Friday, June 16, 2006
Michael Koshkin's parad e r ain
A few weeks ago I read Ronald Johnson's radi os, and followed that with Michael Koshkin's parad e r ain, recently released from Big Game Books. Each are erasures, a form or approach or exercise I was, actually, pretty unfamiliar with until I heard about radi os a few months ago--an erasure of Paradise Lost--and then Koshkin's homage, which is an erasure of Paradise Regained. --The secondary title for MK's book is a least virtuous joy. This form is perhaps having a revival and that's why it has just now come to my attention; there's even a site devoted to erasures, Wave's Erasure Site.
After Johnson wrote, or etched out his radi os, one might wonder why anyone else would want to do erasures ever again, as it is a capsulation of an idiosyncratic and clever idea. As well, the idea of creating poems from erasures seems almost endless--where would it ever stop? Could one create a whole literary "career" out of erasures? If not, why not? If so, how? Yet, erasures seem to be a form of translation, and also a way to create a whole new poem. And again, one might ask why someone would write another erasure from Milton's trilogy after Johnson tackled Paradise Lost. The answer to that is: Because Michael Koshkin can, and did. The differences between radi os and parad e r ain are remarkable. It's interesting to see how an erasure done in the 70s and one done in the 2000s of similar source material can be so different.
For one, radi os takes on a vastly different approach than parad e r ain. Where Johnson focuses on etching three to four word lines or phrases out of PL, Koshkin often chooses single words, and even goes so far as to erase parts of words to fashion the word he really wants there:
o rad- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - sin
- - - - - - - - - - - when
- - my
-
- - - - - - - - - - - - -circling hours
-
-
-
- - - - - -intend
"rad" being a word I'm pretty positive wasn't anywhere to be "found" in Paradise Regained. And I don't believe that Johnson did any erasure within the singular word of his source text (correct me if I'm wrong).
And, much later on, this type of erasure is used to an extreme:
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - o
- - - - - - - - - - - - - -allure
-
-
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - o - - - -i
- - - - - - - - -- - - - - a - - - - a - - - - o
This style of sound over sense, in places, also marks a difference. Where RJ's erasure carries a heavier "sense" of its source material--that is, the weightedness of its philosophy and language--MK's carries a more modern sense of the lyric, echoing a Lisa Jarnot sort of approach. RJ's major theme in radi os is the imagination (one of Duncan's common themes), where parad e r ain hints at a theme of violence and modern wars--ie, "nam". But, parad e r ain seems to be more interested in fun and tomfoolery (at times you feel the text has goosed you), as well as the creation of "song," or the precise beauty of a word.
Koshkin's characteristic sense of play is recognizable, and notably different from Johnson's sedate take on the form:
- - - - - -a - - -man
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -in light
- - Of
-
-
- - - -man of men
-
-
-
-
- - - - - - - -in
-
- - man or men's
-
-
-
-
-
- - - - - - -man
Johnson's radi os was in four books, while Koshkin's is in the chapbook length of two books. The playfulness and sense of the "new" lyric in Koshkin's new chap makes it worthwhile alone, but one thing it does share with radi os is its deft craftsmanship, and careful attention to music. As beautiful a portrayal radi os is, Koshkin's parad e r ain is as beautiful an approach, worthy of a few reads; and the length of it makes the task of two or three re-reads an unintimadating one. However, I also found myself re-reading the sections in radi os two or three or four times.
Whatever the differences or ideas between these two books, they each continue a tradition of homage and a reminder of lineage. Each, also, ask me to pick up Milton's trilogy and give it another go around.
parad e rain was done in an edition of 100 very attractive hand-sewn copies. So you should go to Big Game Books and get your copy now, as I'm sure they've been selling pretty well already. ¶ 12:30 PM
After Johnson wrote, or etched out his radi os, one might wonder why anyone else would want to do erasures ever again, as it is a capsulation of an idiosyncratic and clever idea. As well, the idea of creating poems from erasures seems almost endless--where would it ever stop? Could one create a whole literary "career" out of erasures? If not, why not? If so, how? Yet, erasures seem to be a form of translation, and also a way to create a whole new poem. And again, one might ask why someone would write another erasure from Milton's trilogy after Johnson tackled Paradise Lost. The answer to that is: Because Michael Koshkin can, and did. The differences between radi os and parad e r ain are remarkable. It's interesting to see how an erasure done in the 70s and one done in the 2000s of similar source material can be so different.
For one, radi os takes on a vastly different approach than parad e r ain. Where Johnson focuses on etching three to four word lines or phrases out of PL, Koshkin often chooses single words, and even goes so far as to erase parts of words to fashion the word he really wants there:
o rad- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - sin
- - - - - - - - - - - when
- - my
-
- - - - - - - - - - - - -circling hours
-
-
-
- - - - - -intend
"rad" being a word I'm pretty positive wasn't anywhere to be "found" in Paradise Regained. And I don't believe that Johnson did any erasure within the singular word of his source text (correct me if I'm wrong).
And, much later on, this type of erasure is used to an extreme:
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - o
- - - - - - - - - - - - - -allure
-
-
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - o - - - -i
- - - - - - - - -- - - - - a - - - - a - - - - o
This style of sound over sense, in places, also marks a difference. Where RJ's erasure carries a heavier "sense" of its source material--that is, the weightedness of its philosophy and language--MK's carries a more modern sense of the lyric, echoing a Lisa Jarnot sort of approach. RJ's major theme in radi os is the imagination (one of Duncan's common themes), where parad e r ain hints at a theme of violence and modern wars--ie, "nam". But, parad e r ain seems to be more interested in fun and tomfoolery (at times you feel the text has goosed you), as well as the creation of "song," or the precise beauty of a word.
Koshkin's characteristic sense of play is recognizable, and notably different from Johnson's sedate take on the form:
- - - - - -a - - -man
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -in light
- - Of
-
-
- - - -man of men
-
-
-
-
- - - - - - - -in
-
- - man or men's
-
-
-
-
-
- - - - - - -man
Johnson's radi os was in four books, while Koshkin's is in the chapbook length of two books. The playfulness and sense of the "new" lyric in Koshkin's new chap makes it worthwhile alone, but one thing it does share with radi os is its deft craftsmanship, and careful attention to music. As beautiful a portrayal radi os is, Koshkin's parad e r ain is as beautiful an approach, worthy of a few reads; and the length of it makes the task of two or three re-reads an unintimadating one. However, I also found myself re-reading the sections in radi os two or three or four times.
Whatever the differences or ideas between these two books, they each continue a tradition of homage and a reminder of lineage. Each, also, ask me to pick up Milton's trilogy and give it another go around.
parad e rain was done in an edition of 100 very attractive hand-sewn copies. So you should go to Big Game Books and get your copy now, as I'm sure they've been selling pretty well already. ¶ 12:30 PM
