Sunday, October 25, 2009

Ten of the best examples of Moon poetry

At the Guardian, John Mullan named ten of the best examples of Moon poetry.

One poem on his list:
"Sad Steps" by Philip Larkin

This is Larkin's response to Sidney's moon poem. Unpoetically "Groping back to bed after a piss" he witnesses a moonlit scene: "wedge-shadowed gardens lie / Under a cavernous, a wind-picked sky". It should be poetic – "Lozenge of love! Medallion of art! / O wolves of memory! Immensements!" – but the poet just shivers at the moon's "hardness" and "brightness" and thinks of lost youth.
Read about another Moon poem.

Also see: Ten of the best journeys to the Moon, a five best list of insider accounts of the Apollo moon landings, and Ted Gioia's list of six great moon novels.

--Marshal Zeringue