Evening Concert, Sainte-Chapelle (John Updike)

I know John Updike for writing the Rabbit series. Had no idea he also wrote poetry. Poets.org only shows one poem to his name so it seems he mainly stuck with prose.

And even this poem is pretty prose-y. True, the lines are of equal measure. It's a sonnet and there is ample use of alliteration. Maybe too much alliteration really. I mean, this line: "across the Seine;/we rustled into place. Then violins/vaunting Vivaldi's strident strength' becomes almost funny with all of its trills. Maybe it's a clever statement of Vivaldi's music. I'm not familiar.

Favorite line: "in shapes/of shield and cross and strut and brace"