the poetics of everyday life
In his poem “June 30, 1974,” the poet James Schuyler describes an early summer morning in the Hamptons. He begins: “Let me tell you/that this weekend Sunday/morning in the country/fills my soul/with tranquil joy….” He goes on to describe the region’s geographic and botanical delights—the dunes, the mountains, the bayberry, and roses. Then he details the house in which he’s staying (“this charming one,/alive with paintings,/ plants and quiet”), the lively night before (“How we must have/sounded, gossiping at/the dinner table/last night.”), and his current, quiet perch at the breakfast table (“To get up/to this morning view/and eat poached eggs/and extra toast with/Tiptree Goosberry [sic] Preserve”). He guesses at the activities that might lie before him in the day ahead (“I’d like to go out/for a swim but/it’s a little cool/for that”), before deciding to stay firmly in the moment, writing, “Enough to/sit here drinking coffee,/writing, watching the clear/day ripen…”
The inspiration for this poem was a stay at the Hamptons home of his close friends, the artists Jane Freilicher and Joe Hazan, after spending the previous night with the couple and the poet John Ashbery. But Schuyler was also
