WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:01.230 align:middle line:90% 00:00:01.230 --> 00:00:03.750 align:middle line:84% I got interested, as I'm telling you, 00:00:03.750 --> 00:00:09.720 align:middle line:84% in the idea of destructive obsessions. 00:00:09.720 --> 00:00:13.740 align:middle line:84% And when a friend said to me, he says, 00:00:13.740 --> 00:00:18.300 align:middle line:84% "You have to be crazy to write a sestina," I said, 00:00:18.300 --> 00:00:24.240 align:middle line:84% "Aha, now I know what to do to write a sestina." 00:00:24.240 --> 00:00:27.660 align:middle line:84% I hope you could tell, for those of you who recognize the form, 00:00:27.660 --> 00:00:29.610 align:middle line:84% that this is a sestina-- there are 00:00:29.610 --> 00:00:34.020 align:middle line:84% six repeating words in every stanza and they come back 00:00:34.020 --> 00:00:36.240 align:middle line:90% and they keep coming back. 00:00:36.240 --> 00:00:39.480 align:middle line:84% That seemed just right to me because the speaker of the poem 00:00:39.480 --> 00:00:41.160 align:middle line:90% is crazy. 00:00:41.160 --> 00:00:44.640 align:middle line:84% And he drowns the first woman, he drowns the second woman, 00:00:44.640 --> 00:00:50.950 align:middle line:84% and he can't escape from this trap, which is himself. 00:00:50.950 --> 00:00:56.400 align:middle line:90% 00:00:56.400 --> 00:01:04.590 align:middle line:84% I'd like to read you one of the poem that's like that in a way. 00:01:04.590 --> 00:01:14.060 align:middle line:84% The story of this poem, which is called "The Twin" 00:01:14.060 --> 00:01:19.940 align:middle line:84% is that one brother is talking to his twin brother's 00:01:19.940 --> 00:01:26.510 align:middle line:84% fiancee trying to convince his twin brother's fiancee 00:01:26.510 --> 00:01:30.815 align:middle line:84% not to marry his brother just yet but to wait a while. 00:01:30.815 --> 00:01:33.680 align:middle line:90% 00:01:33.680 --> 00:01:38.800 align:middle line:84% So you hear the brother describing his twin brother. 00:01:38.800 --> 00:01:43.990 align:middle line:90% 00:01:43.990 --> 00:01:46.660 align:middle line:90% "He liked to fight. 00:01:46.660 --> 00:01:50.710 align:middle line:84% I can remember how he hit me with a shovel on the beach 00:01:50.710 --> 00:01:52.870 align:middle line:90% when we were four. 00:01:52.870 --> 00:01:56.410 align:middle line:84% And I still see the smirk, when we meet now, 00:01:56.410 --> 00:02:01.060 align:middle line:84% that filled his face as if nothing has changed, 00:02:01.060 --> 00:02:06.940 align:middle line:84% although I know you think he is a gentle and unselfish man. 00:02:06.940 --> 00:02:11.920 align:middle line:84% He poked my eye with a stick, and that scared him. 00:02:11.920 --> 00:02:15.850 align:middle line:84% We embraced and I forgave him then, 00:02:15.850 --> 00:02:19.720 align:middle line:84% and he promised mother that he'd be more careful. 00:02:19.720 --> 00:02:24.220 align:middle line:84% I tell you this because she knew he lied, 00:02:24.220 --> 00:02:26.710 align:middle line:90% and that encouraged him. 00:02:26.710 --> 00:02:34.020 align:middle line:84% Don't let yourself be fooled, he's more persuasive than I am. 00:02:34.020 --> 00:02:40.150 align:middle line:84% Mother believed him since she had no choice, he was her son, 00:02:40.150 --> 00:02:44.710 align:middle line:84% she had to love him, but she told me, weeping, 00:02:44.710 --> 00:02:48.970 align:middle line:84% that brothers must be true to their blood bond. 00:02:48.970 --> 00:02:54.160 align:middle line:84% She took my hand and I was flushed and I agreed. 00:02:54.160 --> 00:03:00.670 align:middle line:84% She sat right there on our old sofa just as you do now. 00:03:00.670 --> 00:03:05.590 align:middle line:84% Your hair reflects the gold threads of your shawl, 00:03:05.590 --> 00:03:09.670 align:middle line:84% that rich brocade brings out your elegance, 00:03:09.670 --> 00:03:13.360 align:middle line:84% you have the cheek bones of a baroness. 00:03:13.360 --> 00:03:17.920 align:middle line:84% Despite our failures, to a primal love-- 00:03:17.920 --> 00:03:21.340 align:middle line:84% like any mother's for a nursing child-- 00:03:21.340 --> 00:03:25.930 align:middle line:84% something in us aspires eternally. 00:03:25.930 --> 00:03:28.150 align:middle line:90% Don't try to change. 00:03:28.150 --> 00:03:33.070 align:middle line:84% Your love for ideal love shines from your forehead 00:03:33.070 --> 00:03:35.140 align:middle line:90% almost visibly. 00:03:35.140 --> 00:03:39.550 align:middle line:84% If he could only see it, I would be at peace 00:03:39.550 --> 00:03:43.600 align:middle line:84% and give my blessings as I should. 00:03:43.600 --> 00:03:47.710 align:middle line:84% But he will hurt you just as he hurt me 00:03:47.710 --> 00:03:52.180 align:middle line:84% unless you learn to hold some feelings back. 00:03:52.180 --> 00:03:57.670 align:middle line:84% Give yourself time, don't marry him so soon. 00:03:57.670 --> 00:04:01.360 align:middle line:84% Observe yourself observing him, and see 00:04:01.360 --> 00:04:06.940 align:middle line:84% if underneath his surface ease you can detect his opposite. 00:04:06.940 --> 00:04:12.910 align:middle line:84% It's my duty as his brother to be the one who warns you-- 00:04:12.910 --> 00:04:17.380 align:middle line:84% people end up repeating what they are. 00:04:17.380 --> 00:04:19.570 align:middle line:90% He liked to fight. 00:04:19.570 --> 00:04:24.460 align:middle line:84% I can remember how we embraced, and I forgave him then. 00:04:24.460 --> 00:04:27.250 align:middle line:84% And he told me, weeping, that brothers 00:04:27.250 --> 00:04:32.590 align:middle line:84% must be true despite our failures, to a primal love 00:04:32.590 --> 00:04:36.670 align:middle line:84% but he will hurt you just as he hurt me. 00:04:36.670 --> 00:04:42.130 align:middle line:84% People end up repeating what they are. 00:04:42.130 --> 00:04:45.180 align:middle line:90% [APPLAUSE] 00:04:45.180 --> 00:04:47.000 align:middle line:90%