by Norman E. Rosenthal (Author)
"I used to believe that poetry did not "speak" to me, but I now see how wrong I was. I lived for 44 years with a husband, a lyricist, whose beautifully crafted, heartfelt lyrics touched my every fiber and continue to uplift and inspire me a decade after his death. The special beauty of Dr. Rosenthal's book for me is his discussion of what each poem is saying, what the poet was likely feeling and often how the poems helped him personally, as when he left his birth family in South Africa for a rewarding career in the United States." - Jane Brody, Author & New York Times Columnist
Poetry to Heal, Inspire and Enjoy Poetry Rx presents 50 great poems as seen through the eyes of a renowned psychiatrist and
New York Times bestseller. In this book, you will find insights into love, sorrow, ecstasy and everything in between: Love in the moment or for a lifetime; love that is fulfilling or addictive; when to break up and how to survive when someone breaks up with you.
Separate sections deal with responses to the natural world, and the varieties of human experience (such as hope, reconciliation, leaving home, faith, self-actualization, trauma, anger, and the thrill of discovery). Other sections involve finding your way in the world and the search for meaning, as well as the final stages of life.
In describing this multitude of human experiences, using vignettes from his work and life, Rosenthal serves as a comforting guide to these poetic works of genius. Through his writing, the workings of the mind, as depicted by these gifted writers speak to us as intimately as our closest friends.
Rosenthal also delves into the science of mind and brain. Who would have thought, for example, that listening to poetry can cause people to have goosebumps by activating the reward centers of the brain? Yet research shows that to be true.
And who were these fascinating poets? In a short biosketch that accompanies each poem, Rosenthal draws connections between the poets and their poems that help us understand the enigmatic minds that gave birth to these masterworks. Altogether, a fulfilling and intriguing must-read for anyone interested in poetry, the mind, self-help and genius.
CONTENTS Introduction
PART ONELoving and Losing
Chapter One
Is There an Art to Losing?
One Art
by Elizabeth Bishop Chapter Two
Can Love Transform You?
How do I love thee? Let me count the ways
by Elizabeth Barrett Browning Chapter Three
The Heart versus the Mind
Pity me not because the light of day
by Edna St. Vincent Millay Chapter Four
Love in the Moment
Lullaby
by W. H. Auden Chapter Five
When Love Fades
Failing and Flying
by Jack Gilbert Chapter Six
Getting Over a Breakup I: Acceptance
Why so pale and wan fond lover?
by Sir John Suckling Chapter Seven
Getting Over a Breakup II: Reclaiming Yourself
Love after Love
by Derek Walcott, Chapter Eight
Declaring Your Love
Sonnet 18: Shall I compare thee to a summer's day?
by William Shakespeare Chapter Nine
Consoled by Love
Sonnet 29: When, in disgrace with fortune and men's eyes
by William Shakespeare Chapter Ten
In Praise of the Marriage of True Minds
Sonnet 116: Let me not to the marriage of true minds
by William Shakespeare Chapter Eleven
Loss of a Loved One
Stop all the clocks, cut off the telephone (Funeral Blues)
by W. H. Auden Chapter Twelve
Will I Ever Feel Better?
Time Does Not Bring Relief
by Edna St. Vincent Millay Chapter Thirteen
Love Remembered
When You Are Old
by William Butler Yeats Chapter Fourteen
Love after Death
Remember
by Christina Rossetti, PART TWO That Inward Eye
Chapter Fifteen
Transcendence in Nature
Daffodils
by William Wordsworth Chapter Sixteen
The Memory of Daffodils
Miracle on St. David's Day
by Gillian Clarke Chapter Seventeen
Transcendence in Body and Mind
Lines Composed a Few Miles above Tintern Abbey (excerpt)
by William Wordsworth Chapter Eighteen
The Power of Dark and Light
There's a certain Slant of light
by Emily Dickinson Chapter Nineteen
In Praise of Diversity
Pied Beauty
by Gerard Manley Hopkins Chapter Twenty
A Plea to Save the Natural World
Inversnaid
by Gerard Manley Hopkins Chapter Twenty-One
The Importance of Being Needed
Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening
by Robert Frost Chapter Twenty-Two
The Choices We Make
The Road Not Taken
by Robert Frost Chapter Twenty-Three
The Force of Longing
Sea Fever
by John Masefield Chapter Twenty-Four
Finding Hope in Nature
The Darkling Thrush
by Thomas Hardy PART THREEThe Human Experience
Chapter Twenty-Five The Power of Hope
"Hope" is the thing with feathers
by Emily Dickinson Chapter Twenty-Six
Welcoming Your Emotions
The Guest House
by Jalaluddin Rumi Translated by Coleman Barks
Chapter Twenty-Seven
The Healing Power of Reconciliation
Out beyond Ideas
by Jalaluddin Rumi (Translated by Coleman Barks)
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Leaving Home
Traveler, there is no road
by Antonio Machado Translated by Mary G. Berg and Dennis Maloney
Chapter Twenty-Nine
And Those You Leave Behind
Letter to My Mother
by Salvatore Quasimodo Translated by Jack Bevan
Chapter Thirty
The Importance of Self-Actualization
On His Blindness
by John Milton Chapter Thirty-One
The Power of Faith
Psalm 23
A Psalm of David Chapter Thirty-Two
The Thrill of Discovery
On First Looking into Chapman's Homer
by John Keats Chapter Thirty-Three
The Enduring Thrill of the Moment
High Flight
by John
Number of Pages: 380
Dimensions: 0.9 x 8.9 x 6 IN
Publication Date: May 04, 2021
