Leonard Cohen — Book of Mercy “I,8”

About this episode

This episode explores Leonard Cohen's poem 'I, 8' from Book of Mercy, highlighting its themes of fall and redemption.

Have you ever watched, in awe, as a skilled gymnast or skater lifts off and completes a dizzying number of revolutions in less than a second before landing safely back down? That’s how you may feel upon reading the great Leonard Cohen’s urgent, dreamlike poem “I, 8” from Book of Mercy. In his telling of a man’s fall “from his high place” into “disgrace”, Cohen sends us on a short, 206-word journey that seamlessly weaves together narration, fiction, meditation, devotion, and prayer. We invite you to subscribe to Pádraig’s weekly Poetry Unbound Substack, read the Poetry Unbound books and his newest work, Kitchen Hymns, or listen to all our Poetry Unbound episodes.

Topics covered

• Leonard Cohen
• poetry
• Book of Mercy
• meditation
• devotion

Keywords

• gymnast
• skater
• narration
• fiction
• prayer

Mentioned in this episode

Products: Kitchen Hymns

Books & works: Book of Mercy, I, 8, Poetry Unbound Substack, Poetry Unbound, Kitchen Hymns

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