John UpdikeMarch 18, 1932 – January 27, 2009
Rest in Peace
..
And another regrettable thing about death
is the ceasing of your own brand of magic,
which took a whole life to develop and market-
the quips, the witticisms, the slant
adjusted to a few, those loved ones nearest
the lip of the stage, their soft faces blanched
in the footlight glow, their laughter close to tears,
their warm pooled breath in and out with your heartbeat,
their response and your performance twinned.
The jokes over the phone. The memories packed
in the rapid-access file. The whole act.
Who will do it again? That's it: no one;
imitators and descendants aren't the same.
Perfection Wasted, John Updike, 1990
Collected Poems 1953-1993
is the ceasing of your own brand of magic,
which took a whole life to develop and market-
the quips, the witticisms, the slant
adjusted to a few, those loved ones nearest
the lip of the stage, their soft faces blanched
in the footlight glow, their laughter close to tears,
their warm pooled breath in and out with your heartbeat,
their response and your performance twinned.
The jokes over the phone. The memories packed
in the rapid-access file. The whole act.
Who will do it again? That's it: no one;
imitators and descendants aren't the same.
Perfection Wasted, John Updike, 1990
Collected Poems 1953-1993
Oh that is just tragically lovely. What a gift for words the man had. He will be dearly missed.
ReplyDeleteI dig the line about a person's brand of magic ... once gone, it's gone.
ReplyDeleteI am beyond middle age, but I remember asking my mother, "why do people die?" Her answer was, "to make room for the babies." As a gerontologist, or maybe just as a human being who has lived awhile, I can't wrap my mind around losing those who have the wisdom to inspire all of us, when the young will take so long to develop it, and maybe won't.
ReplyDeletedenese
Sad, another voice silenced.
ReplyDeleteRest in Peace!
I feel a great sense of loss. One of the most brilliant, ariticulate writers of the past 50 years. His insights were lucid and revealing. I not only enjoyed his novels but his narratives and articles in the New Yorker. It's an icy night here in Dallas I'm going to read some of his writings tonight.
ReplyDeleteThank you for posting this. News Hour with Lehrer just did a nice, long piece on him. He was gifted and prolific. Won just about every award for letters that there is.
ReplyDeleteSo sad. He has lived the past thirty years or so just a few miles down the road from me. I used to run into him in the pharmacy all the time when I was in college, and sometimes in church. I'm sad he's gone.
ReplyDeleteSaw this on the news...very sad. And a lovely poem....so true...each of us completely unique and never can be duplicated.
ReplyDeleteI honestly could not even bring myself to post of his passing in my blog. That much his passing has affected me. What a loss, there will never be anyone like him. Brilliance and insight such as his come once every couple of centuries.
ReplyDeleteThank you for creating this tribute to John Updike. A gifted and prolific writer, and a lovely visual artist, as well, he designed all of his books, in addition to writing them.
ReplyDeleteHe is one of the towering talents, and he will come as close to worldly immortality as one can in the literary arts. What is it: 50 books?
My husband and I were deep admirers and share the sense of a world much diminished by his loss.
Pak Karamu visiting your blog
ReplyDeleteI have not read Perfection Wasted from John Updike's collected poems Willow. It is a most beautiful piece, and I will treasure it now that I have found it tnrough you. What a fitting tribute at this, his passing.
ReplyDeleteAhhhh--what a wonderful portait of him, too. I loved his poetry more than his novels. Long ago, he wrote a lot about his psoriasis, and how it shaped the person he was. I never forgot that...lovely tribute and a great loss...
ReplyDeleteAnd yet, that regrettable thing about death is also the thing that makes one's life so cherished, so precious.
ReplyDeleteBeautifully said.
Thanks, Willow, for sharing.
Right on the letter with the poem, Willow. Politicians, industrialists and nabobs generally may come and go; when an artist dies, the collective loss is overwhelming.
ReplyDeleteHow right he was.
ReplyDeleteWhat a sad loss and what an appropriate poem, willow. Many thanks.
ReplyDeleteGreetings from London.
Updike was one of my all time favorite poets and novelists. I would listen to his books on CD in the car even if I had read them already because hearing gave the words more impact. It prevented me from starting to skim with my eyes.
ReplyDeleteAnother genius gone from this world
ReplyDeleteThis is so moving and a definite loss...
