Author Topic: Poetry Page  (Read 755749 times)

BarbStAubrey

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Re: Poetry Page
« Reply #1280 on: February 25, 2010, 02:29:09 PM »


Pull up a chair and Join us!
Winter may still be on the ground
however,
our hearts are turning to Spring.


Winter & Early Spring Poetry


Discussion Leaders: Barb & fairanna

Lines Written in Early Spring


~William Wordsworth (1798)

I heard a thousand blended notes,
While in a grove I sate reclined,
In that sweet mood when pleasant thoughts
Bring sad thoughts to the mind.

To her fair works did Nature link
The human soul that through me ran;
And much it grieved my heart to think
What man has made of man.

Through primrose tufts, in that green bower,
The periwinkle trailed its wreaths;
And ’tis my faith that every flower
Enjoys the air it breathes.

The birds around me hopped and played,
Their thoughts I cannot measure:--
But the least motion which they made
It seemed a thrill of pleasure.

The budding twigs spread out their fan,
To catch the breezy air;
And I must think, do all I can,
That there was pleasure there.

If this belief from heaven be sent,
If such be Nature’s holy plan,
Have I not reason to lament
What man has made of man?
 

“A man should hear a little music, read a little poetry, and see a fine picture every day of his life, in order that worldly cares may not obliterate the sense of the beautiful which God has implanted in the human soul.” ~ Goethe

kidsal

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Re: Poetry Page
« Reply #1281 on: February 25, 2010, 02:51:51 PM »

Winter solitude ---
in a world of one color
the sound of wind.

BASHO

Over the wintry forest
winds howl
in a rage
with no leaves to blow.

SOSEKI

Out of one wintry
twig, one bud,
one blossom's worth
of warmth at long last!

RANSETSU

BarbStAubrey

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Re: Poetry Page
« Reply #1282 on: February 25, 2010, 03:05:25 PM »
Wonderful selection Kidsal - the wind has certainly picked up and that is  often the sign that change is in the air and one bud is so perfect for what many of us see when we step out of our warm homes.

I thought these words about Tea just fit our time together...

I cannot sit and chat with you,
the way I'd like to do.
So brew yourself a cup of tea,
I'll think of you, you think of me.

          anonymous

When you're feeling sad & blue
And have no clue what to do
Sit down and have a cup of tea
And a hug or two or maybe three
Feel those troubles melt away
And start you on a better day.
          
          by Paulette, 1998

Tea that helps our head and heart.
Tea medicates most every part.
Tea rejuvenates the very old.
Tea warms the hands of those who're cold.

          Jonker, Amsterdam, circa 1670

“A man should hear a little music, read a little poetry, and see a fine picture every day of his life, in order that worldly cares may not obliterate the sense of the beautiful which God has implanted in the human soul.” ~ Goethe

Babi

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Re: Poetry Page
« Reply #1283 on: February 25, 2010, 05:11:29 PM »
 Poor Barb. The back and forth weather is enough to make my sinuses huffy; I keep a tissue pack with me at all times.

 Ah, KIDSAL. I know that 'world of one color'. Most dismal. Still, down
here on the Texas Gulf Coast, we can find a hardy rose even in midwinter.

 As I've grown older, I've found more and more uses for tea. Especially
the peppermint and the chamomile! ;)
"I go to books and to nature as a bee goes to the flower, for a nectar that I can make into my own honey."  John Burroughs

mrssherlock

  • Posts: 2007
Re: Poetry Page
« Reply #1284 on: February 26, 2010, 03:15:11 PM »
Harking back to Valentine's Day is this column by Britain's Poet Laureate, Carol Ann Duffy, devoted to love poems :  http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/books/7213958/Carol-Ann-Duffy.html
Jackie
The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing. Edmund Burke

BarbStAubrey

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Re: Poetry Page
« Reply #1285 on: February 26, 2010, 05:08:46 PM »
Fabulous article - thanks for bringing it to us... :-*
“A man should hear a little music, read a little poetry, and see a fine picture every day of his life, in order that worldly cares may not obliterate the sense of the beautiful which God has implanted in the human soul.” ~ Goethe

BarbStAubrey

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Re: Poetry Page
« Reply #1286 on: February 26, 2010, 05:16:23 PM »
I became curious of Donal Og  - do not remember it quoted in "The Dead" but I do remember the movie.  At the time I was reading Joyce and I thought the movie version of the story was credible if not brilliant.

