Welcome to my Sunday Book Review. Today I’m reviewing Book 3 in Frank Prem’s Love Poetry Trilogy – Rescue and Redemption. This book was inspired by T.S. Eliot’s poem The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock, where once again, Prem takes us on a journey of words and emotions by taking lines from the poem and incorporating into his own poetry.
Blurb:
Let us go then, you and I,
When the evening is spread out against the sky
Like a patient etherized upon a table;
Let us go, through certain half-deserted streets,
The muttering retreats
Of restless nights in one-night cheap hotels
And sawdust restaurants with oyster-shells . . .
from The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock
Drawing on the phrasing of T.S. Eliot’s amazing early 20th century poem The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock (above) Frank Prem has produced a collection of companionable and introspective love poetry written, as always, in the unique style that allows every reader to relate.
Prem’s interpretations breathe new life into contemporary exploration of themes of love in poetry, and utilise Eliot’s original phrases to inspire a contemplation of the self in the context of landscape and the wider world:
I am seeking you
within the hubbub
and the burly
trying to gauge
location
by the strength
and timbre
of your voice
rising
and falling
even as you rise
and fall
from rescue and redemption
rescue and redemption is the third of the three collections that together comprise A Love Poetry Trilogy, with each revisiting outstanding work by stellar poets of the past to produce vibrant new collections. The first collection, walk away silver heart, draws on Amy Lowell’s deeply personal Madonna of the Evening Flowers, while the second, a kiss for the worthy, derives from Walt Whitman’s Leaves of Grass.
This is a new kind of poetry that tells stories, draws pictures and elicits emotional responses from readers. Just as the best poetry should.
My 5 Star Review:
Once again Prem has managed to create a beautiful collaboration of poetry by taking from the Prufrock poem by T.S. Eliot and converting lines into Prem’s newly adapated poetry in his 3rd book to this beautiful trilogy – Rescue and Redemption.
Prem evokes both the beauty and sometimes pain of love reflected from the original poem, and brings us into his own interpretations converted from the original, expressing deep thought and meaning, love, loss, elation and more. I would state the author’s poetry style as minimalistic in words, but deep on contemplation, using the epigraph at the beginning, serving the role for the Requiem.
A few of my favorites were: You and Me (at three O’clock), and Novel Advice ( my darlings) which will resonate with most writers:
“There will be
time to murder
and create
always kill
your darlings
sage advice
for one and all
you need
to kill your darlings
but . . .
all in time
you can take it
slow
first
build them up
with
all your heart
make them ring clearly
sound
and true
make them
loveable
likeable
and hateful
both
essential
critical
unimaginable
make of them
the pumping heart
that reveals the story
with each beat
take your time
write
what you want
and then . . .
commit a little mayhem
don’t hesitate
to dramatize
let chaos rule
throughout
the world
always
the way you guide
and no need to explain
your why
to anyone
why did you
kill
our darlings
why not keep them
were they not
good
we all feel
so
vulnerable
with our darlings
gone
and wonder
we wonder
what will happen
to us
in the chapter
that you write
next”
If you enjoy variations on different poetry styles and words that stir and move you, you will enjoy this entire trilogy!
©DGKaye2020
DGKayewriter.com 