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3.77 AVERAGE
3.77 AVERAGE
challenging
dark
emotional
inspiring
reflective
sad
slow-paced
Before I say anything else about this book: Goblin Market is a god-tier poem in my opinion. The language is so vivid and evocative, it flows so amazingly, it transports you to a whole other world.
There were some other stand-out poems to me in this collection: No, Thank You, John (Christina spoke only the truth!) and the one about the illegitimate daughter of a rich lady who then went to live with her but was never acknowledged. I thought that one was incredibly moving.
I also did like other poems throughout the collection, and really enjoyed the way language was used. But the majority of it, especially the Devotional Pieces, was a slog. I read the whole thing because poems I enjoyed kept popping up in between, but to be honest I wished I hadn't bothered with the second half or so of the book.
Still, I am glad to have come across the poems I especially enjoyed, which I likely wouldn't have if I hadn't read the whole thing.
There were some other stand-out poems to me in this collection: No, Thank You, John (Christina spoke only the truth!) and the one about the illegitimate daughter of a rich lady who then went to live with her but was never acknowledged. I thought that one was incredibly moving.
I also did like other poems throughout the collection, and really enjoyed the way language was used. But the majority of it, especially the Devotional Pieces, was a slog. I read the whole thing because poems I enjoyed kept popping up in between, but to be honest I wished I hadn't bothered with the second half or so of the book.
Still, I am glad to have come across the poems I especially enjoyed, which I likely wouldn't have if I hadn't read the whole thing.
reflective
medium-paced
This book was quite misleading. I went expecting poems along the lines of the goblin market, malicious faeries and whimsical settings galore. Instead I get mostly depressing tidbits on death and lack of love, all of it rife with seasonal imagery. Oh, also a wave of religion inspired writings at the end. Not a big fan of that kind of stuff. I definitely need to choose my next poetry reading more carefully.
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I came to read The Goblin Market because of its reputation as a sapphic text. I’m an AFAB married to a woman, and I find queer poetry, especially sapphic, very fulfilling. The writing is evocative and colorful, which I greatly enjoyed, but I found the queer aspect to be obscured by vagaries and made uncomfortable by the main characters being “sisters;” whether that is meant to be read as literal or figurative sisterhood isn’t entirely clear. The argument can be made that their relationship is written somewhat intangibly as a product of its time, being an era unfriendly to gay folk. I’ve also seen it argued that the story is an allegory for addiction. Having read the text and reviews of it, I feel like neither description fits comfortably. I enjoyed the prose, but I can’t say that I found my experience reflected in the text as clearly as I’d hoped.
emotional
reflective
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
N/A
Strong character development:
N/A
Loveable characters:
N/A
Diverse cast of characters:
N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus:
N/A
dark
emotional
sad
Main topics of the different poems are love lost, time passing, grief, death, religion and loneliness.
There was one poem where I was surprised the person the woman waited for showed up
It turned out he showed up as a ghost. I should've known better by then XD
Excerpts from the other poems (not Goblin's market)
I wept for memory;
She sang for hope that is so fair:
My tears were swallowed by the sea;
Her songs died on the air.
A sigh because the days are long!
Long long these days that pass in sighing,
A burden saddens every song:
While time lags who should be flying,
We live who would be dying.
'Feel not after my clasping hand:
I am but a shadow, come from the meadow
Where many lie, but no tree can stand.
'We are trees which have shed their leaves:
Our heads lie low there, but no tears flow there;
Only I grieve for my wife who grieves.
'I could rest if you would not moan
Hour after hour; I have no power
To shut my ears where I lie alone.
'I could rest if you would not cry;
Because you're handsome, Helen Grey,
Is that a reason to be proud?
Your eyes are bold, your laugh is loud,
Your steps go mincing on their way;
But so you miss that modest charm
Which is the surest charm of all:
Take heed, you yet may trip and fall,
And no man care to stretch his arm.
Yet now, before our sun grow dark at noon,
Before we come to nought beneath Thy rod,
Before we go down quick into the pit,
Remember us for good, O God, our God:—
Thy Name will I remember, praising it,
Though Thou forget me, though Thou hide Thy face,
And blot me from the Book which Thou hast writ;
Thy Name will I remember in my praise
And call to mind Thy faithfulness of old,
Though as a weaver Thou cut off my days,
And end me as a tale ends that is told.
There was one poem where I was surprised the person the woman waited for showed up
Excerpts from the other poems (not Goblin's market)
She sang for hope that is so fair:
My tears were swallowed by the sea;
Her songs died on the air.
Long long these days that pass in sighing,
A burden saddens every song:
While time lags who should be flying,
We live who would be dying.
I am but a shadow, come from the meadow
Where many lie, but no tree can stand.
'We are trees which have shed their leaves:
Our heads lie low there, but no tears flow there;
Only I grieve for my wife who grieves.
'I could rest if you would not moan
Hour after hour; I have no power
To shut my ears where I lie alone.
'I could rest if you would not cry;
Is that a reason to be proud?
Your eyes are bold, your laugh is loud,
Your steps go mincing on their way;
But so you miss that modest charm
Which is the surest charm of all:
Take heed, you yet may trip and fall,
And no man care to stretch his arm.
Before we come to nought beneath Thy rod,
Before we go down quick into the pit,
Remember us for good, O God, our God:—
Thy Name will I remember, praising it,
Though Thou forget me, though Thou hide Thy face,
And blot me from the Book which Thou hast writ;
Thy Name will I remember in my praise
And call to mind Thy faithfulness of old,
Though as a weaver Thou cut off my days,
And end me as a tale ends that is told.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death, Suicidal thoughts, Grief, Abandonment
Minor: Child death, Infertility, Infidelity, Slavery, Pregnancy
I could not find the exact edition of poetry that I read, which was The Goblin Market and Selected Poems. Here is my review of that:
http://whatmeread.wordpress.com/2014/12/05/day-623-the-goblin-market-and-selected-poems/
http://whatmeread.wordpress.com/2014/12/05/day-623-the-goblin-market-and-selected-poems/
read this for lit nea
honestly, it would be a lie to say a part of me didn't fall slightly in love with this poem. though long and slightly arduous it was like taryn and jude in classical lit.
though sadly no cardan.
honestly, it would be a lie to say a part of me didn't fall slightly in love with this poem. though long and slightly arduous it was like taryn and jude in classical lit.
though sadly no cardan.
I love Goblin Market and her other poems are great as well. I probably shouldn't have read a whole book of poetry in one sitting though because it gets old fast.