Seamus Cooney

Charles Reznikoff

Here are two versions of a poem of Reznikoff's, one seven years later than the other. What do you think of the revision? Or should we see here two separate poems? Express your opinions below.

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(1)

Trees standing far off in winter
Against a polished blue sky
With boughs blown about like brown hair;

The stiff lines of the twigs
Blurred by the April buds;

Or branches crowded with leaves
And a wind turning
Their dark green light.

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April

The stiff lines of the twigs
Blurred by buds.

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Texts are taken from Charles Reznikoff, Poems 1918-1936: Volume 1 of the Complete Poems of Charles Reznikoff  edited by Seamus Cooney. Santa Barbara: Black Sparrow Press, 1976.

Which version do you prefer as a poem?

The longer version        The shorter version       Can't decide!

Read the comments of others

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Page revised September 17, 1996. Updated 15 February 1999. Simplified 19 September 2003.
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