ReplyDeleteGoodness, I'm behind on reading over here...
I hope you're staying warm at the manor. The ice storm is hitting us down here with a frenzy!
A very apt tribute. Thoughtful and original.
ReplyDeleteWhat a sad passing.. and on my Mom's birthday too...
ReplyDeleteWow ! Good goosebumps
ReplyDeletemerci Willow yet again.
I've copied that one down.
xo S & les Gang
Nice tribute, Willow!
ReplyDeletei love the line "your own brand of magic, which took a whole life to develop". i've never thought of it that way but i guess that truly is what we are doing. and, it is part of the legacy we leave behind.
ReplyDeleteFabulous tribute, perfect poem.
ReplyDeleteI wonder if, once a person crosses the river Styx, that sense of sadness persists. Some souls get "stuck" but mostly I think there must be a feeling of freedom, liberation.
May Mr. Updike rest in peace. Thanks for this!
I read about his passing last night and it really saddened me. I dearly love his writing. Only a few weeks ago did I reread his novella "On the Farm," his first book, if I remember correctly. Your choice of poem is perfect, it reflects his language skills, his wit, his humanity. He leaves a whole in my heart.
ReplyDeleteSorry, I meant a "hole in my heart."
ReplyDeleteA sad loss - a thoughtful and impressive writer.
ReplyDeleteA beautiful tribute to a most perceptive and endearing writer. Thank you Willow
ReplyDeleteWillow, I love you! You are such a kindred spirit. Thankyou for all the kind words and encouragements. And the deep layering of your posts which are like a green vine I climb through my days with.
ReplyDeleteIt is cold and grey in Cambridge today, a real Wednesday day, and our willow tree is amber from autumn and mournful with January rain..
May he rest in peace ... what a lovely tribute
ReplyDeleteAh, it made me sad to hear about his death last night. Yet what a blessing that he had such a long creative life shared with us for so long.
ReplyDeleteHe was one of my favorite authors. I loved his "Rabbit" series, and also his short stories and his articles in the New Yorker Magazine.
ReplyDeleteHow wonderful to write your own very fine and very fitting epitaph. (And you have a real gift for finding just the right poem, Willow.)
ReplyDeleteI was so saddened to hear of Updike's death. Have you noticed how 75 is starting to sound so young?
One of my favorite authors. Rest in Peace, Mr. Updike. Thank you for sharing this lovely tribute, Willow.
ReplyDelete"Imitators and descendants", saying good-bye to John Updike, a master of prose and poetry.
ReplyDeleteWe may not all walk in greatness, but we have footprints of our own. Each life...day after day.
Thank you so much.
Lovely poem. I just realized he died this morning when they had a tribute radio program on NPR. He was quite a man.
ReplyDeleteperfect homage willow...{sigh}
ReplyDeleteHis words ring so true. I have read several of his novels but not his poetry and this poem is so poignant... "those loved ones nearest the lip of the stage" - what a beautiful image that conjures. Thank you, Willow.
ReplyDeleteYes,"imitatiors and descendants aren't the same" it's true about all change, nothing is ever the same or repeated exactly..no thing, no person. Sad...but it makes you celebrate discovery, too, because you know there is only one...so in that way everything and everyone is important.
ReplyDeleteThank you Willow for all your posts!
ReplyDeleteI love your Manor! I imagine it like a sort of Manderley!
I have so much things to learn thanks to your site...
See you soon,
Miren
You always have the most wonderful, tasteful and graceful tributes. Goodbye, Mr. Updike.
ReplyDeleteWhile not my favorite writer, he certainly had a distinctive "voice." It's sad to have lost that. The world somehow feels emptier without him.
ReplyDelete...This poem is perfect..it seems he wrote his own epitaph...reading it brought overwhelming feelings regarding my own recent losses...I will be saving this
ReplyDeleteI will save this one, I would want to result neither into imitating nor descending from exemplariness.
ReplyDeleteSad, really.
To have such a loss.
Thank you so much for this truly lovely poem - my father is in the very final stage of dementia and we will lose him in the next few weeks. The poem just sums up what my family feels and gives words to our thoughts.
ReplyDeleteWow. I actually just read A&P by John Updike for my literature class. That is quite sad to hear.
ReplyDelete