Spring is soon approaching, a season that may ignite the artistic side in many of us. Poetry is a great compliment to this wonderful time of the year: the Greek ‘poiesis’ (ποίησις), from ποιέω ‘to make’, reflects the rejuvenation many of us feel during springtime. See below for a couple of ways to access poetry through ibiblio!
There are a couple of notable ways to access poetry via ibiblio – Project Gutenberg and the Internet Poetry Archive. Project Gutenberg may already be familiar to some users. The project is overseen by the PGLAF and acts as an online library of freely downloadable eBooks. Via Project Gutenberg, readers can connect with an expansive library of literature both new and old. To view poetry available through Project Gutenberg, navigate to ‘Bookshelves’ via ‘Search and Browse’. From there, you can select the ‘Poetry’ category and sort by title, author, release date, or popularity.
The Internet Poetry Archive, created by ibiblio founder Paul Jones, aims to “make poetry accessible to new audiences [providing] teachers and students of poetry new ways of presenting and studying [contemporary] poets and their texts.” Follow the link to explore the writings of poets like Seamus Heaney, Margaret Walker, and Yusef Komunyakaa. Also, see Paul Jones’ webpage for a selection of his recently published poetry.
Please enjoy this springtime poem by Gerard Manley Hopkins. Happy reading!
Spring
NOTHING is so beautiful as spring—
When weeds, in wheels, shoot long and lovely and lush;
Thrush’s eggs look little low heavens, and thrush
Through the echoing timber does so rinse and wring
The ear, it strikes like lightnings to hear him sing;
The glassy peartree leaves and blooms, they brush
The descending blue; that blue is all in a rush
With richness; the racing lambs too have fair their fling.
What is all this juice and all this joy?
A strain of the earth’s sweet being in the beginning
In Eden garden. Have, get, before it cloy,
Before it cloud, Christ, lord, and sour with sinning,
Innocent mind and Mayday in girl and boy,
Most, O maid’s child, thy choice and worthy the
winning.