ARTS The Michigan Daily Friday, January 24, 1986 Page 7 Down the path of vanished alphabets By Jody Becker The voices of four widely acclaimed contemporary poets will "set the darkness echoing" in Rackham auditorium this evening as Seamus Heaney, Donald Hall, Wendall Berry and Galway Kinnell share the stage in what promises to be an evening of ex- cess in aural delights. It is Heaney whose "Personal Helicon" from his book Death of a Naturalist tells us, "I rhyme/ To see myself, to set the darkness echoing". If not Ireland's inheritor of the literary legacy left by W. B. Yeats, Seamus Heaney is certainly a most impressive and arresting Irish voice. Currently a professor at Harvard University, Heaney : consistently delivers an unrivaled eloquence and lyric intensity. Reading Heaney's poetry, one is immediately aware of an overriding. sense of the absolute primacy of sound in his work. The lines "My mouth holds round/ the soft blasting. Toome, Toome ... loam-flints, musket-balls, / fragmented wares/ tores and fishbones" should only sound better when spoken in the ar- tist's own authentic brogue. But Heaney is as much a poet of place as he is a poet of sound, and he is most stirring when he sings of the land he loves and the violence he loathes which are his native Ireland. In "Bogland" he rhapsodises "The ground itself, black butter," with the same passion he musters in his most political poem "Whatever You Say, Say Nothing", an anguished testimony to the continuing ravages of Ireland's religious "wars." "The 'voice of sanity' is getting hoarse," Heaney says. Wendell Berry is the kind of con- temporary poet that might bring a sparkle to most eyes. His language and images are accessible; he con- sciously avoids the "severely at- tenuated awareness" he believes burdens the poetry of many of his con- temporaries. Berry is a farmer, a Kentuckian, and real proud of it. Real proud. However, Berry seems not so con- sumed with the land and his physical place as he is concerned with where he is not, metaphysically, or in relation to his fellow man. In "The Contrariness of the Mad Farmer", from his book Farming, A Handbook, Berry tells us quite clearly, "Going against men, I have . . . heard at times a deep har- mony/ thrumming in the mixture." Yep, he's a renegade, a man-apart, rejecting all that stuff we got nowadays like vegematics and VCR's. And that's fine, but Berry pats himself on the back so thunderously that he almost drowns out the wor- d-song, and compromises the beauty and nobility (?) of his solo journey. For example: "It is not the only or the easiest/ way to come to the truth./ It is the only way." Still, Berry's clever, if not the most captivating of the group; especially when he admonishes those of us mired in modernity to recklessly abandon our microchips and "Every day do something that does not com- pute." Selections from Berry's later collection the Country of Marriage do attain greater resonance, but he only edges on the magic that poetry can be. On the other hand, for Galway Kin- nell, there seems to be a rabbit in every hat. Kinnell is capable of pure magic. The poems flow and dance and "work" everytime, each more lyric and delicious than the last. Presently the director of the creative writing program at New York University, Kinnell is quite clearly the don of contemporary American poetry. Awards including a Pulitzer and an American Book attest to his abilities, but Kinnell's own wor- ds are evidence enough of genuine genius. While Kinnell will undoubtedly read from his recently published collection of poems The Past, only two poems in the book achieve the impact and loveliness characteristic of his earlier work. In the title poem, Kinnell examines his existence and "the same Smith-Corona/ on my back i even now batter/ words into visibility with" and seems frustrated with the "desperate tongue" which "gives a deadened sound." Even if The Past is not so full of the poetic dexterity that illuminates poems such as "Little Sleep's Head Sprouting Hair in the Moonlight" from The Book of Night- mares, from which Kinnell whispers urgently to his infant daughter, "Yes,/ you cling because/ I, like you, only sooner/ than you,/ will go down/ the path of vanished alphabets. . .", "The Seekonk Woods" show us that Kinnell can still pull it out; "Right about here we put down our pennies, dark on shined steel, where they trembled, fell still/ and waited for the locomotive rattling berserk/ out of Attleboro to brighten them into wafers." Obviously, Kinnell con- tinues "ruminating the mouth feel (of bloom and whither)," as he says, and shows us it can can still be rich and sweet. Donald Hall returns to a familiar setting this evening, having taught at the University for 17 years. In 1975, Hall retired to his ancesteral home in New Hampshire to live and write. The author of several books of poetry, children's books, and a biography of the British sculptor Henry Moore, Hall is acutely sensitive to the generational and ephemeral qualities of life. He relishes his retreat to the farm, the place of his father, grandfather, and great-grandfather, and says in "Stone Walls" from his book, Kicking the Leaves, "I grow old in the house I waited to grow old in". There is a sonorous sort of satisfaction in the pushing-past-middle-age poet's voice here, but it is clear that Hall is other- wise occupied, even anxious it seems, in several of his poems. In celebrating the cycles of lives and seasons, Hall offers us leaves, those brilliant hued but brittle "flags" of a