Christal Cooper
1987
Words
*Excerpts
given copyright privilege by Dennis Maloney and Glass Lyre Press.
The
Love Story of Dennis Maloney & Poetry:
Listening
To Tao Yuan Ming
On
October 3, 2015 Glass
Lyre Press, LLC published Poet and Translator Dennis Maloney’s
poetry collection Listening
To Tao Yuan Ming.
Maloney
has published eight other poetry collections:
Wanderings,
Rimrock,
I Learn
Only To Be Contented, Return, The Pine Hut Poems, Sitting in Circles,
The Map
Is Not The Territory, and Just Enough.
Maloney
is also editor and publisher of White Pine Press, which he founded in
1973. Thus far, in its 42-year history, White Pine Press
has published over 400 titles with works from the American mosaic and
literature from over thirty languages.
It
wasn’t until his freshman year in college that Maloney fell in love with poetry
when his English Comp teacher suggested he and his class go to the poetry
reading of Robert Bly, who was reading on campus.
“This was in 1970 during the days of the Vietnam War and
Robert was one of the leading poets speaking against the war. Hearing Robert
Bly inspired me to start reading poetry and then to try my hand at writing.”
Robert Bly also
inspired Maloney to translate poetry, which Maloney did using his knowledge of
high school Spanish and a big dictionary.
The first book of poetry Maloney translated was by the legendary poet
Pablo Neruda.
“It wasn’t until years later I realized what a life changing
event that it (Robert Bly’s poetry reading) was and how it changed the
direction of my life and work.”
During
his college days, Maloney also encountered Gary Snyder who introduced him to
the works of Tao Yuan Ming, as well as other classic Japanese and Chinese
poets.
The
influence of the Japanese and Chinese poets extended to his spiritual
life. Maloney, who was reared Catholic,
left the Catholic tradition at age 18 and is a practicing Buddhist in the
tradition of the hermit-poets of Japan and China.
In
1973, Maloney, in order to study Japanese Garden Design, traveled to Kyoto,
Japan for the first time where he met the expatriate poet Edith Shiffert, who
was teaching in Kyoto.
“She still lives there at 99. On a
subsequent visit to Kyoto in the mid 90s she introduced me to Akio Saito, one
of the last in a line of traditional Nanga or Sumie painters at a poetry
reading and we became good friends. He is now in his mid 80s.”
In
2012, Maloney made another visit to Kyoto, Japan where he visited Akio. The two men visited temple gardens and Akio
showed Maloney his most recent paintings at his studio. He gave Maloney his painting that depicts Tao
Yuan Ming with a friend at his secluded home, and, in calligraphy has the
preface to Tao’s “Twenty
Poems After Drinking Wine.”
“I was inspired by the gift of the painting to look up Tao
Yuan Ming’s sequence of poems and was surprised to find that there wasn’t a
decent translation of the whole sequence in English. There are a few poems,
from the sequence, in quality translations but not the whole set.”
Listening To Tao Yuan Ming is divided
into three sections: “Twenty Poems after Drinking Wine” are
Maloney’s versions of Ming’s poems by the same title that Maloney wrote
himself. “I was inspired to try my hand at
creating versions of the poems stripped to the core of their meaning and
inspiration.”
“Letters to Tao Yuan Ming” are poems
Maloney writes in response to Ming’s own poetry: “My study and involvement with Tao’s
poetry lead me to start a poetic dialogue with him, which forms the second
section of the book, “Letters
to Tao Yuan Ming.”
Some of these poems start off with lines from some of his poems and I write a
response to his poem. In others, the poems are inspired by other poets. The
Sung Dynasty poet Su Dong-po, a thousand years after, wrote harmonizing poems
to all of Tao’s poems, which is a common practice in the Chinese literary
tradition.”
And “Listening To Tao Yuan Ming”,
consist of poems written by Maloney inspired by Ming’s work and spirit.
Tao
Yuan Ming (365 – 427) was a Fields and Gardens Poet
and lived in the middle of the Six Dynasties period (c. 220 - 589 CE) between the Han and Tang
dynasties. Most of his poems were
written in reclusion with the themes of countryside solitude and domestic
nature.
Ming
preferred writing about nature near his home such as the chrysanthemums that
grew at his house’s hedges as opposed to writing about nature in rugged, remote
regions or wilderness areas.
Tao
Yuan Ming served more than ten years in the government service in both civil
and military capacities. In the spring of 405, Tao Yuan Ming served in the army
as aide-de-cam to the local commanding officer, which exposed him to the
political corruption of the day. He
became torn between career ambitions and retreating into solitude. When he learned of his sister’s death, he
resigned, and lived the last 22 years of his life on his farm where he made and
drank his own wine, supported his family (he would have five children), and
wrote poetry. Approximately 130 of his
works, mostly poems and essays, remain.
