Joyce, James. "James Joyce's Chamber Music." Chamber Music. 12 Feb 2006. 22 Mar 2008
Link To Poem
James Joyce's sixth section of "Chamber Music" is a very eerie yet magnificent introduction to his work outside of prose. The entity of "Chamber Music" has thirty four sections that make up his epic journey through lyric poetry. His initial idea was to use the piece as lyrics set to music. Though I don't believe that this has happened entirely, the sixth section was set to music and included on Syd Barrett's 1970 solo album The Madcap Laughs. The version represents the vey haunting yet beautiful nature of the poem.
My favorite stanzas, the second and third, both exemplify the very imaginative imagery of Joyce's work, "My book was closed:/I read no more,/Watching the fire dance/On the floor. / I have left my book,/I have left my room/For I heard you singing/Through the gloom...) (Line 5-12) I came across this poem through Barrett's arrangement on his album and instantly fell in love with it. If you are curious to hear it, it will be well worth the listen.
1 comment:
Wow! Glad you shared that. I actually didn't know that James Joyce wrote poetry. Will definitely be looking more into that. So haunting!
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