Each day this week, the Book Review will present a new essay, game and series of celebrity readings designed to help you memorize a delightful poem. Today we hear from Aliza Aufrichtig, who created and edited the Poetry Challenge’s interactive design and games. Dear readers, Welcome to Day 2 of the Poetry Challenge! We began the week by looking at the stars together with W.H. Auden. Day 1 (and the cosmos) are still there, if you’re just getting started. My colleagues and I spent several glorious weeks reading many poems to find our Poetry Challenge Goldilocks: not too long, not too short, not too shallow, not too inscrutable. And, among other criteria, a poem with a line that a tattoo lover might want inked upon herself. Today, as we focus on Auden’s “The More Loving One” in a lineage of love poems, we encounter its “tattoo line” in the second stanza: “Let the more loving one be me.” I’ve delighted in all of the recordings of the poem and listened to them dozens of times. Each adds a new layer of meaning, and of humanity; almost all have some mistake or light variation on the text. Even in my own recording, for which I dragged my more loving husband to a botanic garden to film me, I flubbed a few words. I realized it immediately but needed to cede my prime spot in front of an effusive cherry blossom tree to a group of tourists. As you memorize the poem, consider every error a gift: an opportunity to examine why Auden didn’t choose that word, and the meaning of what he actually wrote. But you’ll probably want to make sure your tattoo artist triple-checks the words against the original.
We hope you’ve enjoyed this newsletter, which is made possible through subscriber support. Subscribe to The New York Times. Love this email? Forward to a friend. Want this email? Sign-up here. Have a suggestion for this email? Then send us a note at books@nytimes.com. Want to see more of our expert reporting in your Google search results?
|
