Romance

Name: Romance
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ISBN: 9781955194402

The Only Life

Kevin McGrath

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Paperback

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English

Saint Julian Press, Inc.
02 December 2024

Poetry; Places & peoples: pictorial works

Romance: The Only Life by poet Kevin McGrath, published by Saint Julian Press, unfolds like a whispered conversation between the poet and the ineffable. The collection takes a contemplative approach to the notion of romance-not merely as a sentiment reserved for lovers, but as an elemental force, shaping the way we move through the world. The book's title suggests that romance, in all its sprawling meanings, might just be the central current that makes life worth living.

Divided into a series of compact, numbered poems, Romance resists the temptation to over-explain or embellish. The poems, often spare in language, invite the reader to pause, to reflect, and to find resonance in what is unsaid. There's a quiet power in this restraint, as the collection meanders through themes of connection, spirituality, and the sensuality of existence, offering glimpses rather than declarations. Each poem, pared down to its essential elements, feels like a small meditation-on a moment, a relationship, a thought.

This is not a book of love poems, at least not in the conventional sense. The romance here is larger, encompassing our relationship with nature, with the divine, with the self. It's the romance of being alive, of noticing, of breathing into the spaces where life unfolds unexpectedly. These poems suggest that romance is not something we find; it is something we cultivate, an ethos to carry through the day.

And yet, there is intimacy here. The poet speaks directly, as if leaning in, revealing these truths with a delicate touch. There is no grandiosity, no sweeping declarations, just the simple act of observing the world with an open heart. It's an invitation to the reader: to slow down, to listen more closely, to rediscover the beauty in the ordinary.

For readers accustomed to poetry that drips with overt emotion or elaborate form, Romance: The Only Life may feel like a reprieve. Its understated style allows for a deeper engagement with the subject matter, as though each poem is merely a doorway to something much larger-a feeling, a memory, a revelation. It is a book that doesn't ask to be understood so much as experienced.

In the end, Romance offers its readers a gift: a chance to find the extraordinary in the everyday, to see romance as a way of being rather than an outcome to chase. It is a quiet, beautiful collection that speaks to those who understand that the most profound connections often arise from the simplest moments.

By: Kevin McGrath
Imprint: Saint Julian Press, Inc.
Dimensions: Height: 254mm, Width: 178mm, Spine: 5mm
Weight: 172g
ISBN: 9781955194402
ISBN 10: 1955194408
Pages: 90
Publication Date: 02 December 2024
Audience: General/trade , ELT Advanced
Format: Paperback
Publisher's Status: Active

Kevin McGRATH was born in southern China in 1951 and was educated in England and Scotland; he has lived and worked in France, Greece, and India. He was an associate of the Department of South Asian Studies and poet laureate at Lowell House, Harvard University.Publications include, Fame (1995), Lioness (1998), Maleas (2002), The Sanskrit Hero (2004), Flyer (2005), Comedia (2008), Stri (2009), Jaya (2011), Supernature (2012), Heroic Krsna and Eroica (2013), In The Kacch and Windward (2015), Arjuna Pandava and Eros (2016), Raja Yudhisthira (2017), Bhisma Devavrata (2018), Vyasa Redux (2019), Song Of The Republic (2020), Fame (2023), On Friendship (2024) and Causality In Preliterate Song (forthcoming, 2025). McGrath lived in Cambridge, Massachusetts, with his family.

Reviews for Romance: The Only Life

Praise for ROMANCE - The Only Life. ""Kevin McGrath's poetry surges with one of the rarest of forces: a vision. In McGrath's heart, the chaos of history is redeemed by a teleology, a motion toward fellowship, toward communion, toward love. The great man has left us, but his words live on, calling us to stand face to face and see the other world within this world, and to praise it."" -Joseph Fasano ""Beautifully candid, each poem in Romance offers such a masterful clarity of perspective, that one can't help but read and re-read each poem, in awe of how much life each line holds. Kevin McGrath's masterpiece is a tapestry of love, friendship, and the essence of our human existence, woven into a backdrop of the steady progression of time."" -Maryam Hiradfar ""Kevin McGrath was such a wonderful person, mentor, and poet/philosopher. Blessed to have spent so much time with him in our poetry group at Harvard blessed to be able to continue that loving relationship with his poetry."" -Gary Geissler ""This is a journey of love, life's most essential metaphor, through 'the ardent force of time, ' landscape and seascape, language and silence, the seasons of nature and of life. It is a powerful Gospel or Veda of love, and I will turn to its beautiful verses again and again."" -Diana Eck