Charles Reznikoff - Twilight Rhythms & Other Poems (Forgotten Poets)

Charles Reznikoff - Twilight Rhythms & Other Poems
Forgotten Poets #11 / forgottenpoets.substack.com

'Twilight Rhythms & Other Poems' [124 pages] brings together over 100 poems by New York poet Charles Reznikoff, including selections from Rhythms I (1918), Rhythms II (1919), Poems (1920), Urial Acosta (1921) & Five Groups of Verse (1927); with a number of restored illustrations by artist Coulton Waugh. While Reznikoff never attained success as a poet in his own time, his work was later celebrated, first by Louis Zukofsky and the Objectivists in the 1930s, and then by the Beats in the 1950s. Allen Ginsberg in particular was a fan of Reznikoff's work, and affectionately called him "one of Walt Whitman's grandchildren."

. . . . . . . . . .

On Brooklyn Bridge I saw a man drop dead,
It meant no more than if he were a sparrow.

Above us rose Manhattan,
Below the river spread to meet bay and sky.

. . . . . . . . . .

It rains.
The elms curve into clouds of twigs
The lawns are empty.

. . . . . . . . . .

The shopgirls leave their work
Quietly.

Machines are still, tables and chairs
Darken.
The silent rounds of mice and roaches begin.

. . . . . . . . . .

The Forgotten Poets Newsletter presents new collections of out-of-print and obscure poetry, with a focus on compressed & fragmented 'free' and 'new' verse from the late-1800s & early-1900s, & the early history of English-language tanka & haiku. Verses are carefully selected & spaciously laid-out, adorned with illustrations & ornaments from the books & magazines they originally appeared in. These are not "reprints" of previously published books, but newly crafted collections, for the serious poetry lover.