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Q: Looking for poetry anthology ( Answered 5 out of 5 stars,   2 Comments )
Question  
Subject: Looking for poetry anthology
Category: Arts and Entertainment > Books and Literature
Asked by: gothabillygirl-ga
List Price: $10.00
Posted: 31 Oct 2002 10:17 PST
Expires: 30 Nov 2002 10:17 PST
Question ID: 94354
Looking for a poetry anthology that has the following poems in it:
'Directions to the Armorer' (author unknown), 'The lesson of the moth'
by Don Marquis, and 'Symptoms of Love' by Robert Graves.  I read it in
the early 1980's and if anyone knows the name of the anthology, I'd be
grateful!

Request for Question Clarification by pinkfreud-ga on 31 Oct 2002 11:42 PST
I have found information on an anthology from the early 1970s that
contains two of the items you mention, "Directions to the Armorer" by
Elder Olson, and "The lesson of the moth," by Don Marquis. Howeer,
this book does not contain "Symptoms of Love," by Robert Graves.

Here's a list of the poems in the book:

Roberto, by O. Lewis.
Going home, by W. Saroyan.
The Duke's children, by F. O'Connor.
Directions to the armorer, by E. Olson.
German soldiers, by Y. Yevtushenko.
The interlopers, by Saki.
Military parade, by C. Sandburg.
Whose garden was this? by T. Paxton.
The highway, by R. Bradbury.
By the waters of Babylon, by S. V. Benét.
What the ants are saying, by D. Marquis.
Sonic boom, by J. Updike.
The hut, by C. Laye.
The bike, by A. Sillitoe.
A night out, by H. Pinter.
He asks me, by R. Margolis.
Great, man, great, by P. Thomas.
Notes from Norfolk Prison Colony, by Malcolm X.
Blackbird, by J. Lennon and P. McCartney.
The wolf who went places, by J. Thurber.
The lesson of the moth, by D. Marquis.
The sprinters, by L. Morrison.
A storm in summer, by R. Serling.  

Could this be your book?

Clarification of Question by gothabillygirl-ga on 31 Oct 2002 14:07 PST
I think the book you found is it!!!  I must have found the other poem
'Symptoms of Love' in another book and somehow confused it.

Request for Question Clarification by pinkfreud-ga on 31 Oct 2002 14:25 PST
I'm afraid I have not been able to locate a copy of your poetry
anthology for sale. Will information on the name of the book, with the
names of the editors, publication date, and list of contents be
sufficient for an answer?
Answer  
Subject: Re: Looking for poetry anthology
Answered By: pinkfreud-ga on 31 Oct 2002 15:11 PST
Rated:5 out of 5 stars
 
This was a very interesting hunt.

Initially I failed to find anything useful in a Web search for the
poems; although the poems themselves were not difficult to find, the
anthology was a tougher nut to crack. To identify the book, I visited
the Library of Congress and did a guided keyword search of its online
catalog. Since "Directions to an Armorer" is a poem that is not
commonly anthologized, I searched for records containing both
"directions" and "armorer." There were two hits:

Counterpoints [compiled by] Harvey R. Granite, Millard H. Black [and]
Jo M....

LC Control Number: 76147103  
Type of Material: Book (Print, Microform, Electronic, etc.) 
Brief Description: Granite, Harvey R., comp.
Counterpoints [compiled by] Harvey R. Granite, Millard H. Black [and]
Jo M. Stanchfield.
Boston, Houghton Mifflin [1971]
168 p. illus. (part col.), map. 24 cm. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Elder Olson reading his poems in the Recording Laboratory, Mar. 25,
1968

LC Control Number: 94838924  
Type of Material: Nonmusic Sound Recording 
Brief Description: Olson, Elder, 1909-
Elder Olson reading his poems in the Recording Laboratory, Mar. 25,
1968 [sound recording].
Poems. Selections
1968.
1 sound tape reel (ca. 60 min.) : analog, 7 1/2 ips, 1 track, mono. ;
10 in.