Maloney
wrote the poems Listening
To Tao Yuan Ming the way he has always written poetry, writing
when time allows, which is usually about two times a week.
“I often carry parts of poems around in my head or write
ideas on scraps of paper or in a notebook. Increasingly I use the computer to
work out the details of a poem and tinker with versions until it feels done. I
usually set a new poem aside for a month or two and then go back to it with a
fresh eye and make final adjustments and changes.”
Once the manuscript
was compete Maloney sent Listening
To Tao Yuan Ming to Glass Lyre Press and it was accepted
by editor/publisher Ami Kaye.
“Working with Glass Lyre Press has been a great experience. Ami Kaye,
has been very helpful in utilizing their online system to promote the book.
Unlike traditional publishers they market via the internet and Amazon with a
print on demand technology so it has been a learning curve for me.”
Maloney, who retired
in 2007 as a Landscape Architect for the City of Buffalo, and Elaine, his wife
of thirty years, share four children, six grandchildren, and two homes on the
east and west coast: – the summer and holidays in Buffalo, New York and the
winter and fall in Big Sur, California.
Feel free to contact
Maloney via email at
dennismaloney@yahoo.com or his Facebook page
at https://www.facebook.com/dennis.maloney.9277?fref=ts
“Tao’s fondness for wine was legendary and the first section
of poems, as the preface indicates, was written on various occasions after
drinking wine.”
Preface
I find the retired life has few pleasures,
particularly when nights grow long. I
happen to have some good wine beside me, so I don’t let an evening pass without
drinking some. Alone with my shadow, I
drain a few cups, I find myself a bit tipsy, as usual, so I write a few stanzas
to amuse myself. Over time the pages
have accumulated, though in no particular order, so I asked a friend to copy
them, so we might enjoy them together.
Excerpt, page 12
“A Dutch poet, Nachoem Wijnberg, that we are publishing next
year kindly sent me a monograph detailing the influence of Tao’s poetry on that
of Su Dong-po which inspired the poem, “All Those Nights We Harmonized.”
All
Those Nights We Harmonized
Six centuries after your death
Su Tung-po wrote harmonizing
poems to all your work. Tao.
And one thousand years later
I attempt a few of my own.
Su wrote that he couldn’t
match you cup for cup
and often drifted off
after just one cup of wine.
Snarled in government service,
he was unable to break away
and live a life like yours.
I drink nothing
stronger than tea now
but have broken free
of the official life.
Su Tung-po said your
poems were withered
on the outside
but rich within.
That coming of age
reading your poems
was like gnawing
on withered wood.
Reading them after
experience in the world,
it seems that the previous
decisions of our lives
were made in ignorance.
"The poem, “If
Tao Yuan Came To Visit”,
was inspired by a poem of the great early 20th century Norwegian poet, Olav
Hauge, who wrote a poem inviting Tao to visit his farm in Norway."
If
Tao Yuan Ming Came to Visit
Fifty years ago Olav Hauge,
the Norwegian poet said,
If
you were to visit Tao,
he
would show you his orchards.
He
hoped you would come
in
spring, when branches
are
heavy with blossoms.
Relaxing
in the shade, he
would
offer you a glass
of
cider, even though he
knew
you preferred wine.
Twenty-five years ago
when I came to visit,
Hauge showed me his
orchards
and the stunning view
of the fjord below.
We shared a poem or
two.
He has long since
ridden
the cloud-soaring
crane
with its marvelous
wings
to the place where you
live.
But if you come to
visit,
we’ll hike a trail in
the redwoods,
watch the sunset over
the ocean.
In the evening I’ll
build a fire
in the stove to take
the chill off,
and crack open a
bottle
of your special wine
to drain before you
ride
that crane back home
again.
“A few of the poems
in section three are older poems that date back 15 - 30 years that fit within
the framework of the book. These poems include “Return”,
“Awaiting A
Reply”,
and “The Voice of the Bell”.
Here I return to listen
To the stones and the wind.
Excerpt, “Return”
Here, the snow falls
with irregular frequency.
Excerpt, “Awaiting a Reply”
And we are like pebbles
Tossed into the pond of the world.
Excerpt, “The Voice of the Bell”
The poems “Happy,” “Haein-sa Temple,” and “The Secret Garden of Changdeokgung
Palace” were written in Seoul, Korea in March of this
year when Maloney was a publisher in residence for LTI Korea meeting with
translators, authors, and publishers to develop further volumes for the Korean
Voices Series.
“The Secret Garden of Changdeokgung”
is dedicated to the Swedish poet, Tomas Transtromer, who died while Maloney was
in Seoul, Korea. Maloney’s response to
his friend and respected poet was that of sadness. A visit to The Secret Garden of Changdeokgung
Palace inspired a poem to him.
