Henri Cole Knihy

„Eine strahlende Gedichtsammlung. Henri Coles Lebensfreude ist Balsam für die Seele.“ Publishers Weekly „Poesie von seltener Kühnheit" urteilte Louise Glück über den Franko-Amerikaner Henri Cole, der eine zentrale Stimme der amerikanischen Dichtung ist. Seine Verse, geschult an Kavafis und Bishop, sind gezeichnet von der heiteren Verzweiflung eines Zeitgenossen, der sich fragt, was das Wesen des Menschen noch ausmacht: ob er registriert, wie sich die Wochen recyceln, wie sich das Chaos von allein durchsortiert, oder ob er ein Foto entdeckt, auf dem Flüchtlinge das Fleisch eines toten Pferds verzehren. Coles Sprache glüht dunkel, seine Gedichte sind eine Offenbarung.

Exploring profound themes such as mortality, addiction, and the human experience, the poems delve into the complexities of the body and its dualities—pleasure and pain. The collection balances innocence with self-criticism and intertwines eroticism with elegy. Cole's artistry shines through his understated yet powerful language, masterful rhythms, and vivid imagery, reflecting a mid-life journey that embraces both solitude and connection. This work showcases his evolving talent and commitment to truth in contemporary poetry.

New and selected sonnets from Henri Cole, a poet with “a quality of daring that is rare in our poetry” (Louise Glück). I take joy in considering my generation. I rewrite to be read, though I feel shame acknowledging it. Scattered among imposing trees, the ancient and the modern intersect, spreading germs of pain and happiness. I curl up in my fleece and drink. The poems collected in Gravity and Center represent thirty years of work by one of America’s finest living poets. Henri Cole has reconceived and mastered his own version of the sonnet. As he explains in his afterword, “I believe a poem is a sonnet if it behaves like one, and this doesn’t mean rhyming iambic pentameter lines. More important is the psychological dimension, the little fractures and leaps and resolutions the poem enacts . . . For some reason the lean, muscular body of the sonnet frees me to be simultaneously dignified and bold, to appear somewhat socialized though what I have to say may be eccentric or unethical, and, most important of all, to have aesthetic power while writing about the tragic situation of the individual in the world.” Cole is both confessional and abstract, intimate and cosmopolitan, astringent and open to beauty. Whether he is writing about the contingencies of selfhood, the lives of animals and plants, or the violent events of the world, there is always the incandescence of language.

Exploring the interplay of autobiography and memory, this collection features thirty poignant lyrics that balance classical serenity with life's challenges. Henri Cole's work is marked by a fierce honesty and a deep engagement with poetic traditions, drawing inspiration from luminaries like Wallace Stevens and Hart Crane. The sequence 'Apollo' stands out, showcasing Cole's aesthetic mastery and emotional depth, suggesting his prominence as a poet of his generation. Harold Bloom recognizes the collection's significant contribution to contemporary poetry.

Set against a backdrop of relentless time, the narrative explores the complexities of human relationships and the impact of choices made in the face of inevitable change. Characters grapple with their pasts and futures, navigating through emotional landscapes that challenge their perceptions of love, loss, and redemption. The story delves into themes of memory and the fleeting nature of existence, ultimately revealing how time shapes our identities and destinies.

A poetic portrait of Paris that combines prose poetry, diary, and memoir by award-winning writer and poet Henri Cole. Henri Cole’s Orphic Paris combines autobiography, diary, essay, and poetry with photographs to create a new form of elegiac memoir. With Paris as a backdrop, Cole, an award-winning American poet, explores with fresh and penetrating insight the nature of friendship and family, poetry and solitude, the self and freedom. Cole writes of Paris, “For a time, I lived here, where the call of life is so strong. My soul was colored by it. Instead of worshiping a creator or man, I cared fully for myself, and felt no guilt and confessed nothing, and in this place I wrote, I was nourished, and I grew.” Written under the tutelary spirit of Orpheus—mystic, oracular, entrancing—Orphic Paris is an intimate Paris journal and a literary commonplace book that is a touching, original, brilliant account of the city and of the artists, writers, and luminaries, including Cole himself, who have been moved by it to create.

Exploring the tension between language and experience, the narrative delves into the protagonist's struggle with communication and its impact on their perception of reality. As they navigate their inner world, the story highlights themes of isolation and the desire for authentic connection. The journey reveals how words can both bridge and create gaps in understanding, ultimately questioning the role of language in shaping one's existence.