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A haiku and a ukulele

Lauren Burke, Grad ’11

When you think of poets, the works of William Shakespeare may come to mind — but how about the works of the Beastie Boys?

For Dr. Ryan Jerving, visiting assistant professor in the Department of English, not only do Shakespeare and the Beastie Boys fit into the realm of poetry, but, together, they make quite a poetic pair. 

As part of National Poetry month in April, faculty members in the Department of English partnered with Raynor Memorial Libraries to host an hour-long poetry reading. The faculty members read selections by some of their favorite poets — and shared some originals. 

Following a theme of mixing lyrics with poetry, Jerving ditched the standard reading approach, opting instead to sing along with his guitar and ukulele. He began with an amalgamation of a poem from Shakespeare’s The Tempest called “None of us cared for Kate,” and then borrowed bits and pieces of music from Liverpool and Bristol, along with the Beastie Boys’ hit She’s Crafty, Jerving’s interpretation resulted in a catchy sing along. His second song, Stop Her in My Hand, included pauses that Jerving filled with clever haikus.

Jerving’s light-hearted entertainment proved poetry exists in more forms that just lines on paper and can be fun, witty and humorous.

Other faculty readers included Dr. Angela Sorby, associate professor of English; Dr. Ed Block, professor of English; Dr. Tyler Farrell, adjunct professor of English; and Dr. Larry Watson, visiting professor in English. (A complete reading list is available on the Raynor Memorial Libraries website.)

Marquette President Scott R. Pilarz, S.J., kicked off the event with a reading of one of his favorite poems – the aptly named The Metaphysicians of South Jersey by Stephen Dunn. (Father President hails from the Garden State). And then he was off to do what else? Teach his classical poetry course.

Throughout the month of April, Raynor exhibited poetry books from its collection and two volumes of the Saint John's Bible, with pages open to illuminations for poetic passages in the books of Psalms and Wisdom.