Word: paterson
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...aspirations as a jazz musician, which preceded his interest in poetry, continue to have a strong influence on his verse. For Paterson, poetry is first and foremost a transcription of music—“sing me that old silent song,” he writes. His ear for music is evident in the formal construction of his poems, in which he often employs straightforward rhyme schemes. His poem “The Swing,” for instance, strictly follows the ballad form. He writes, “the bright sweep of its radar...
...Paterson draws on a wide range of poetic conventions, alluding to poets of a remarkable range of nationalities, from Chinese classical poets Li Po and Du Fu, to the French surrealist Robert Desnos and the Peruvian poet César Vallejo. Though he always chooses to write in clear cut poetic forms, he draws these forms from traditions across the globe. It is impressive to find a poet who writes in a Scottish dialect in one poem—“I’m staunin here upricht, wi’ you?...
Just as he uses easily-recognizable forms, Paterson also takes on a familiar, didactic voice. The poem “Correctives” depicts the narrator’s son who uses his right hand to support his left in an effort to write more neatly. As he describes this boy, Paterson derives a broader conclusion about humanity from the image: “the whole man must be his own brother / for no man is himself alone.” It would be easy to imagine this brief poem as a sort of family maxim delivered from generation...
...Although Paterson tends to use older and more traditional verse forms, his book also shows a firm grip on present-day life, displayed in his nonchalant attitude and a variety of witticisms. In the montage-like sequence “Renku: My Last Thirty-five Deaths,” Paterson at times sounds almost too playful to be taken seriously. “If I had a happier dream / this might have been a better poem,” he writes. However, it is precisely this addition of levity that offsets the often overly-sentimental voice that takes precedence...
...simplicity of “Two Trees” is characteristic of the collection as a whole. Paterson’s straightforward rhythms, earnest tones, and candid narratives are equally approachable to poetry novices and veterans alike. Paterson shows a consistently genuine and honest appreciation of ordinary human life. In the title poem, Paterson writes, “I love all films that start with rain... / However bad or overlong / such a film can do no wrong.” Like the images of rain that Paterson admires, his own brand of poetic sincerity, “however...