The Hound of Heaven by Francis Thompson is a beautiful, moving, spiritual poem that I stumbled upon when I was doing my research behind Kate Bush’s track Hounds of Love. Who knows if this poem was an actual inspiration for her. Part of me believes it to be true…or perhaps…like so many magical things…these ideas from heaven transpire again and again and transcend space and time and all the boundaries. Reminding us through the artists and the poets and the singers, what it is we all have been searching for…
Perhaps it was the desire to elevate my language, to memorize something beside song lyrics and passwords, another kind of poetry, to practice the art of memorization…or whatever. The point is…I set out to memorize this entire poem. In the process, as the days went on, and the poem got longer in my brain, I felt the great desire to share this accomplishment and this beautiful poem with others. So a feast of poets and for poets was born.
My partner in theme dinners, Talia Ceravolo, prepared a delicious Pakistani curry, there was Tabouli and various other Lebanese mezze. Around the table everyone stood up and read their poems aloud. And for dessert we ate a delicious Pistachio cake by Talia with Rose Water cream and I recited, by memory, the Hounds of Heaven in it’s entirety with Batya MacAdam-Somer accompanying me on violin.
