2000ace's review against another edition
5.0
It is easier to quote a poet than review him. That is particularly true of Conrad Aiken, beloved mystic bard and cosmos mariner. He began and ended his days in Savannah, Georgia, where his remains are buried in the Bonaventure Cemetery. Here is a sample of his work, from the poem Time in the Rock or Preludes to Definition:
XII
One cricket said to another-
come, let us be ridiculous and say love!
love love love love love
let us be absurd, woman, and say hate!
hate hate hate hate hate
and then let us be angelic and say nothing.
And the other cricket said to the first -
fool! fool! speak! speak! speak!
speak if you must, but speaking speaking speaking
what does it get us, what does it get us, what?
act act act act give
giving is love, giving is love, give!
One cricket said to another =
what is love what is love what is love -
act - speak - act - speak - act - speak -
give - take - give - take - give - take -
more slowly as the autumn comes, but giving
and taking still, - you taking, and I giving?
And the other cricket said to the first -
yes! yes! yes! you give your word!
words words but what at the end are words
speech speech what is the use of speech
give me love give me love
love!
One cricket said to another -
in the beginning - I forget - in the beginning -
food food food food food
too late to remember and too late to teach -
in the beginning was the word, the speech,
and in the end the word, the word, the word . . .
But while they quarrelled, these two foolish crickets,
and bandied act with word, denying each,
weighing their actions out in terms of speech,
the frost came whitely down and furred them both,
the speech grew slower, and the action nil,
and, at the end, even the word was still,
and god began again.
XII
One cricket said to another-
come, let us be ridiculous and say love!
love love love love love
let us be absurd, woman, and say hate!
hate hate hate hate hate
and then let us be angelic and say nothing.
And the other cricket said to the first -
fool! fool! speak! speak! speak!
speak if you must, but speaking speaking speaking
what does it get us, what does it get us, what?
act act act act give
giving is love, giving is love, give!
One cricket said to another =
what is love what is love what is love -
act - speak - act - speak - act - speak -
give - take - give - take - give - take -
more slowly as the autumn comes, but giving
and taking still, - you taking, and I giving?
And the other cricket said to the first -
yes! yes! yes! you give your word!
words words but what at the end are words
speech speech what is the use of speech
give me love give me love
love!
One cricket said to another -
in the beginning - I forget - in the beginning -
food food food food food
too late to remember and too late to teach -
in the beginning was the word, the speech,
and in the end the word, the word, the word . . .
But while they quarrelled, these two foolish crickets,
and bandied act with word, denying each,
weighing their actions out in terms of speech,
the frost came whitely down and furred them both,
the speech grew slower, and the action nil,
and, at the end, even the word was still,
and god began again.
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