Friday, February 8, 2013

Poet Stamps

Stamps celebrating poets today. You might not think there would be very many poet stamps, but this is just a sampling...

Maya Angelou, Ghana

William Blake, Romania

Robert Burns, Russia

Lord Byron, Greece

Paul Laurence Dunbar, U.S.A.

T.S. Eliot, Nicaragua

Langston Hughes, U.S.A.

John Keats, U.K.

Rudyard Kipling, DRC

Edgar Lee Masters, U.S.A.

Pablo Neruda, Poland

Alexander Pushkin, Russia

Carl Sandburg, U.S.A.

Dr. Seuss, U.S.A.

Rabindranath Tagore, Uruguay

20th century poets, U.S.A.

Derek Walcott, Saint Lucia

Walt Whitman, Czechoslovakia

John Greenleaf Whittier, U.S.A.

Oscar Wilde, San Marino

William Wordsworth, U.K.

William Butler Yeats, Ireland
Links:
* Literary Stamps
* Poetry in Stamps at Bob's Home for Writing.
* William Shakespeare on Stamps at The British Postal Museum & Archive
* Shakespeare on Stamps at the Philatelic Database
* Emily Dickinson stamp

And a poem by a stamp-poet inspired by another stamp-poet:

On the Sale by Auction of Keat's Love-Letters
by Oscar Wilde

These are the letters which Endymion wrote
To one he loved in secret and apart,
And now the brawlers of the auction-mart
Bargain and bid for each poor blotted note,
Aye! for each separate pulse of passion quote
The merchant's price! I think they love not art
Who break the crystal of a poet's heart,
That small and sickly eyes may glare or gloat.
Is it not said, that many years ago,
In a far Eastern town some soldiers ran
With torches through the midnight, and began
To wrangle for mean raiment, and to throw
Dice for the garments of a wretched man,
Not knowing the God's wonder, or his woe?

Tara at A Teaching Life has the Poetry Friday round-up today.

14 comments:

Joy said...

Thank you for another great post. I loved seeing all the stamps and the Oscar Wilde poem was a good read.
I'm always learning from you. Thanks for the education.

Amy LV said...

You do always find the neatest things to post! I have some of the recent US poet stamps, and I need to get them in the mail as I promised them to Renee LaTulippe! Thank you for this museum visit this morning...so cool. Happy Poetry Friday! a.

Diane Mayr said...

How much fun is this! It's oh, so sad, though, that letter writing and postage stamps may shortly be found only in poems.

Robyn Hood Black said...

You DO find the coolest stuff! I love these, and how fun to see the poet stamps from other countries. (And, sigh, timely - with the USPS woes of late. I think, hope, pray - there will always be some letter and card writers among us.)

Thanks for sharing the powerful Oscar Wilde poem, too.

Liz Steinglass said...

I had the 20c. American poets. I loved considering which to put on each letter. The poem made me sad--how we can think the meaning is money when it's something else entirely.

jama said...

LOVE these stamps -- had only seen a few before. The Keats is my favorite, I think. Each a work of miniature art, beautiful! You continue to find the best stuff!!

Bridget Magee said...

Each stamp is amazing in its artistry. So good to see poets honored and revered throughout the world. Thanks so much for sharing, Tabatha. =)

Author Amok said...

Thank you for sharing these stamps, Tabatha. Hmm. I wonder if there's one for Edgar Allan Poe. It's interesting to see which countries claim which poets.

Love the situation Wilde chooses for his poem and these lines:
"I think they love not art
Who break the crystal of a poet's heart"

Tabatha said...

Laura, there are a bunch of E.A. Poe stamps. I ended up being too indecisive to include him because I was torn between one from Nicaragua and one from a country that I couldn't identify (although there are some very nice U.S. Poe stamps).

Andromeda Jazmon said...

I used to collect stamps as a child. Love this post!

Joyce Ray said...

These are fabulous, Amy. They make me want to collect poet stamps. I love the Pushkin and Wordsworth stamps.

I also love the line in Wilde's poem:
"I think they love not art
Who break the crystal of a poet's heart,"

He makes an interesting comparison between bidding for the poet's letters and gambling for Christ's garment.

Matt Forrest Esenwine said...

Powerful poem! Thanks for sharing. Just a couple of weeks ago, Charles Ghigna and I were discussing the 20th century poet stamps, and the fact that almost all of them looked so serious and dour - must be the 'brooding poet' thing. ;)

Linda B said...

I liked so many-hard to choose a favorite! Wonderful post, tabatha. You teach me a lot! The poem is touching. I was careful about personal things during my sale.

Mary Lee said...

Perfect pairing of art and words!

Walt looks particularly at home on a Russian stamp!