Cultivate the Optimum

Cultivate the OptimumThe verse of aphoristic primacy to F L Light belongs, who in Cultivate the Optimum with nearly 1200 couplets asserts the canonic needfulness of form in poetry. The first chapter, Maxim Domination, maintains that classic prosody and rhetoric can never be excelled when used with ingenuity. Cultivate the Optimum, the second chapter, is a call for transcendent emulation worthy of the Greek tragedians.Comments on F L Light's translation of the Iliad:"It is always...
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Cultivate the OptimumThe verse of aphoristic primacy to F L Light belongs, who in Cultivate the Optimum with nearly 1200 couplets asserts the canonic needfulness of form in poetry. The first chapter, Maxim Domination, maintains that classic prosody and rhetoric can never be excelled when used with ingenuity. Cultivate the Optimum, the second chapter, is a call for transcendent emulation worthy of the Greek tragedians.Comments on F L Light's translation of the Iliad:"It is always gratifying, it elevates the human spirit to see one our fellows...set his aim unbelievably high and incredibly hit the mark!" David Madgalene, bilingual author of "I Hear A Journeyman Singing" and many other books of verse."Light has blended very well the traditions of Shakespeare, Homer, and the English language sonnet, without erring on the side of pretense. The language is high, direct, and modern. I'm thrilled with these." Zachary Bos, editor of Sixty Six: a journal of sonnet studies."With a classical, controlled touch, F L Light pursues perfection in metrical form, whilst freely and deftly using resources from earlier phases of the language - something which many modern poets are afraid to do. This work succeeds in sharing with us some of the epic power of The Iliad, which is all too easily lost in translation." Joseph Biddulph, publisher and author of divers books on languages."Certainly the oddest if most distinctive book of verse I've seen since Hector was a pup. The depth of your hatred for Keynesian economics, that could sustain you through 1564 tightly wrought couplets, is dumbfounding." - X. J. Kennedy on Shakespeare Versus Keynes."I can certainly endorse the quotation on the back cover: 'he depth of your hatred for Keynesian economics...is dumbfounding.'" - Robert Skidelsky, renowned biographer of Keynes. "You've blended very well the traditions of Shakespeare, Homer, and the English language sonnet, without erring on the side of pretense. The language is high, direct, and modern. I'm thrilled with these." Zachary Bos, editor of Sixty Six: a journal of sonnet studies. "For those looking for an alternative view of Shakespeare, for a view framed in a context which the Bard would most likely have enjoyed, Light presents a wonderful presentation."Terrence McGarty, CEO of Telmarc Group, on Shakespeare Undiminished.