Refer a friend and get % off! They'll get % off too.

WORDS CAN'T HOLD... A Decade of Poetry - by Edouard d'Araille

Anthology of verse from this English language poet dating back to 2007, including best-known work from his eight prior volumes, as well as the newly commissioned cycle of verse 'Words Can't Hold...' including the title poem.

"Ishii keeps them smiling / Watanabé makes them cry / Tanaba feels the river flow / Suzuki speaks no lies."  Edouard d'Araille

Contents of this Volume: This anthology of poetry by Edouard d'Araille included verse from all of his previously published works of verse, as well as new poetry commissioned especially for this work. It was the most varied compilation of his poetry when it was published in paperback in 2007 though it has been superceded by later works 'Love Immortal', 'Words of Mass Destruction' and 'Out of the Ghetto'. Below is a summary of the contents of this new anthology :

- Publisher's Note
- Author's Notice (by Edouard d'Araille)
Words Can't Hold...
0. Thirteen Pence for a Poet [prologue]
Year I: unborn tomorrow
Year II: song of the east - 1
Year III: beyond the rim
Year IV: song of the east – 2
Year V: starting from scratch
Year VI: song of the east - 3
Year VII: sense without sense
Year VIII: song of the east - 4
Year IX: the man of stone
Year X: words can't hold . . .
00. Now / Never [epilogue]

A Footnote: Over the period of a decade the poetry of Edouard d'Araille has appeared in ten publications and as eight full-length volumes.This brand new anthology presents a cross-section of his career with carefully chosen selections from each of his major works. This ‘Decade of Poetry’ also presents ten new poems, including the title work ‘Words Can’t Hold. . .’. He has announced it as his final cycle of poetry, because, as he says: “Words can’t hold what I have to say now, the meaning slips out of their skins”. - This would not, however, turn out to be true as Mr. d'Araille published five further volumes of poetry since this book appeared, as also his poetic translation of 'Adapa's Ascent' the ancient Mesopotamian epic (2018).

Extract 1:
'The Fallen'

How many
have fallen? -
How many will die?
How long till we see
that the Truth
is a Lie?

The soldier
of pain
and the widow
of loss,
Those who fall
by the sword
and who cry
by the cross

When will we
save them?
and
When will
it end?

I do not know.
I cannot pretend.

But I know that
the enemy
is not our foe,
and their death
like our own
is the greatest of woes.

Blood also pumps
through the Heart of Iraq,
and the Afghan Man
has a Soul like our Land.
Do not send us to war!
Do not make our girls wail!

The Soldier,
he too, dreams of
peace in his bed...

How many
are fallen? -
How many must die?
Before we stop falling -
Before dies
the Lie?

Extract 2:
'THE CRIME'

I AM NOT A DANGEROUS SUBVERSIVE,
NOR VAGRANT OF THE CITY STREETS,
A CONTRAVENER OF THE LAW,
OR CRIMINALLY INSANE,
- ALL I DO IS TO SIT
AND PERFORM THE ONLY
CRIME I KNOW HOW TO COMMIT :
TO MAKE YOU SEE WHO YOU ARE,
TO HOLD UP A MIRROR TO MANKIND.

Extract 3:
'Scotch on the Rocks'

the early morning
whisky drinkers are
always here
at an hour the same

you cannot stop
them drinking no
more than halt
a train on its tracks
every day they take the same:
“scotch on the rocks
with a double twist”

that was the drink that
they first drank when they
met in the café of the sun

they drink a dozen and
then they are ready
to take on the world again

Extract 4:
'La Vida es Sueno'

the doors of the night
have been opened again
- we slip into a dream

meeting beside a fountain
I ask ‘have I met you before,
do I know your name?’

you answer me not
but lead me aside -
taking me by the hand

through the bakery window
I read your lips
“une baguette s’il vous plaît”
- will we share this bread?

water on charcoals,
eyes filled with steam
- sleepwalking into
a smoke-filled dream

the doors of the night
lead to spaces now distant,
to hours forgotten
and time not yet lived.

You will get a PDF (4MB) file

$ 9.95

$ 9.95

Buy Now

Discount has been applied.

Added to cart
or
Add to Cart
Adding ...