Library of Congress Online Catalog
http://catalog.loc.gov/cgi-bin/Pwebrecon.cgi?DB=local&PAGE=Second

Further investigation into the contents of the "Counterpoints" volume
produced this list:

LC Control Number: 76147103  
Contents: Roberto, by O. Lewis.
Going home, by W. Saroyan.
The Duke's children, by F. O'Connor.
Directions to the armorer, by E. Olson.
German soldiers, by Y. Yevtushenko.
The interlopers, by Saki.
Military parade, by C. Sandburg.
Whose garden was this? by T. Paxton.
The highway, by R. Bradbury.
By the waters of Babylon, by S. V. Benét.
What the ants are saying, by D. Marquis.
Sonic boom, by J. Updike.
The hut, by C. Laye.
The bike, by A. Sillitoe.
A night out, by H. Pinter.
He asks me, by R. Margolis.
Great, man, great, by P. Thomas.
Notes from Norfolk Prison Colony, by Malcolm X.
Blackbird, by J. Lennon and P. McCartney.
The wolf who went places, by J. Thurber.
The lesson of the moth, by D. Marquis.
The sprinters, by L. Morrison.
A storm in summer, by R. Serling.  

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

After searching numerous used book sources on the Web, I have found
one copy of "Counterpoints" for sale, for $7.65 plus shipping:

http://www.alibris.com/search/search.cfm?qwork=1363619&ptit=Counterpoints&pauth=Granite%2C%20Harvey%20R%2E&pisbn=&pbest=7%2E65&pbestnew=1000000%2E00&pqty=1&pqtynew=0&matches=1&qsort=r

Thank you for asking an interesting question! It was particularly nice
to revisit Don Marquis's wonderful world of archy & mehitabel. If
anything I've said is unclear, or if any of the links do not function,
please request clarification before rating my answer; I will gladly
provide further assistance.

Best wishes,
pinkfreud

Clarification of Answer by pinkfreud-ga on 31 Oct 2002 16:45 PST
Thank you very much for the five-star rating. You rock, too!

Love your screen name, Gothabilly Girl. Are you any relation to Goth Brooks? ;-)

Hope you enjoy your poetry anthology!

~Pink
gothabillygirl-ga rated this answer:5 out of 5 stars
WOW! You rock!  you even found where I could purchase it!!!

Comments  
Subject: Re: Looking for poetry anthology
From: journalist-ga on 31 Oct 2002 10:57 PST
 
I didn't find the anthology, but found the Armorer poem:

“Directions to the Armorer” 
Make me a shield with 
Easy-to-change 
Insignia.  I’m often 
A little vague, 
As to which side I’m on, 
What battle I’m in. 
And listen, make it 
A trifle flimsy 
Not too hard to pierce. 
I’m not absolutely sure 
I want to win. 
(Olsen & Elder, 1959)

"Directions to the Armorer"  [Google search term]
http://bernard.pitzer.edu/~hfairchi/psychdiscourse/2001%5C3203PD.htm

However, Elder Olson ("on" not "en") seems to have been the true name
of the poet (see reference on http://www.mosdospress.com/toc8.html)
"Directions to the Armorer" credited to Elder Olson).

The Lesson of the Moth by archy (Don Marquis)
http://lifesci.ucsb.edu/~haddock/poems/archy.html

Symptoms of Love by Robert Graves
http://www.enjoypoetry.com/sampoet/sampoet7.htm

The Armorer and Moth poems seem humor/satire to me so I search for an
anthology in that manner.  I didn't find it but did find two quotes
you may enjoy:

"Publishing a volume of verse is like dropping a rose petal down the
Grand Canyon and waiting for the echo." ~ Don Marquis ~

"There's no money in poetry, but then there's no poetry in money,
either."
~ Robert Graves ~ 

Both from http://www.gardendigest.com/poetry/quoap1.htm

Elder Olson also wrote an intriguing poem "The Scarecrow Christ"
(http://thepoeticlink.com/pl/view_one_poem.php3?poem_num=9515) where
the text forms a cross.

I hope you find my comments of interest and good luck in locating the
exact anthology.
Subject: Re: Looking for poetry anthology
From: gothabillygirl-ga on 01 Nov 2002 16:26 PST
 
Goth Brooks is my alter ego, like Chris Gaines... 
or it could be he's the Michael to my LaToya...

i checked under your name and saw your explanation for your 'handle'
very funny...

by the way, which one's pink?

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