The Singing of the Scythe : MPT no. 3 2014

‘The Singing of the Scythe’ focusses on poetry of the First World War, featuring the poetry we guarantee you won’t have come across in this centenary year: concrete poems about the occupied city of Antwerp by Paul van Ostaijen, Punjabi folksongs composed by the women who were left behind when their men went to battle, passionate poems by Italian poet Clemente Rèbora and Marina Tsvetaeva, and a series of poems by the contemporary Flemish poet Stefan Hertmans, dedicated to his Grandfather. Every page sheds a new international light on this world war. This issue also features an indepth interview with the great French poet Jacques Réda and new translations of his poems. We also publish Chinese poets Yi Lu and Yu Jian, Argentinian Francisco Bitar, and variations on a Mandelstam poem by George Szirtes. Reviewers include Peter Daniels on Robert Hass and Kathryn Maris reviewing a new volume of Hugo Claus.