Poetry Friday - Old Book, New Poem

          Tabatha Yeatts-Lonske at The Opposite of Indifference is hosting this week with two poems that are perhaps about escape, but it is up to you about the meaning! Thanks, Tabatha, for the way you make us think when you share, and for hosting.

for an old book of poetry, Gems of Poetry

Page crumbles spill into my hand,

what others held on laps to read.

Attend the poets, accord encores.

When words are read, they live again.

Linda Baie ©

   

        Crumbling, donated, grabbed by me. We couldn't offer it for sale at the bookstore. It really is falling apart. I have to read it on a sheet of newspaper because of the paper flaking off the pages. Here's the book, full of some surprises and some expected, like Byron, Keats, Wordsworth, Shakespeare and a couple from Elizabeth Barrett Browning, one of the few women poets. Published in 1896. I found a re-pub online by someone that said it was important to save. Within the pages are some clippings, a couple of leaves, and very few margin notes, which surprised me. The poems are for adults, focusing some on nature but many are somber, focusing on life, but including quite a bit about death. It's a fascinating look at the choices of an anthologist of that time.  Here are some pictures and one poem I liked that holds a nice thought I believe, there's always tomorrow.

I love seeing Mae's and Alice's Names.

               I should have researched further, but thanks to Heidi's question, I did! This poem is by Celia Thaxter who lived from 1835 to 1894. You can do the research as I did, but I feel terrible that I didn't do more, but assumed it was anonymous. She was quite well-known and I do wonder why there was no attribution in this anthology?