Robert Hass & Thom Gunn CD

1988. Introduced by Jonathan Galassi.

This reading from two Bay Area poets gives a glimpse of both of them in mid-career. Former Poet Laureate Hass reads almost exclusively from the then forthcoming Human Wishes, giving a rich sense of his work at that time. In the introduction, Galassi praises him for "championing the work of poets in various backgrounds and traditions."

Reading mostly from Passages of Joy and The Man with Night Sweats, Gunn's work, as Galassi notes, is "washed down and polished to a kind of essential, aesthetic purity."

Length: 51 min.

Track List:

Robert Hass

1. Introduction by Jonathan Galassi
2. Museum
3. Introduction to "Quartet"
4. Quartet
5. Duck Blind
6. A Story about the Body
7. The Apple Trees at Olema
8. Misery and Splendor
9. Privilege of Being
10. Introduction to "Santa Lucia II"
11. Santa Lucia II

Thom Gunn

12. Introduction by Jonathan Galassi
13. The Reassurance
14. Introduction to "Punch Rubicundus"
15. Punch Rubicundus
16. 1975
17. Introduction to "Sacred Heart"
18. Sacred Heart
19. Introduction to "Words for Some Ash"
20. Words for Some Ash
21. Memory Unsettled
22. Introduction to “Her Pet”
23. Her Pet
24. Introduction to "Death’s Door"
25. Death’s Door
26. Introduction to "A Blank"
27. A Blank