Jonathan Galassi
Il Catullo Americano
JL always made a joke of this
old story about how he started out
but selfish Ezra cut him to the quick.
Yet in his later years he found his way
back to his first love and his poems flowed,
hemistichs and other arcane forms
lifted from Adelaide Crapsey and like guides.
His poems have a foursquare honesty;
like Pound they come out of the classic masters.
JL was very proud of being called
"il Catullo americano"
in an Italian review. His view of love
was chivalrous and formulaic, charmed
and rleaxed and mildly lubricious
in an old-style, gentlemanly way.
It was like his crew cut and knit ties,
emblems of a gone patrician ease
that took learning for granted and loved the idea
of love and loving, always being in love.
QuickMuse recommends: