PURE WATER An Evening with Coleman Barks and Eugene Friesen, cello (Live at Williams College)

You may want to listen to this twice: once for Coleman Barks's readings and once for Eugene Friesen's cello. The live performance includes several of Barks's own poems (and one by William Matthews) as well as an introduction to the world and poetry of Jalalu'l-din Rumi, the thirteenth-century Islamic mystic and philosopher. Those already familiar with Rumi will recognize old friends; those new to him will start to understand why he has become so popular. Barks's readings are loving and sympathetic rather than dramatic, those of a poet and translator rather than an actor. Barks is reading to his friends, just as Rumi, once, spoke to his, and we get a sense of the man as well as the poetry. D.M.H. © AudioFile 2010, Portland, Maine [Published: MARCH 2010]