thing I notice: "Land of the Silver Birch" has something odd about it. Silver birch is an invasive specie. o_o

Land of the Silver Birch is a folk song based off of a Pauline Johnson poem, though there are a few known poems with similar themes performed by her.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Land_of_the_Silver_Birch

Poems that are written down and share a similar theme:

The Song My Paddle Sings: http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/the-song-my-paddle-sings-2/

Re-voyage: http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/re-voyage/

Pauline Johnson is half-Mohawk, half-British and a daughter of Chief Johnson. Pauline Johnson went into acting and poetry when she was young and played up her nativeness to her audiences. She knew that silver birches were not the primary trees used to make canoes during the time (that would have been the paper birch.) Paper birch are more ghostly than silver. So. . .

Theory one: she was pulling a trick on the audience. The audience was not wise to what she was implying with her idle protest.

Theory two: she was oblivious and was making an obligatory confederationist rowing song, playing to her character she put on stage.

I often get the impression that DC Scott's poem "The Half-Blood Girl" is in reference to Pauline Johnson.

I keep going back to a collection of Icelandic Poetry translated by Bernard Scudder.

SPACECRAFT (GEIMFLAUGAR)

They are barking dogs
darting in front of the moon:
the pale gold clasp of night,
time-honoured friend of lovers.

They are the clenched fist
of my generation,
a punch swung out into space
in our squabbles with god.

They are Columbus' fleet
on a lustrous voyage
away from Earth
out towards glimmering stars.

- Hannes Petursson

Recently it's been Rabindranath Tagores' poetry.

Brink of Eternity
I have come to the brink of eternity from which nothing can vanish
---no hope, no happiness, no vision of a face seen through tears.

Oh, dip my emptied life into that ocean,
plunge it into the deepest fullness.
Let me for once feel that lost sweet touch
in the allness of the universe.

-Rabindranath Tagore