Web Hype
PennSound– Hearing a Poem, etc,….
and in to the brain
There’s something about hearing a poem. The brain engages differently than when you read it off the page. And today there are great on-line libraries full of writing recorded in the author’s voice. Like PennSound.
PennSound has recordings of hundreds of poets. Dead and alive. Famous and not so famous. Ashberry, Berrigan, Crane, H.D., Jorie Graham, Ezra Pound, W.C. Williams, Charles “The Hammer” Simic, James Tates, etc etc….And these files are all downloadable. So, you can listen to them on your Ipod while going for a walk. Or on the subway. Etc. Etc.
Sometimes when I can’t sleep (usually about 4 or 5 a.m.) I’ll listen to Berrigan’s Sonnets. They make all sorts of tired sense to me when I’m in bed listening to them. But when I try to read them on the page they’re virtually meaningless.
Tags: pennsound
All the words go to the same brain, they just enter through different senses, which are trained to different levels of focus. Ideally I think you would be “hearing” the words as you read them and “seeing” the words as you hear them. Either way I agree Berrigan is a good cure for insomnia.
All the words go to the same brain, they just enter through different senses, which are trained to different levels of focus. Ideally I think you would be “hearing” the words as you read them and “seeing” the words as you hear them. Either way I agree Berrigan is a good cure for insomnia.
The Berrigan sonnets turned me around when I read them: everything I’m not in poetry. Playful, messing-around, succinct. I wrote a bunch of sonnets after reading them too, which is goof, I guess. It’s difficult to read his work other than those, though. It varies in quality more widely than any poet I can think of. And that reading style of his will sure as fuck put you to sleep, you’re right.
The Berrigan sonnets turned me around when I read them: everything I’m not in poetry. Playful, messing-around, succinct. I wrote a bunch of sonnets after reading them too, which is goof, I guess. It’s difficult to read his work other than those, though. It varies in quality more widely than any poet I can think of. And that reading style of his will sure as fuck put you to sleep, you’re right.
yeah, it will…. one night i fell asleep with the headphones on and dreamed i was at a berrigan reading… but there were like 3 or 4 different berrigan’s reading in turn… it was great,….
ha ha… yes, sometimes he is…..
yeah, it will…. one night i fell asleep with the headphones on and dreamed i was at a berrigan reading… but there were like 3 or 4 different berrigan’s reading in turn… it was great,….
ha ha… yes, sometimes he is…..
This is awesome. Thank you for this, Rauan.
This is awesome. Thank you for this, Rauan.
I love Pound and all but when he pronounces names like Dante Alighieri wrong it makes me think that he wasn’t that smart. Didn’t he fucking LIVE in Italy?
I love Pound and all but when he pronounces names like Dante Alighieri wrong it makes me think that he wasn’t that smart. Didn’t he fucking LIVE in Italy?
Pound is a very unique reader… to say the least,…..
you’re welcome…..
Pound is a very unique reader… to say the least,…..
you’re welcome…..
Also it’s nice to be read to, even if the voice is coming from a box. Thanks for this…
Also it’s nice to be read to, even if the voice is coming from a box. Thanks for this…