CoPo

I had the distinct pleasure of attending Fred Chappell’s poetry reading on November 15, 2007.  A distinguished “renaissance man” of the literary realm, Chappell is an acclaimed poet, novelist, essayist, and professor.  He has held and received a number of esteemed titles and positions from various parts of the world including recognition from the Academie Française.  Though his poetry covers a wide range of subjects, Chappell seems to mostly cling to romantic depictions of life through nature.

            Fully adorned in argyle sweater and casual smile, Chappell approached his audience with calm charisma.  The reading began with a piece entitled, “The Garden”, in which, Chappell compares the relationship a gardener has with his garden to books, claiming that each is about the other.  He continued with an assortment of other works, but his true mastery was illuminated when he began to read his sets of enclosed poems.  Each incorporated either a separate poem of his own writing, or that of another poet, into the main poem at work.  To show this, he invited his wife to the podium and allowed her to read the inner poems, while he read the outer.  The innovation used to construct these pieces was both refreshing and original, in a way unlike anything I had ever come in contact with before. 

I was amazed by Fred Chappell’s effectiveness in original use of language.  In a particularly striking re-telling of the story of Narcissus and Echo, he took two individual poems and fused them together to create one.  Using the repetition of words, phrases, or even the half sounds of the ends of Narcissus’s lines, Chappell created Echo’s poem.  This not only allows for an interesting spin and study of the work, but also embodies Echo’s essence - her repetition, her echo.  The meticulous thought used in creating such a piece was impressive and quite frankly, flooring.

Another poem in which Chappell employs this weave of poetry is, “The Passage”.  I could not help but think how proud Annie Dillard would have been at his keen observance of muskrat behavior in the moonlight.  Chappell describes both the muskrat and the moonlight on the water separately, but links them together.  Combining the separate poems in this instance suggests an idea that nature is in harmony, that though the celestial moon and earthly muskrat are individual entities, all the universe is and can be one.

Fred Chappell’s reading was both enjoyable and enlightening.  The diversity of work read as well as the comfortable conversational tone he took with the audience, gave wing to a beautiful introduction of his poetry into my literary appreciation.  Covering a wide range of encompassing and yet seemingly personal subjects, Chappell places a certain quality upon his work.  In the final poem of the reading, he begs the question, “What if poetry could change the world?”  I would like to maintain that if we all wrote like him, maybe it would.

Original post by chelseanewnam