Top 10 Jorge Luis Borges Poems | Introducing The Borges Connection!

Many Italians have or have had older uncles living in Argentina. Mine went by the name of Xavier, ran a liquor factory in one of the thousand barrios of Buenos Aires, and a picture of his daughter was sent back home, to show what girls wore when they took their First Communion, while most of their relatives in Italy did not even have bathrooms or running water, let alone a snow-white dress to give their daughters. I never knew him. You cannot choose your family members, but were it possible, Borges would have been my choice.

Are you a teacher, Jorge? The way you express your thoughts on these poems made me think that perhaps it's what you do. Humanity teachers have developed, either because of their passion or their profession, such a deep level in their reading that I cannot stop admiring.

Finally caught one live and it is the inaugural episode of a Borges discussion project, am I dreaming? 🤩

I did read the Selected Poems by Borges early in the year but forgot to take notes. Also doesn't help I don't get poetry much. 🥺 I liked many of his poems but it wasn't wow for me, could very well be my own deficiency in appreciating poetry.

How did you find the translation? I ask because I discussed this a bit with someone who reads Spanish and they said it was a very literal translation which works fine sometimes but maybe not so much for poetry. Not that it was not good but maybe there is an avenue for further translations of Borges' poetry if the estate permits. I will try to dig up some of the titles I liked and return to this comment , apologies for the poor memory! 🙈

Qué hermosa idea, Jorge! Muchos éxitos con este nuevo proyecto. Tu canal es maravilloso <3

Happy to hear about programming on various facets of Borges!

The truth is that I haven't read a lot of his poetry. Just one called "The Gold of the Tiger."
I share Botges' love and admiration for the big cat.

I am reading a memior by Jay Parini called Borges and Me.
Parini took Borges on a tour of Scotland in 1970, while Parini was in graduate school.

Parini spends a week driving Borges, a dedicated sight seer, everywhere.

Half way through, the comic aspects of the journey are apparent. Borges constantly needs the bathroom, gets food on his clothes, and drones on about his lost love Norah Lange.

It occurred to me that Borges was The Don and Parini Sancho Panza, with Lange as the Lady Dulcina. The whole memior might just be a rewriting of Don Quxoite

Con un gran afán, espero oir tu nuevo podcast de Borges.

Hi Jorge ,as a big Borges fan I am excited to watch your podcasts exploring every facet of his amazing body of work. I think his poetry has often been undervalued because most people have concentrated on the fiction.I like your selection very much and,if I may,would like to include some from a late collection,El oro de los tigres/The Gold of the tigers. I would choose Hengist quiere hombresA.D. 499/Hengist wants men A.D.499 which has a very exciting,almost epic,sweep and ties in with his passion for learning Old English and interest in Saxon history.There is also one poem To the German language,another of his literary poems which pays tribute to the language which after Spanish and English was a
major influence on him.Thanks again for the video and have a great weekend.

Hola jorge! I have to confess that when I saw borges' portrait, I said "oh no!"because I don't like anything of borges' works. I have tried many times to read "El aleph" or "ficciones" but I had to stop after few pages. Maybe I don't possess the borges connection. Anyway I want to give a try to the borges'poems that you have chosen. Then I'll let you know if I have liked them or not. Your project seems awesome, by the way. Have a nice day my friend and see you soon. Bye!

Muchas gracias por tu video Jorge ! Otro poema que me encanta de Borges es Poema Conjetural, que toca sus temas recurrentes como la muerte y el destino.

Saludos desde México !

Hello Jorge! I so appreciate your recommendations. I will be sure to pick this up.

I read a book about Blindness called "Country of the Blind" by Andrew Leland and it had some lovely little insights into Borges in a unique light. It is maybe only half a percent of the book, but it has worth in the other 99.5%.

Borges' thoughts about Blindness I've always found very interesting. He was maybe more optimistic about Blindness than you see outside of Blindness circles. He learned old English, he memorized long passages, he was read to and dictated for.

I am so curious to hear how he conceived these beautiful poems in his mind. Turning them over and crafting them before speaking them. Or maybe he spoke them, heard them read to him by his mother or his friend, and edited that way. Beautiful and interesting in their materiality and creation!

"Blind, laughing, and brave as I also hope to die."