WEBVTT

00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:01.500 align:middle line:90%


00:00:01.500 --> 00:00:02.500 align:middle line:90%
Where we at?

00:00:02.500 --> 00:00:06.000 align:middle line:90%


00:00:06.000 --> 00:00:08.010 align:middle line:90%
I'm going to-- let's see.

00:00:08.010 --> 00:00:12.750 align:middle line:84%
I think I'm going to
read three more poems.

00:00:12.750 --> 00:00:17.210 align:middle line:84%
And this one-- there
are a lot of sonnets

00:00:17.210 --> 00:00:19.580 align:middle line:84%
in this book,
which I wasn't even

00:00:19.580 --> 00:00:23.780 align:middle line:90%
aware of as I was writing them.

00:00:23.780 --> 00:00:25.860 align:middle line:90%
It's a wonderful form.

00:00:25.860 --> 00:00:30.560 align:middle line:84%
But one of the things I
argue against all the time

00:00:30.560 --> 00:00:35.000 align:middle line:84%
is the assumption that a
sonnet has to be a love poem.

00:00:35.000 --> 00:00:38.810 align:middle line:84%
And so this sonnet
is in a group--

00:00:38.810 --> 00:00:44.880 align:middle line:84%
a section in the book
called "Eight Angry Odes,"

00:00:44.880 --> 00:00:47.300 align:middle line:90%
a contradiction in terms or not.

00:00:47.300 --> 00:00:50.570 align:middle line:84%
And it's called "A
Sonnet for the Sonnet."

00:00:50.570 --> 00:00:53.540 align:middle line:90%


00:00:53.540 --> 00:00:58.970 align:middle line:84%
"You have occupied the rose
garland throne for so long.

00:00:58.970 --> 00:01:03.650 align:middle line:84%
No one remembers a time when
love wasn't a portable feast,

00:01:03.650 --> 00:01:08.420 align:middle line:84%
metaphorical conceits sung
to the gimpy tread of a heart

00:01:08.420 --> 00:01:09.860 align:middle line:90%
beat.

00:01:09.860 --> 00:01:14.360 align:middle line:84%
That true rhyme equals
contentment, a neatened song

00:01:14.360 --> 00:01:17.270 align:middle line:90%
we've learned to yearn for.

00:01:17.270 --> 00:01:20.690 align:middle line:84%
My dumpling, that is
entirely your doing.

00:01:20.690 --> 00:01:23.420 align:middle line:84%
A glittering fait
accompli, we've

00:01:23.420 --> 00:01:26.210 align:middle line:84%
been duped into
trying to make reality

00:01:26.210 --> 00:01:30.890 align:middle line:84%
complete with lute plucked
warbling under a moon splashed

00:01:30.890 --> 00:01:32.950 align:middle line:90%
lattice.

00:01:32.950 --> 00:01:34.570 align:middle line:90%
Let's face it.

00:01:34.570 --> 00:01:40.000 align:middle line:84%
Love is messy, or boring,
or hurts like hell,

00:01:40.000 --> 00:01:42.940 align:middle line:90%
and then it's gone.

00:01:42.940 --> 00:01:46.810 align:middle line:84%
Even when we're satisfied,
beyond the garden gate,

00:01:46.810 --> 00:01:52.630 align:middle line:84%
the rest waits, all those years
you never thought to mention.

00:01:52.630 --> 00:01:54.850 align:middle line:84%
No matter how the
cake is sliced,

00:01:54.850 --> 00:01:58.170 align:middle line:90%
some choice bits break off.

00:01:58.170 --> 00:02:03.540 align:middle line:84%
It's nearly wide enough for
two, this sugar coated ledge.

00:02:03.540 --> 00:02:09.680 align:middle line:84%
We clamber on for one more
lick of the jagged edge."

00:02:09.680 --> 00:02:12.118 align:middle line:90%