Trying to locate a poem

August 31, 2023 1:25 PM

Is there a poem called "Greed" by Stanley Kunitz? I can't find it on the internet but I believe it exists. Would love to see it if anyone can find it.
posted by DMelanogaster to Media & Arts (4 answers total)

The Collected Poems from 2000 doesn't seem to have a poem by that title.
posted by readinghippo at 1:35 PM on August 31, 2023

It does exist. It just might not exist on the internet.
posted by limeonaire at 1:35 PM on August 31, 2023 [4 favorites]

Best answer: According to a citation in Ambition: How We Manage Success and Failure Throughout Our Lives, by Gilbert Brim (via Google Books), Kunitz translated Nina Cassian's poem Greed; his translation was published in Life Sentence. The poem is available online in English, though I don't know if it's Kunitz's translation.
posted by Mr.Know-it-some at 1:44 PM on August 31, 2023 [1 favorite]

Best answer: though I don't know if it's Kunitz's translation

It is! (sort of)

Here is a scan from the relevant page of Life Sentence. It does appear (on the page and in the book intro notes) that the translation of this poem is credited to Kunitz. However, the text in the tumblr link reads "a potter’s sage hands" in verse four where the scanned page reads "a potter’s agile hands" instead.
posted by Avelwood at 3:43 PM on August 31, 2023 [2 favorites]