The more I read the more I learn there are several bits of Donal Og translated into English - and from what I am reading like so many old works there is a difference in the wording as the story was passed along in different communities.

Here is one version...

DONAL ÓG

If you should go far across the water,
Oh, take me with you to be your partner.
In that fair and nice land, you'll be well looked after,
And you shall sleep with the Greek king's daughter.

The first time I saw you on that Sunday evening,
Beside the altar where I was kneeling,
It was of Christ's passion that I was reading,
But my mind was on you and my heart was bleeding.

Oh, Donal Óg, you'll not find me lazy,
Not like so many of the high-born and rich young ladies.
I'll do your milking and I'll nurse your baby,
And if you were set on, I would back you bravely.

For you said you would meet me, but you were lying
Beside the sheepshed as the day it was dying.
I whistled first, then I started ailing,
But all that I heard was the young lambs wailing.

Oh, and come if you will, come when stars are peeping.
Rap at the door that makes no squeaking.
My mother will ask you to name your people.
I'll tell her you're a sire of the night winds weeping.

I got the first kiss and from no craven.
I got the second atop the stairway.
The third kiss came as down you laid me,
But for that one night I'd be a maiden.

Oh, as black as the sloe is the heart inside me.
Oh, as black as the coal is the grief that strides me,
As black as that boot print on my shining hallway,
Ah, it is you who blackened it now, forever and always.

For you took what's before me and what's behind me.
You took East and West when you wouldn't mind me.
Sun, moon and stars from my sky you have taken,
And God himself - or I'm much mistaken.
 
“A man should hear a little music, read a little poetry, and see a fine picture every day of his life, in order that worldly cares may not obliterate the sense of the beautiful which God has implanted in the human soul.” ~ Goethe

BarbStAubrey

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Re: Poetry Page
« Reply #1287 on: February 26, 2010, 05:18:35 PM »
and here is another version...

Donal Og
 
It is late last night the dog was speaking of you;
the snipe was speaking of you in her deep marsh.
It is you are the lonely bird through the woods;
and that you may be without a mate until you find me.

You promised me, and you said a lie to me,
that you would be before me where the sheep are flocked;
I gave a whistle and three hundred cries to you,
and I found nothing there but a bleating lamb.

You promised me a thing that was hard for you,
a ship of gold under a silver mast;
twelve towns with a market in all of them,
and a fine white court by the side of the sea.

You promised me a thing that is not possible,
that you would give me gloves of the skin of a fish;
that you would give me shoes of the skin of a bird;
and a suit of the dearest silk in Ireland.

When I go by myself to the Well of Loneliness,
I sit down and I go through my trouble;
when I see the world and do not see my boy,
he that has an amber shade in his hair.

It was on that Sunday I gave my love to you;
the Sunday that is last before Easter Sunday.
And myself on my knees reading the Passion;
and my two eyes giving love to you for ever.

My mother said to me not to be talking with you today,
or tomorrow, or on the Sunday;
it was a bad time she took for telling me that;
it was shutting the door after the house was robbed.

My heart is as black as the blackness of the sloe,
or as the black coal that is on the smith's forge;
or as the sole of a shoe left in white halls;
it was you that put that darkness over my life.

You have taken the east from me; you have taken the west from me;
you have taken what is before me and what is behind me;
you have taken the moon, you have taken the sun from me;
and my fear is great that you have taken God from me!

- Anonymous, 8th Century Ireland, translated by Augusta Gregory


“A man should hear a little music, read a little poetry, and see a fine picture every day of his life, in order that worldly cares may not obliterate the sense of the beautiful which God has implanted in the human soul.” ~ Goethe

mrssherlock

  • Posts: 2007
Re: Poetry Page
« Reply #1288 on: February 26, 2010, 06:13:41 PM »
Sad as the story is, the last line of the second version is chilling for 8th century, truly ominous.
Jackie
The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing. Edmund Burke

Babi

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Re: Poetry Page
« Reply #1289 on: February 27, 2010, 08:49:46 AM »
  I agree, JACKIE. For you took what's before me and what's behind me. Her past reputation and future hopes are both ruined, and she
had to fear that God had turned away also.  The careless seducer has always been a despicable character in my thinking.  
  I think I'll go find a poem about true, caring love.  

