{"id":129179,"date":"2018-09-11T13:00:01","date_gmt":"2018-09-11T17:00:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/?p=129179"},"modified":"2018-09-11T18:17:26","modified_gmt":"2018-09-11T22:17:26","slug":"redux-such-is-the-way-with-monumental-things","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2018\/09\/11\/redux-such-is-the-way-with-monumental-things\/","title":{"rendered":"Redux: Such Is the Way with Monumental Things"},"content":{"rendered":"

Every week, the editors of<\/em>\u00a0The Paris Review\u00a0lift the paywall on a selection of interviews, stories, poems, and more from the magazine\u2019s archive. You can have these unlocked\u00a0pieces delivered straight to your inbox every\u00a0Sunday by\u00a0signing up for the Redux newsletter<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

This week, to celebrate his work as the guest poetry editor of the\u00a0Fall issue<\/a>, we bring you selections of work by Henri Cole: his 2014\u00a0Art of Poetry interview<\/a>, in which he outlines what he\u00a0requires from a good poem; \u201cWest Point Remembered<\/a>,\u201d from the Fall 1988 issue, Cole\u2019s first appearance in our pages; and the\u00a0poem\u00a0\u201cAt the Grave of Elizabeth Bishop<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n

Henri Cole, The Art of Poetry No. 98<\/a>
\nIssue no. 209 (Summer 2014)<\/em><\/p>\n

I think it would be rather narrow\u2014and moralistic\u2014to say that poetry must comfort us and point to what is good. I don\u2019t think that is the function of art, though sometimes it is a happy result. In any case, a sentimental, moralizing poem is not what I want to write. I don\u2019t want the reader to experience comfort\u2014I want the opposite.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

West Point Remembered<\/a>
\nBy Henri Cole
\nIssue no. 108 (Fall 1988)<\/em><\/p>\n

Such is the way with monumental things:
\nto make us see and wonder.
\nThe unreserved calm of the place
\nmade us marvel at the world\u2019s problems.
\nAcross the post office lawn
\ncadets gathered in twos and threes,
\neach man with trousers pressed
\nand six gilded buttons riveted
\nin a field of grey. They greeted each
\nother with perfect Victorian courtesy,
\nand one with his head cocked in daydream,
\ncap pushed back at a boyish slant,
\na yellow letter unfolded and waving
\nin his hand, asked himself,
\nas any one of us might,
\n\u201cWhat do the words mean?\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

At the Grave of Elizabeth Bishop<\/a>
\nBy Henri Cole
\nIssue no. 164 (Winter 2002\u20132003)<\/em><\/p>\n

I, detaching myself from the human I, Henri,
\nwithout thick eyeglasses or rubberized white skin,
\nstretched out like a sinewy cat in the brown grass
\nto see what I felt, wrapping my tail around me,
\nhiding my eyes.
\nI slept. I waited. I sucked air,
\ninstead of milk. I listened to pigeons murmuring.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

 <\/p>\n

If you like what you read,\u00a0get a year of<\/a>\u00a0<\/em>The Paris Review\u2014four new issues, plus instant access to everything we\u2019ve ever published.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Every week, the editors of\u00a0The Paris Review\u00a0lift the paywall on a selection of interviews, stories, poems, and more from the magazine\u2019s archive. You can have these unlocked\u00a0pieces delivered straight to your inbox every\u00a0Sunday by\u00a0signing up for the Redux newsletter.     This week, to celebrate his work as the guest poetry editor of the\u00a0Fall issue, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[31006],"tags":[36944,9249,165,36943],"class_list":["post-129179","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-redux","tag-at-the-grave-of-elizabeth-bishop","tag-henri-cole","tag-poetry","tag-west-point-remembered"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nRedux: Such Is the Way with Monumental Things by The Paris Review<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Every week, the editors of\u00a0\u2018The Paris Review\u2019\u00a0lift the paywall on a selection of interviews, stories, poems, and more from the magazine\u2019s archive. 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