Overview

Kites is Jonathan Chaves's second book of original poems. These are written both in free forms (but always with rhythm and general comprehensibility) and neo-formal sonnets, ballads, etc. The theme running through the collection is a search for truth, culminating in a series of four sonnets inspired by explicitly Christian subjects: Christmas, Easter, etc.

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Reviews

""Jonathan Chaves's new collection of poems, Kites, includes a masterpiece called 'Grey Potomac, ' about emptiness and the insubstantial moments of time--so difficult to pin down and realize in poetry. Chaves writes: 'And yet Blake says / The poet's work is done between pulsations / Of an artery, that is, between / The non-existent moments! How did he / Achieve that realm?' William Blake did so by learning how to bear 'the beams of love.' And as Kites makes clear, so has Jonathan Chaves."" --Jonathan Cott, author of Wandering Ghost: The Odyssey of Lafcadio Hearn ""In Kites, Jonathan Chaves once again offers the reader a varied palette of carefully crafted poems, a rich assortment of forms and subjects. Amid testimonies to his deep religious faith and biting mockeries of contemporary abuses, a number of pieces stand out for their fine artistry and depth of feeling--loving tributes to his wife and their long and fulfilling marriage, moving remembrances of deceased friends and colleagues, and a contemplation of Frank Benson's 1909 painting 'Summer' that combines all of the poet's strengths in one remarkable performance."" Michael Palma, translator of Dante's Divine Comedy ""In this delightful volume Jonathan Chaves takes us on a journey through time to Eternity, encouraging us to view the world through the lens of Christian faith and 'the poetic prism' versus Marxist historicism. Along the way he includes poetic tributes to friends past and present, clever musings on the joys of teaching and concerns for its future, reflections on art, artists, and family, and evidence of his love for the craft of translation."" --Sharon Fish Mooney, translator of Selected Poems of Jules Breton: From the Letters of Vincent van Gogh

Author Information

Jonathan Chaves is professor of Chinese at The George Washington University. He is internationally recognized as a leading scholar and translator of classical Chinese poetry. His books have won the ALTA (American Literary Translators Association) Lucien Stryk award for best Asian translation of the year (2014) and been nominated for the National Book Award (1979), among other honors.

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