Isn’t that a wonder? I love that blooming of the image that happens. I have the same experience with some poems: hearing them connects me to more vivid mental pictures most of the time. Learning from ancient and medieval bardic traditions (Gaelic, Skaldic, Troubadours, and, distantly, Hebrew via Biblical texts) has helped me unseat and de-privilege the written word so I can explore the spoken. God said “Let there be light”—they didn’t write it.
Oh gosh, not this time. But that would be a great goal to learn it off by heart. I was holding a copy of Cinderbiter in one hand, my phone for recording in the other, and walking one of the spindly paths along Sacramento Bar. Tricky when turning the page and trying to not trip over embedded river rocks!
I found listening to your recitation helped me envision the environment of the hermit’s hut in a way that reading it had not. Yes, more please!
Isn’t that a wonder? I love that blooming of the image that happens. I have the same experience with some poems: hearing them connects me to more vivid mental pictures most of the time. Learning from ancient and medieval bardic traditions (Gaelic, Skaldic, Troubadours, and, distantly, Hebrew via Biblical texts) has helped me unseat and de-privilege the written word so I can explore the spoken. God said “Let there be light”—they didn’t write it.
lovely! i enjoyed listening. did you memorize the hermits hut?
Oh gosh, not this time. But that would be a great goal to learn it off by heart. I was holding a copy of Cinderbiter in one hand, my phone for recording in the other, and walking one of the spindly paths along Sacramento Bar. Tricky when turning the page and trying to not trip over embedded river rocks!