"Among Philistines" by R.S. Gwynn (poetry reading)

X. J. Kennedy said: "A wonderful satirist, a master translator, a keen observer of ironies, Gwynn commands a wide range of forms, some of them daunting in their difficulty. Moreover, he clearly holds with the ancient wisdom that a poem ought to bring gladness. That is why, every time I spy one of his new poems in a magazine, I read it before anything else."
Here's a bio and some more of his poems
http://tinyurl.com/nj3cgw

X.J. Kennedy is one of my favourite poets and I recommend his work to you. Here's one I recorded earlier:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2nmjQ8ELBB4

"Sampson was a strong man of the John L. Sullivan school
He slew ten thousand Phillistines with the jawbone of a mule
Now Samson was a hairy man with hairs upon his chest
His chest was so hairy he had no need to wear a vest
Along came Delilah who filled him up with gin
Gave him a haircut and the coppers run him in
Sampson was a husky guy as everyone should know
He used to lift five-hundred pounds as strongman on the show
One week the bill was rotten and the actors had a souse
But the strongman act of Samson's it just brought down the house"
...from "Darky Sunday School"

"Samson and Delilah" was by Reubens 1609.

"Samson" was by Solomon J. Solomon 1887

"Samson and Delilah" was by Sir Anthony Van Dick 1620

"The Blinding of Samson" was by Rembrandt in 1636

I have just found out that Philistine is pronounced Fill- is- teen in America. http://forvo.com/word/philistine/

Category:

Entertainment

Tags:

• Among
• Philistines
• Gwynn
• Samson
• Delilah

[paulmercy]

Great blend of anachronisms and incisive imagery. Listening, I was torn between delight and awe.

[ThunderingJove]

After hearing this, I suppose this RS Gwynn should be looked into.

[Brakermaker21]

Wow.