Books like Chamber Music

Meet James Joyce, The Poet. Sipping the morning coffee, you can soak in the simplicity of his prose and feel the warm coffee for a few seconds more. There is no need to either refer a dictionary to get meanings of complicated words or meander deep between the lines to catch a hidden message. The verses are without the excess of metaphors and the shine of verbose portmanteaus. But they do usher in, the spring of life. The playfulness of heart, in its pristine beauty, is captured in this beautiful poem:\ \ My love is in a light attire Among the apple-trees, Where the gay winds do most desire To run in companies. There, where the gay winds stay to woo The young leaves as they pass, My love goes slowly, bending to Her shadow on the grass; And where the sky's a pale blue cup Over the laughing land, My love goes lightly, holding up Her dress with dainty hand\ \ And the mundane finds splendour too, in his tender musings. Something as mundane as combing as well.\ \ Silently she's combing, Combing her long hair Silently and graciously, With many a pretty air. The sun is in the willow leaves And on the dapplled grass,And still she's combing her long hair Before the looking-glass. I pray you, cease to comb out, Comb out your long hair, For I have heard of witchery Under a pretty air, That makes as one thing to the lover Staying and going hence, All fair, with many a pretty air And many a negligence\ \ And when he writes the following verse, one can almost visualize him, leaning by a wooden gate on a starry night, whistling the tune of a vagabond and drinking in the beauty of his beloved with twinkling eyes:\ \ When the shy star goes forth in heaven All maidenly, disconsolate, Hear you amid the drowsy even One who is singing by your gate. His song is softer than the dew And he is come to visit you. O bend no more in revery When he at eventide is calling.Nor muse: Who may this singer be Whose song about my heart is falling? Know you by this, the lover's chant, 'Tis I that am your visitant\ \ The poems form the soothing voice of a spirited soul, who draws joy from every little thing around him. But heck I know! I felt the same at the end as you do right now: Is this the \ same\ Joyce? :)