 Oh, I had to smile, JACKIE, when Ms. Duffy confessed re. love poetry, "my
homework grades shot up".  :)

"I go to books and to nature as a bee goes to the flower, for a nectar that I can make into my own honey."  John Burroughs

mrssherlock

  • Posts: 2007
Re: Poetry Page
« Reply #1290 on: February 27, 2010, 09:23:19 AM »
I've been browsing through the three Kay Ryan books my library has and have found so many I like.  Others seem empty, like words scattered on a page.  Maybe it's my mood.  Anyway this one seems so apt for this infernally dismal weather.  Hope I'm not violating copyright; this is from Say Uncle, copyright 2000.
WINTER FEAR

Is it just winter
or is this worse.
Is this the year
when outer damp
obscures a deeper curse
that spring can't fix,
when gears that
turn the earth
won't shift the view.
when clouds won't lift
though all the skies
go blue.
Jackie
The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing. Edmund Burke

Tomereader1

  • Posts: 1870
Re: Poetry Page
« Reply #1291 on: February 27, 2010, 12:50:50 PM »
Glad you are liking Kay Ryan (for the most part)  I had not seen that one before, but my library had only the one volume.  Guess I'll have to get an inter-library loan and read the rest.
The reading of a fine book is an uninterrupted dialogue in which the book speaks and our soul replies.


André Maurois

BarbStAubrey

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Re: Poetry Page
« Reply #1292 on: February 27, 2010, 10:31:30 PM »
He Lit a Fire with Icicles
          by Kay Ryan
               For W.G. Sebald, 1944-2001

This was the work
of St. Sebolt, one
of his miracles:
he lit a fire with
icicles. He struck
them like a steel
to flint, did St.
Sebolt. It
makes sense
only at a certain
body heat. How
cold he had
to get to learn
that ice would
burn. How cold
he had to stay.
When he could
feel his feet
he had to
back away.

“A man should hear a little music, read a little poetry, and see a fine picture every day of his life, in order that worldly cares may not obliterate the sense of the beautiful which God has implanted in the human soul.” ~ Goethe

Babi

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Re: Poetry Page
« Reply #1293 on: February 28, 2010, 08:39:31 AM »
 Don't lose hope!  We had a beautiful day here yesterday.  Blue skies, clouds piled high,high,high
on top of one another, with a plant flying across the sky about one inch long.

Meanwhile, here is the love poem I found.  No seducer here.

   I Love Thee
by Eliza Acton, 1799-1859.

I love thee, as I love the calm
    Of sweet, star-lighted hours!
I love thee, as I love the balm
    Of early jes'mine flow'rs.
I love thee, as I love the last
    Rich smile of fading day,
Which lingereth, like the look we cast,
    On rapture pass'd away.
I love thee as I love the tone
    Of some soft-breathing flute
Whose soul is wak'd for me alone,
    When all beside is mute.

I love thee as I love the first
    Young violet of the spring;
Or the pale lily, April-nurs'd,
    To scented blossoming.
I love thee, as I love the full,
    Clear gushings of the song,
Which lonely--sad--and beautiful--
    At night-fall floats along,
Pour'd by the bul-bul forth to greet
    The hours of rest and dew;
When melody and moonlight meet
    To blend their charm, and hue.
I love thee, as the glad bird loves
    The freedom of its wing,
On which delightedly it moves
    In wildest wandering.

I love thee as I love the swell,
    And hush, of some low strain,
Which bringeth, by its gentle spell,
    The past to life again.
Such is the feeling which from thee
    Nought earthly can allure:
'Tis ever link'd to all I see
    Of gifted--high--and pure!
"I go to books and to nature as a bee goes to the flower, for a nectar that I can make into my own honey."  John Burroughs

mrssherlock

  • Posts: 2007
Re: Poetry Page
« Reply #1294 on: February 28, 2010, 11:19:59 AM »
Babi:  What a treasure!  This is one I will print so I can read it again every time my eye falls on it.  It is perfect.  Thank you.
Jackie
The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing. Edmund Burke

BarbStAubrey

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Re: Poetry Page
« Reply #1295 on: February 28, 2010, 01:39:52 PM »
That is so perfect Babi - a lovely view of what we would like love to be - I bet there are a few lucky ones who give and receive that kind of love - at least that is our hope so that we are disappointed when life shows us less.

