Flew through Louise Gluck’s 4th book of poetry: “The Triumph of Achilles” tonight.
Great stuff. Also loved her book “Ararat” earlier this year that touched my heart in a time of grieving.
Checked out her book/compendium: “The First Four Books of Poetry” and loved her 4th book. Amazing to see the changes in 17 years of a great poet from 1968 to 1985.
One paragraph of her poem “Legend” explains why I like Gluck so much:
“Though the great soul is said to be
a star, a beacon,
what it resembles better is a diamond:
in the whole world there is nothing
hard enough to change it.”
We are all our best selves. We just have to find the hard diamond within that drives us. And not worry so much about the other places where we could be better. As my friend and poet Wil Gibson says: “We are all unanswered prayers.”