Last night I had a dream my father died.

May 7, 2007 9:14 AM

Can't remember a poem and it's driving me crazy. I think it's a sestina. Something about a father's dying.

It might be Weldon Kees. Google is failing me miserably and I can't seem to get back to work until I figure this out.

I think I remember it being a sestina because it seemed to contain lines like this:

"Last night I had a dream my father died."

Then, later, I think at the end,

"Last night I dreamed, my father died."

But, of course, if it was a sestina then the words in the above sentence would compose the ends of each of the preceding sentences. But I'm almost 100% positive it was a sestina.

posted by Baby_Balrog to writing & language (11 comments total)

It might be in this book: "The Making of a Poem: A Norton Anthology of Poetic Forms."
posted by Baby_Balrog at 9:21 AM on May 7, 2007

But then again, maybe not. Because I clearly remember the anthology it was in. Not the title, mind you, but nearly every other characteristic of the book. It was my favorite poetry book when I was a young, impish lad in the early 90s.

It contained quite a bit of Tennyson, specifically, the entirety of Loxley Hall. It had Vachel Lindsay's "The Leaden Eyed" (which was my favorite for many years.) It had a section on sestinas, which contained the above problematic piece. It was the size of a normal, small paperback, about two and half inches thick. It had a white front and back cover with blue lettering.

This will drive my insane.
posted by Baby_Balrog at 9:24 AM on May 7, 2007

or me, rather. I'm the only one who can drive my insane, which is a 2001 Ford Focus and burns oil.
posted by Baby_Balrog at 9:25 AM on May 7, 2007

The anthology also contained quite a bit of Ogden Nash, also.
posted by Baby_Balrog at 9:25 AM on May 7, 2007

sigh.
posted by Baby_Balrog at 9:26 AM on May 7, 2007

might have been a villanelle. Which, I suppose, is a sort of sestina.
posted by Baby_Balrog at 9:34 AM on May 7, 2007

Could it be "The Obsession" by Lewis Turco (second on this page)?
posted by chrismear at 9:44 AM on May 7, 2007

Yeah, I came in here to say what chrismear said.
posted by ludwig_van at 9:52 AM on May 7, 2007

And I think I saw it in the same anthology as you did - I'll post again if I remember the title or dig it out of the closet.
posted by ludwig_van at 9:56 AM on May 7, 2007

YAAAAY! That's it! THANK YOU. You've made my day.
posted by Baby_Balrog at 10:17 AM on May 7, 2007

Technically, it is by "Wesli Court," Turco's sestina-writing alter-ego.
posted by papakwanz at 10:24 AM on May 7, 2007