Helsinki Drift

Nonfiction, Travel, Europe, Fiction & Literature, Anthologies, Poetry
Cover of the book Helsinki Drift by Douglas Burnet Smith, Dundurn
View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart
Author: Douglas Burnet Smith ISBN: 9781770706460
Publisher: Dundurn Publication: May 16, 2002
Imprint: Dundurn Language: English
Author: Douglas Burnet Smith
ISBN: 9781770706460
Publisher: Dundurn
Publication: May 16, 2002
Imprint: Dundurn
Language: English

Actress Mae West once said "I’ve been things and seen places." Poet Douglas Burnet Smith might well be able to lay claim to the same boast. In his latest collection of verse he takes the reader on a kaleidoscopic journey through Amsterdam’s antique streets and canals, Tuscany’s sun-soaked landscapes, Paris’s Gallic gabble of monuments and madcaps, and the title poem’s Finnish auditory and aural delights. In one poem we play Scrabble with Dadaist Tristan Tzara. In another work, "Sophia," we encounter "the mangy wisdom of wild dogs on every street,/skulking, pawing rabid piles of garbage/choking gutters, begging at the front doors of restaurants/like reeducated ideologues." In still another verse the poet’s persona contemplates Italian artist Giotto in Colorado, citing "the copper hogbacks" in which "he sees layered/trecento shale-engraved depictions of Egypt and the Exodus." And everywhere his Muse takes him, Smith injects his stopovers with fresh perspectives, lending credence to seventeenth- century English essayist Sir Thomas Browne’s dictum: "Ready to be anything in the ecstasy of being ever."

View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart

Actress Mae West once said "I’ve been things and seen places." Poet Douglas Burnet Smith might well be able to lay claim to the same boast. In his latest collection of verse he takes the reader on a kaleidoscopic journey through Amsterdam’s antique streets and canals, Tuscany’s sun-soaked landscapes, Paris’s Gallic gabble of monuments and madcaps, and the title poem’s Finnish auditory and aural delights. In one poem we play Scrabble with Dadaist Tristan Tzara. In another work, "Sophia," we encounter "the mangy wisdom of wild dogs on every street,/skulking, pawing rabid piles of garbage/choking gutters, begging at the front doors of restaurants/like reeducated ideologues." In still another verse the poet’s persona contemplates Italian artist Giotto in Colorado, citing "the copper hogbacks" in which "he sees layered/trecento shale-engraved depictions of Egypt and the Exodus." And everywhere his Muse takes him, Smith injects his stopovers with fresh perspectives, lending credence to seventeenth- century English essayist Sir Thomas Browne’s dictum: "Ready to be anything in the ecstasy of being ever."

More books from Dundurn

Cover of the book Mohawks on the Nile by Douglas Burnet Smith
Cover of the book Demon in My View by Douglas Burnet Smith
Cover of the book Scientific Parenting by Douglas Burnet Smith
Cover of the book David Watmough's 2-Book Bundle by Douglas Burnet Smith
Cover of the book Riviera Blues by Douglas Burnet Smith
Cover of the book The Oakdale Dinner Club by Douglas Burnet Smith
Cover of the book Two Billion Trees and Counting by Douglas Burnet Smith
Cover of the book Adventures in the West by Douglas Burnet Smith
Cover of the book Grave Doubts by Douglas Burnet Smith
Cover of the book The Great Canadian Bucket List — Newfoundland and Labrador by Douglas Burnet Smith
Cover of the book Rails Across the Prairies by Douglas Burnet Smith
Cover of the book Battle Royal by Douglas Burnet Smith
Cover of the book Beautiful Lie the Dead by Douglas Burnet Smith
Cover of the book Now You Know Golf by Douglas Burnet Smith
Cover of the book The Artsy Mistake Mystery by Douglas Burnet Smith
We use our own "cookies" and third party cookies to improve services and to see statistical information. By using this website, you agree to our Privacy Policy