A Poet for All Times: A Conversation with Quent Cordair

I had the pleasure of visiting the Quent Cordair Fine Art Gallery in Napa Valley and chatting with poet, painter, author, novelist, Marine, businessman (etc etc!) Author Quent Cordair.

William Wordsworth said that a poet is a "man speaking to men." This is certainly true of Quent Cordair's poetry. We chatted about his poetic influences and fiction and we dissected a Robert Frost poem along with two poems in Quent's latest book My Kingdom.

The Robert Frost poem we discussed was Fire and Ice

FIRE AND ICE

by Robert Frost

Some say the world will end in fire,

Some say in ice.

From what I’ve tasted of desire

I hold with those who favor fire.

But if it had to perish twice,

I think I know enough of hate

To say that for destruction ice

Is also great

And would suffice.

Then we discussed Quent's poem FIRE OR ICE

FIRE OR ICE

by Quent Cordair

Some say that Hell is made of fire,

Some say of ice.

From what I've seen the oceans sire

I think I'd choose the ice or fire

O'er sinking to the sailor's end,

In darkening depths come eye to eye

With demons vile come round to rend

A flailing feast o'er which they'll vie,

One bubbled cry ascending.

Lastly we discussed his poem A Call to Stand, which was recently published in The Objective Standard:

A Call to Stand

One man at war with Man’s deprecation

Calls out to all men to seek no salvation,

To pick themselves up from self-immolation,

To turn from the gods of their own creation,

To stand up and face the day—

To reclaim their birthright to say—

I am that I am, before nothing I kneel;

I mastered the fire, invented the wheel;

I cast the bells true and set them to peal;

I am Man, for whom all else is clay—

I am Man. I make my own way.