Here is an ancient Pindar Olympic Ode for the boys footrace - the Ode dates from 488BC

Olympian XIV: For Asopichus of Orchomenus, Winner of the Boys' Foot-Race

Strophe 1
    Whose haunts are by Kephissus’ river,
    You queens beloved of poet’s song,
Ruling Orchomenus, that sunlit city
        And land of lovely steeds,
Watch and ward of the ancient Minyan race,
    Hear now my prayer, you Graces three.
For in your gift are all our mortal joys,
And every sweet thing, be it wisdom, beauty
Or glory, that makes rich the soul of man.
    Nor even can the immortal gods
Order at their behest the dance and festals,
        Lacking the Graces’ aid;
Who are the stewards of all the rites of heaven,
        Whose thrones are set at Pytho
Beside pollo of the golden bow,
    And who with everlasting honour
Worship the Father, lord of great Olympus.

Strophe 2
    Euphrosyne, lover of song,
    Anda Aglaia revered, daughters
Of Zeus the all-highest, hearken, and with Thalia,
        Darling of harmony,
Look on our songs of revel, on ligh feet
    Stepping to grace this happy hour.
For in this Lycidan measure, harvested
From the rich fruits of mind, I come to praise
Asopichus, whose Minyan house, Thalia,
    Now of your favours wears the prie
Of the Olympian victor.  Then let Echo
        Speed to Persephone’s
Dark-walled dwelling, to his father Cleodemus
        Bearing the glorious tidings,
That his young son, matched in the famous games
    Of Pisa’s far-renownéd vale,
Has set the winged garland on his brow.

“A man should hear a little music, read a little poetry, and see a fine picture every day of his life, in order that worldly cares may not obliterate the sense of the beautiful which God has implanted in the human soul.” ~ Goethe

Babi

  • Posts: 6732
Re: Poetry Page
« Reply #1296 on: March 01, 2010, 08:02:16 AM »
 I don't think I've ever read anything of Pindar's before.  It's so evocative of his time; I find
myself wishing I could read it in the original.  This one is so full of praise for the gods, the graces
and the winner of the footrace, it's easy to see why Pindar was so popular.
"I go to books and to nature as a bee goes to the flower, for a nectar that I can make into my own honey."  John Burroughs

mrssherlock

  • Posts: 2007
Re: Poetry Page
« Reply #1297 on: March 01, 2010, 11:29:27 AM »
In memory of Nodar:

TO AN ATHLETE DYING YOUNG
A E Houseman

The time you won your town the race
We chaired you through the market-place;
Man and boy stood cheering by,
And home we brought you shoulder-high.

To-day, the road all runners come,
Shoulder-high we bring you home,
And set you at your threshold down,
Townsman of a stiller town.

Smart lad, to slip betimes away
From fields where glory does not stay,
And early though the laurel grows
It withers quicker than the rose.

Eyes the shady night has shut
Cannot see the record cut,
And silence sounds no worse than cheers
After earth has stopped the ears:

Now you will not swell the rout
Of lads that wore their honours out,
Runners whom renown outran
And the name died before the man.

So set, before the echoes fade,
The fleet foot on the sill of shade,
And hold to the low lintel up
The still-defended challenge-cup.

And round that early-laurelled head
Will flock to gaze the strengthless dead,
And find unwithered on its curls
The garland briefer than a girl's.


Houseman is one of my favorite poets since he seems always to have just the right words.
Jackie
The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing. Edmund Burke

Tomereader1

  • Posts: 1870
Re: Poetry Page
« Reply #1298 on: March 01, 2010, 01:01:59 PM »
I believe this was the reading Meryl Streep (Karen)gave at the funeral of Denis Finch-Hatton in "Out of Africa".  It was so beautiful!  One of my favorite movies.  It is so timely that you posted this here, mssherlock, since I just watched the movie the other day!
The reading of a fine book is an uninterrupted dialogue in which the book speaks and our soul replies.


André Maurois

mrssherlock

  • Posts: 2007
Re: Poetry Page
« Reply #1299 on: March 01, 2010, 01:11:12 PM »
So cid I! maybe that is why it was so easily recalled when I read Pindar's Ode coupled with the bittersweetness of the proud athletes in their Olympic victories.
Jackie
The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing. Edmund Burke

fairanna

  • Posts: 263
Re: Poetry Page
« Reply #1300 on: March 01, 2010, 02:05:25 PM »
I  stopped by to see what poems and thoughts were posted ..and all were here...the best  that day can bring....thanks so much for sharing the poems you love and for your thoughts of caring...it looks bright and spring like here ..my crocus keeps popping up her golden flower ,,,even the azaleas show tight buds ready to give some birth ,,and the daffodils are pushing through the earth and tell me soon their golden heads will nod in hopefully a gentle springs rebirth..smiles ...anna

mrssherlock

  • Posts: 2007
Re: Poetry Page
« Reply #1301 on: March 01, 2010, 03:36:04 PM »
Not quite what I was looking for but somewhat apt:

A LIGHT EXISTS IN SPRING

A light exists in spring
Not present on the year
At any other period.
When March is scarcely here

A color stands abroad
On solitary hills
That science cannot overtake,
But human naturefeels.

