Louise in Love: PoemsIn this stunning new collection of poems, Mary Jo Bang jettisons the reader into the dreamlike world of Louise, a woman in love. With language delicate, smooth, and wryly funny, Louise is on a voyage without destination, traveling with a cast of enigmatic others, including her lover, Ham. Louise is as musical as she is mysterious and the reader is invited to listen. In her world, anything goes, provided it is breathtaking. Bang, whose first collection was the prize-winning Apology for Want, both parodies and pays homage to the lyric tradition, borrowing its lush music and dramatic structure to give new voice to the old concerns of the late Romantic poets. Louise in Love is a dramatic postmodern verse-novel with an eloquent free-floating narration. The poems, rife with literary allusion, take journeys to distant lands. And, like anyone on a voyage without a destination, they are endlessly questioning of the enigmatic world around them. |
Contents
ECLIPSED | 3 |
SHE COULDNT SING AT ALL AT ALL | 4 |
THE DOG BARK | 5 |
BELLE VUE | 6 |
THE STARS WHOLE SECRET | 8 |
KISS KISS SAID LOUISE BY WAY OF A PAY PHONE | 9 |
THE DIARY OF A LOST GIRL | 11 |
THE ANA OF BLISS | 12 |
TRAVEL IS EASY BY TRAIN | 42 |
A PORTRAIT OF LOVE | 44 |
THE RAVEN FEEDS REYNARD | 46 |
WHAT IS A MOUTH? | 47 |
NIGHT FALLING FAST | 48 |
DARK SMUDGED THE PATH UNTRAMMELED | 50 |
A HURRICRANIUM HE SAID | 52 |
CAPTIVITY | 54 |
A CAKE OF NINETEEN SLICES | 14 |
LOUISE | 15 |
LIKE A FIRE IN A FIRE | 16 |
DOES MRS HUNT TEAR LINEN STRAIGHT AS EVER? | 17 |
TIME SPEEDS SAID LOUISE WHEN A FEVER RISES | 18 |
LOUISE IN LOVE | 19 |
OH DEAR WHAT CAN THE MATTER BE | 21 |
THAT WAS ALL LOUISE SAID EXCEPT FOR | 22 |
AND NO SIGN WILL MARK THE MIDPOINTS PASSING | 23 |
SHE LOVED FALLING | 25 |
TO SAVOR THE SEQUEL | 27 |
TOO LATE LOUISE SAID MEANS | 29 |
PRETTIPLEASE | 31 |
YOU COULD SAY SHE WAS WILLFUL BUT COMPARED TO WHAT? | 32 |
THE PENGUIN CHIAROSCURO | 34 |
THE MEDICINAL COTTON CLOUDS COME DOWN TO COVER THEM | 36 |
THE STORY OF SMALL CARS | 37 |
LEXICON LOUISE | 38 |
LOUISE SIGHS SUCH A LONG WINTER THIS | 40 |
THEY CHIRP THEY WHISTLE AND WORDS | 55 |
INCONSEQUENT MOMENT | 57 |
ETCHED TETCHED TOUCHED | 59 |
IN THE QUIETER AFTERMATH | 61 |
A LITTLE MILLENNIAL DIRGE | 62 |
RITUAL GESTURES | 64 |
SO THIS | 65 |
THE STILL KNIFE STILL SUSPENDED | 66 |
ONE WITHOUT HAS TWO OR THREE WITHIN | 67 |
2 TO RETAIN THE ARRANGEMENT | 68 |
3 SHE WENT OUT INTO THE CLEAR COAST | 69 |
4 EXQUISITE CORPSE | 70 |
5 NIGHT AND NAIL | 71 |
6 ENCHAINED | 73 |
RAPTURED | 74 |
O TRAUMA | 77 |
INTERRUPTED BRIEFLY BY A BORROWED PHRASE THE SCENE PROCEEDS | 79 |
THEY WERE THAT AND THEN | 81 |
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Common terms and phrases
ANA OF BLISS BELLE VUE birds blue boat CAKE OF NINETEEN Charles Gordon clairvoyant croquet Dalloway DOG BARK dreamed dress EARLY LESSON EASY BY TRAIN easy to love empty ENCHAINED EXQUISITE CORPSE eyes face feathers FIRE flower frond Ham asked HAM PAINTS hand hibiscus HUNT TEAR LINEN HURRICRANIUM Hyperion ILLUSTRATE AN EARLY italicized lines Keats's kiss KNIFE STILL SUSPENDED light LONG WINTER looked LOST GIRL LOUISE IN LOVE LOUISE SIGHS MARK THE MIDPOINT'S MARY JO BANG MIDPOINT'S PASSING mirror mouth NIGHT AND NAIL NIGHT FALLING FAST NINETEEN SLICES Ophelia PAINTS A PICTURE PATH UNTRAMMELED Pavlovian PENGUIN CHIAROSCURO PICTURE TO ILLUSTRATE PRETTIPLEASE pretty QUIETER AFTERMATH rapture RAVEN FEEDS REYNARD SAVOR THE SEQUEL SCENE PROCEEDS SIGN WILL MARK SMALL CARS SMUDGED THE PATH someone STAR'S WHOLE SECRET STORY OF SMALL sweet TEAR LINEN STRAIGHT TETCHED there's thread TRAVEL IS EASY tree window wrapped