Carnival of the Animals

Carnival of the Animals; Poems inspired by Saint-Saens’ Music edited by Judith Chernaik and illustrated by Satoshi Kitamura. In 1886 Saint-Saens composed a symphony he called a “zoological fantasy”. He intended it to be a gift for a cellist friend, and forbade its complete public performance during his lifetime. In 2005 Gerard Benson, Judith Chernaik and Cicely Herbert invited thirteen poets to write poems about the animals in the music, and together with Kitamura’s illustrations they have compiled a wonderful book. This lovely volume comes with a 55 minute CD of the music and the reading of each of the fourteen poems. Follow these links for more information and read my favorite poem, which begins:

Tortoise
Under the mottled shell of the old tortoise
beats the heart of
a young dancer.

Read the rest here... Book Buds review.

Background Information.


Tags: friday poetry