doomed race" as the illuminating motif. With that penchant for paradox, Hall reminds us that leaves are not only fall's soft stuff of tumble and laughter, but the harbingers of hushed warnings, hinting at human mortality. He describes an autumn afternoon's hike home from Michigan stadium with his family: "I go first/ into the leaves/ taking/ the step they will follow, Octobers and years from now." Tonight's reading begins at 8 p.m. Tickets are available at Ticketworld or in the Union for $5.50.. USE DAILY CLASSIFIEDS ann arbor civic theatre main street production present " - -""-------- - ---"""" "" LONE STAR X I'vwW~Uwvw * 2one-act plays by James McClure * - -- """"""" -""""'"" "''-"" " * January 23, 24, 25, 30, 31 * 8:00 ...February 1 $5 donation * 338 S. Main St. for further information call 662-7282 *************************************** *********r The mystery continues... By Richard Williams T HE RESIDENTS are coming to town. To play. You might. say so what?" And you have every right to. But a lot of people think The Residents are a big deal. And have been waiting 13 years to see them. This is their 13th anniversary tour. The total numbers of times they have performed in their history can be tounted on two sets of hands. Big hands. Nobody knows who The Residents Are. You see, in public they only ap- pear in disguise. Usually wearing big eyeballs on top of their heads. One was stolen, so now one wears a skull mask. And they put a curse on the stolen eyeball. Serious stuff. The Residents are on Ralph Recor- d$ in San Francisco. They are ,originally from Louisiana. Why are they called The Residents? They sent a demo to a record company. They sent it back. Addressed to "The Residents". What are The Residents like? Jeez, kinda hard to explain. They are dif- ferent then the rest. Contrary to rumors, they do not hang out with Journey. The Residents have released a whole lotta albums and stuff. The fir- st LP was called Meet The Residents and got lots of people mad. Why? 'Cause they took the Meet The Beatles cover and did things to it. Mischievous boys they are. The Third Reich 'N' Roll was a collection of warped versions of famous 60s songs. They do a great "96 Tears." Speaking of doing covers, they beautifully destroyed "Satisfac- tion" and "It's a Man's Man's Man's World," as later singles. Side two of Fingerprince was a con- ceptual ballet that's hard to explain. Eskimo was a complete work of traditional Eskimo music with a load of neat stories to read along with the music. They spent time in far reaches of the north before recording it. The Commercial Album featured 40 one- minute songs, all highly catchy and melodic. The latest work of The Residents is the Mole Trilogy. It is a mammoth concept that needs lots of explaining. The basic conflict in this story is bet- ween two races, after the above ground tribe has to move un- derground. The Residents make strange and great videos. Their videos are in the permanent collection of the Guggenheim Museum of Modern Art. The museum folks said they were awfully good. The Residents have been in People magazine. That's 'cause they are people just like you and me. Though that doesn't make them easier to ex- plain. So we get a chance to see The Residents. That's good. It will be a performance like no other, that is assured. Burn the music book. The Residents will appear Sunday night at the Michigan Theater at 8:00 p.m., for the deserving price of $12.50. Tix available just about everywhere, including Schoolkid's and Ticketwolrd of- fices, (statewide, no less). FREE DELIVERY LIMITED AREA 665-7777 1160 BROADWAY ANN ARBOR EVERY SANDWICH MADE FRESH - - -- -- -- -- - --- -- - --- - ------- -- - - - 51:00 OFF ANY SANDWICH ORDER. TWO FREE COKES $ .00 FONE COUPON PER ORDER 1 TWO FREE COKES WITH ANY SANDWICH ORDER. EXPIRES: 3/31:86 ONE COUPON PER ORDER -EXPIRES: 3/31/86 ______________E Use Daily Classifieds . ' 4D' .. 0200 r ' .- ?t i. : n.. \ S Lti1\". "! A NoM h... s._ ::y t. _ F' f ' I I II r' WACIO S rtI s I .} .:i: I}" :;. ;; .i ?"v ::}".} :.-}:: t ..:":.{5:: ". ."i" ." it .::"J> :} i :"t:}:i" : .F}.: I I { "' v }:?:r: t,. ; ...,k :KB . ;h.::;.:."}.:it:"}i"i:"':'',:}}''.it.:}.t}v1'ii..t~ :4 "I".,:4 } : "nt :{.".yy.xt.." c::v"}"{ i}:}t :'} $~...f; ';: .I 'I4} '"; 'yv:iv} ;. :'. i' .: 4 a Perform Amazing Feats If you believe you have more talent in your big toe than anybody you've ever met, then direct your feet to the sunny side of the street. Because Busch Gardens, that wildly entertaining and exotic attraction in Tampa, Florida, is on the hunt for excep- tional talent to join our rare breed of entertainers. Singers&Dancers Seeking strong male and female singers who dance well, and feature dancers. Bring dance attire and be prepared to show movement ability. Singers are required to prepare short vocal selections (ballad and uptempo) and should bring sheet music in their best key. Accompanist will be provided. Musickins Seeking musicians who play primary and secondary instruments, as well as, Accor- dian, Steel Guitar, Country Fiddle, Tuba and Percussion and brass players experi- enced in dance/marching band style. Musicians should prepare two selections which demonstrate their abilities. Atmosphere Entertainers Seeking experienced performers with background in comedy and improvisation. Bring necessary props and prepare a two-minute comedy piece to demonstrate special abilities. To audition, you must be 18 years or older. Auditions are held on a first come basis. Plan to join us: Books give wings to your r - - F