“It is one of the old Royal palaces in Seoul. I started
collecting images for a potential poem but didn’t know where it was headed.
During the tour they lead through the gate of longevity (an actual gate) and
told us about how the prince who the king was grooming to be his successor died
before he could take the throne.”
“The Secret Garden of Changdeokgung Palace” started with notes on scraps of paper
in the field and later was collected in my notebook and developed into a poem
in my hotel room and cafes. When I got back home I typed it up on the computer
and finalized it.”
The
Secret Garden of Changdeokgung Palace
For
Tomas Transtromer
The teeming life
of the street drops away
as we enter
the secret garden.
Spring blossoms,
pink and white
opened just
this morning.
Even though we pass
through the gate
of longevity;
there is no telling
when the spirit
who took measure
for our final costume
will return for
his last visit.
We are fragile vessels,
anchoring sky to earth.
The king, growing old,
groomed the crown prince
with lessons morning,
afternoon, and evening,
but after only three years
he entered the secret,
shadowy chamber of death
before ascending the throne.
Some lessons are heavy ones.
Photograph Description and Copyright Information
Photo 1
Dennis Maloney in November 2014
Copyright granted by Dennis Maloney
Photo 2
Jacket cover of Listening To Tao Yuan Ming
Photo 3a
Glass Lyre Press web logo
Fair Use Under the United States Copyright Law
Photo 3b
Glass Lyre Press Facebook logo
Fair Use Under the United States Copyright law
Photo 4a
Jacket cover of Wanderings
Photo 4b
Jacket cover of Rimrock
Photo 4c
Jacket cover of I Learn Only To Be Contented
Photo 4d
Jacket cover of Return
Photo 4e
Jacket cover of The Pine Hut Poems
Photo 4f
Jacket cover of Sitting In Circles
Photo 4g
Jacket cover of The Map Is Not The Territory
Photo 4h
Jacket cover of Just Enough
Photo 5a
White Pine Press web logo
Fair Use Under the United States Copyright Law
Photo 5b
White Pine Press Facebook Logo
Fair Use Under the United States Copyright Law
Photo 6a
Photo 6b
Robert Bly doing a poetry reading in 1970
Fair Use Under the United States Copyright Law
Photo 7a
Robert Bly web logo
Fair Use Under the United States Copyright Law
Photo 7b
Robert Bly Web logo
Fair Use Under the United States Copyright Law
Photo 8.
Pablo Neruda in Italy in 1963.
Public Domain
Photo 9.
Photo 10a
Facebook logo photo for Gary Snyder
Fair Use Under the United States Copyright Law
Photo 10b
Gary Snyder in 2007
CC By 2.0 Generic
Photo 11
Photo 12
Edith Shiffert on her 99th birthday
party
Copyright granted by Dennis Maloney
Photo 13
Facebook logo photo for Akio Saito
Fair Use Under the United States Copyright Law
Photo 14
Painting attributed to Akio Saito
Copyright granted by Dennis Maloney
Photo 15
Portrait of Tao Yuan Ming by Chen Hongshow
(1599-1652)
Public Domain
Photo 16
Portrait
of Man Writing In His Study
Attributed to Gustave Caillebotte
Public Domain
Photo 17
Statue of Tao Yuan Ming near West Lake in
Hangzhau
CCBYSA 3.0
Photo 18
Jacket cover of Listening To Tao Yuan Ming
Photo 19
Portrait of Tao Yuan Ming by Chen Hongshou
Public Domain
Photo 20
Portrait of Tao Yuan Ming Seated Under A Willow
Attributed to Tani Buncho in Japan in 1812
Public Domain
Photo 21.
Portrait of Tao Yuan Ming by Min Zhen in the 18th
century.
Public Domain
Photo 22.
Photo 23.
Photo 24a
Facebook logo photo for Ami Kaye
Fair Use Under the United States Copyright Law
Photo 24b and 24c
Web Logo for Ami Kaye
Fair Use Under the United States Copyright Law
Photo 25a
Glass Lyre Press web logo
Fair Use Under the United States Copyright Law
Photo 25b
Ami Kaye logo photo
Fair Use Under the United States Copyright Law
Photo 26.
Photo 27.
Dennis Maloney Facebook logo photo
Copyright granted by Dennis Maloney
Photo 28
Jacket cover of Listening To Tao Yuan Ming
Photo 29
Facebook logo photo of Nachoem Wijnberg
Fair Use Under the United States Copyright Law
Photo 30
Olav H Hauge
CCBY3.0
Photo 31
Jacket cover of Listening To Tao Yuan Ming
Photo 32
Jacket cover of Listening To Tao Yuan Ming
Photo 33.
Photo 34.
Tomas Transtromer
CCBYSA3.0
Photo 35.
Changdeokgung Injeongjeon Hall
CCBYSA 2.0
Photo 36
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