Donald Justice CD

1982. Introduced by John Irving.

In his engaging introduction to the reading, John Irving notes that "while using fully the complexities of his language, Donald Justice has always demonstrated that the highest purpose of literature is to illuminate those things which are hard, disturbing, painful, moving, and repeat themselves--not to obscure them."

Most of the poems from this reading appear in Selected Poems, for which Justice received the 1980 Pulitzer Prize, including "On the Death of Friends in Childhood" and "Ode to a Dressmaker's Dummy."

Length: 61 min.

Track List:

1. Introduction by John Irving
2. Men at Forty (read by John Irving)
3. Introduction by John Irving (finale)
4. Introduction to "On the Death of Friends in Childhood"
5. On the Death of Friends in Childhood
6. Ode to a Dressmaker’s Dummy
7. Introduction to "Bus Stop"
8. Bus Stop
9. Introduction to "Death Speaks"
10. Death Speaks
11. Introduction to "Incident in a Rose Garden"
12. Incident in a Rose Garden
13. Introduction to three odes
14. Cool, Dark Ode
15. Warm, Flesh-Colored Ode
16. Pale, Tepid Ode
17. The Telephone Number of the Muse
18. Introduction to "Sonatina in Yellow"
19. Sonatina in Yellow
20. In the Attic
21. Introduction to "Childhood"
22. Childhood
23. The Mild Despair of Tremayne
24. The Contentment of Tremayne
25. The Insomnia of Tremayne
26. Introduction to "Tremayne Autumnal"
27. Tremayne Autumnal
28. Introduction to "On the Porch"
29. On the Porch
30. Introduction to "In the Cemetery"
31. In the Cemetery
32. On the Train Passing Through North Florida Late at Night and Long Ago and Ending with a Line from Thomas Wolfe
33. On the Farm
34. Introduction to "Elegiac Villanelle"
35. Elegiac Villanelle
36. Introduction to "Complaint of the Grandparents"
37. Complaint of the Grandparents