Irving Layton dead at 93

[Guest]

They dance best who dance with desire
Who lifting feet of fire from fire
Weave before they lie down
A red carpet for the sun


Irving Layton​

 

[Guest]

He wrote bombastic, sexy poetry and kept at it to the end.

A grieving Leonard Cohen said yesterday from Montreal, "There was Irving Layton, and then there was the rest of us. He is our greatest poet, our greatest champion of poetry. Alzheimer's could not silence him, and neither will death."

 

[flyguy69]

He wrote bombastic, sexy poetry and kept at it to the end.

Can you link some of his work?

 

[Guest]

Can you link some of his work?

I've been searching for some to post here - this is all I could find so far.


The Swimmer

Irving Layton

Afternoon foreclosing, see
The swimmer plunges from his raft,
Opening the spray corollas at his act of war -
The snake heads strike
Quickly and are silent.

Emerging see how for a moment,
A brown weed with marvelous bulbs,
He lies immiment upon the water
While light and sound come with a sharp passion
From the gonad sea around the poles
And break in bright cockle-shells about his ears.

He dives, floats, goes under like a thief
Where his blood sings to the tiger shadows
In the scentless greenery that leads him home,
A male salmon down fretted stairways
Through underwater slums....

Stunned by the memory of lost gills
He frames gestures of self-absorption
Upon the skull-like beach;
Observes with instigated eyes
The sun that empties itself upon the water,
And the last wave romping in
To throw its boyhood on the marble sand,


Here is his bio

 

[eagleyez]

very nice.

Thanks as always for your cogent info, refreshing to say the least.

 

[Guest]

very nice.

Thanks as always for your cogent info, refreshing to say the least.

Thanks but I'm still not voting.

 

[eagleyez]

Thanks but I'm still not voting.

smart girl.

sassafrass.

 

[Tzara]

http://www.parl.gc.ca/information/about/people/poet/poem-of-the-week/poems-e.htm?param=37

 

[Guest]

http://www.parl.gc.ca/information/about/people/poet/poem-of-the-week/poems-e.htm?param=37

You rock! I tried all morning to find one of the erotic poems he's famous for!


thanks!

 

[TheRainMan]

that's a great poem up top.

he was a terrific writer.

R.I.P.

 

[Tzara]

This one reminds me of our own bogusbrig:

Nausicaa

"I'm the sort of girl
you must first tell you love."
"I love you," I said.
She gave herself to me then
and I enjoyed her on her perfumed bed.

By the gods, the pleasure in her small
wriggling body was so great,
I had spoken no lecherous falsehood.
Now not I nor my beloved,
such is our heat,
can wait for either words or scented sheet
but on her or my raincoat go roughly to it.​

 

[Angeline]

Impossible indeed! Can't find any poems, but I did find a cool video interview with him here.

He was quite a character, wasn't he?

 

[annaswirls]

Yeah it does! Especially the wriggling body and lecherous falsehood....

Thank you Tess et al for posting this... sad when the poetry ends, thank god it always goes on...

This one reminds me of our own bogusbrig:

Nausicaa

"I'm the sort of girl
you must first tell you love."
"I love you," I said.
She gave herself to me then
and I enjoyed her on her perfumed bed.

By the gods, the pleasure in her small
wriggling body was so great,
I had spoken no lecherous falsehood.
Now not I nor my beloved,
such is our heat,
can wait for either words or scented sheet
but on her or my raincoat go roughly to it.​

 

[Tzara]

Not everyone seems to have found Mr. Layton's poems erotic. Apparently Joanne Lewis didn't, but her article does have a number of excerpts of his poems.

 

[Guest]

This one reminds me of our own bogusbrig:

Perhaps it is! After all, a poet by any other name......right?

 

[jthserra]

He was Canadian wasn't he?

Beyond Margret Atwood, I am woefully ignorant of Canadian poets. Of course I may read some but think they are American.

jim : )

 

[Guest]

He was Canadian wasn't he?

Beyond Margret Atwood, I am woefully ignorant of Canadian poets. Of course I may read some but think they are American.

jim : )

Sorry, jim. I didn't see your reply until just now. He was, indeed, Canadian. There are many great - imo - poets worth looking into, in fact you've spurred me to create a thread promoting Canadian poetry.

 

[flyguy69]

Sorry, jim. I didn't see your reply until just now. He was, indeed, Canadian. There are many great - imo - poets worth looking into, in fact you've spurred me to create a thread promoting Canadian poetry.

I think I posted a Robt. Service piece in Mutt's "Manly Poems" thread.

 

[Angeline]

Not everyone seems to have found Mr. Layton's poems erotic. Apparently Joanne Lewis didn't, but her article does have a number of excerpts of his poems.

seen any good movies lately?

 

[Tzara]

seen any good movies lately?

Match Point was pretty good, Annie.

 

[Guest]

seen any good movies lately?

If you and The Unintentional Skier haven't seen this one it's worth a chilly trip to a good DVD rental place, We liked it so much we bought it!

 

[Angeline]

If you and The Unintentional Skier haven't seen this one it's worth a chilly trip to a good DVD rental place, We liked it so much we bought it!

Sounds wonderful though the trick will be finding it here. We have Blockbuster Video. They suck.

And I just cancelled our Netflix subscription. Darnit.