<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN">
<HTML><HEAD>
<META content="text/html; charset=iso-8859-1" http-equiv=Content-Type>
<META name=GENERATOR content="MSHTML 8.00.6001.19019">
<STYLE></STYLE>
</HEAD>
<BODY bgColor=#ffffff>
<DIV>
<H3><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 11pt; FONT-WEIGHT: normal" lang=EN>I found this
story on Google news, from my basset news alert. I thought that some of you
might enjoy this.</SPAN><SPAN lang=EN><?xml:namespace prefix = o ns =
"urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" /><o:p></o:p></SPAN></H3>
<H3><SPAN lang=EN>The Poet's Perspective: 'In Praise of the Basset
Hound'<o:p></o:p></SPAN></H3>
<P class=MsoNormal><EM><SPAN style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Calibri','sans-serif'"
lang=EN>Tuesday, February 15, 2011</SPAN></EM><SPAN lang=EN>
<o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><SPAN lang=EN>To watch a video of Robin Becker reading 'In
Praise of the Basset Hound,' click on the image above. <o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P><SPAN lang=EN>Robin Becker, the 2010-11 Penn State laureate and professor of
English and women's studies at the University, is sharing several of her poems
via video during the 2010-11 academic year, aiming to engage people "in the deep
pleasures of poetry -- language crafted and shaped from words, the 'ordinary'
material we all use every day," to explore how and why poems move
us.<o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P><SPAN lang=EN>"The Poet's Perspective" is a weekly poetry video series
scheduled to appear during the fall 2010 and spring 2011 semesters on Penn State
Live and in Penn State Newswires. Prior to each poem, Becker offers her thoughts
about what inspired her to write the piece, then poses a question to consider.
Below and <A href=""><FONT color=#0000ff>in the video link of "In Praise of
the Basset Hound,"</FONT></A> Becker honors an "unlovely" canine as
only an admirer could.<o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P><SPAN lang=EN>A creature I initially found smelly and disagreeable taught me
a great deal about affection, endurance and loyalty. I wrote this poem to
remember a dog who feel into my life for a year -- and the year I fell in love
with her.<o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P><SPAN lang=EN>Question to consider: Can you recall a time when your first
impressions differed wildly from the feelings you eventually had for a person or
animal?<o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P><SPAN lang=EN><BR><STRONG>In Praise of the Basset
Hound</STRONG><o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P><SPAN lang=EN>This unlovely dog, with warts, and a terrible stink<BR>common
to the breed, legless as walrus, teaches me<BR>to pursue my life with devotion.
Steadfast enthusiast <BR>of fisher cat and vole, she relies now almost entirely
on scent<BR>and sings her hound’s song of pleasure when we come <BR>close enough
for her to hear her name. <BR>In snow above her shoulder, she tracks our
skis,<BR>when all we can see is her metronome tail<BR>tipped in black, sweeping
the horizon a mile back.<BR>We keep her, incontinent, in an old shed behind the
farmhouse,<BR>a wire fence around her run. Warm days, nose in the air,<BR>she
sits like an old retiree in the sun, listening<BR>to warblers build their spring
nests.<BR>Her warts ooze, her eyes rain green phlegm. Still, <BR>I kiss her and
hold her against my breast,<BR>she who whelped twelve litters before someone
<BR>took pity and bought her from the breeder.<BR>Never permitted to lick hand
or face, she will not<BR>disgrace her training and extend her tongue in
play,<BR>though I offer my cheek. Daily, she shows me<BR>the meaning of
character, loping painfully<BR>on swollen paws. I apply salve to her scaly
folds,<BR>croon over her. Who among us has not been<BR>moved by the magnificence
of mute<BR>creatures in their abundant, dying skin?
<BR> <o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P><SPAN lang=EN>"In Praise of the Basset Hound" is from </SPAN><EM><SPAN
lang=EN>The Horse Fair: Poems</SPAN></EM><SPAN lang=EN>, by Robin Becker, c.
2000. All rights are controlled by the University of Pittsburgh Press,
Pittsburgh, PA 15260. Used by permission of the
publisher<o:p></o:p></SPAN></P></DIV></BODY></HTML>