It waits upon the lawn;
It shows the furthest tree
Upon the furthest slope we know;
It almost speaks to me.

Then, as horizons step,
Or noons report away,
Without the formula of sound,
It passes, and we stay:

A quality of loss
Affecting our content,
As trade had suddenly encroached
Upon a sacrament.


Emily Dickinson

I found this fragment but was unable to locate the poem entire:

"The sun is brilliant in the sky but its warmth does not reach my face.
The breeze stirs the trees but leaves my hair unmoved.
The cooling rain will feed the grass but will not slake my thirst.
It is all inches away but further from me than my dreams.
"
-   M. Romeo LaFlamme, The First of March
Jackie
The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing. Edmund Burke

Babi

  • Posts: 6732
Re: Poetry Page
« Reply #1302 on: March 02, 2010, 08:14:19 AM »
 And then, of course, there is as always..Emily Dickinson

  MARCH
by Emily Dickinson

Dear March, come in!
How glad I am!
I looked for you before.
Put down your hat-
You must have walked-
How out of breath you are!
Dear March, how are you?
And the rest?
Did you leave Nature well?
Oh, March, come right upstairs with me,
I have so much to tell.
"I go to books and to nature as a bee goes to the flower, for a nectar that I can make into my own honey."  John Burroughs

mrssherlock

  • Posts: 2007
Re: Poetry Page
« Reply #1303 on: March 02, 2010, 09:32:31 AM »
Babi:  Wonderful!
Jackie
The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing. Edmund Burke

JoanK

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Re: Poetry Page
« Reply #1304 on: March 02, 2010, 02:57:01 PM »
Ahh, Emily Dickenson

BarbStAubrey

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Re: Poetry Page
« Reply #1305 on: March 02, 2010, 11:44:33 PM »
Babi what a great find - absolutely brilliant!

I'm done in - worked the poles today which is an incredably long 14 and a half hour day - I am going to sleep in tomorrow - thank goodness I knew to have something prepared in the frig for supper - a hot shower is next.
“A man should hear a little music, read a little poetry, and see a fine picture every day of his life, in order that worldly cares may not obliterate the sense of the beautiful which God has implanted in the human soul.” ~ Goethe

Babi

  • Posts: 6732
Re: Poetry Page
« Reply #1306 on: March 03, 2010, 08:34:12 AM »
 Uh, BARB, excuse my ever-present curiosity, but what is 'working the poles'?  And my
delighted congratulations on being able to work a 14-hour day!  I found 8-hour days
too much some time ago!
"I go to books and to nature as a bee goes to the flower, for a nectar that I can make into my own honey."  John Burroughs

Tomereader1

  • Posts: 1870
Re: Poetry Page
« Reply #1307 on: March 03, 2010, 11:17:02 AM »
P O L L S, at the voting polls I think is what she means.
The reading of a fine book is an uninterrupted dialogue in which the book speaks and our soul replies.


André Maurois

BarbStAubrey

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Re: Poetry Page
« Reply #1308 on: March 03, 2010, 12:13:04 PM »
Yes, and thanks - poles is very provocative isn't it but Polls is correct. Pretty good showing for a primary - regardless of party loyalty, after yesterday with no run off it looks like Perry is a shoe-in - we  understand he is working with Carl Rove and so a run for the White House is what most folks expect is the reason for his continuation as Gov. -

Found an election poem - Fun - Whittier speaks his mind...

Th 1852 election was between Pierce and Scott - Scott was nominated over the incumbent Fillmore who had been vice-president to Taylor therefore,  became President when Zach Taylor died. Pierce and his vice-president elect, King trounced Scott.

The Poor Voter on Election Day
           ~ by John Greenleaf Whittier (1852)
 
The proudest now is but my peer,
The highest not more high;
To-day, of all the weary year,
A king of men am I.
To-day alike are great and small,
The nameless and the known
My palace is the people’s hall,
The ballot-box my throne!

Who serves to-day upon the list
Beside the served shall stand;
Alike the brown and wrinkled fist,
The gloved and dainty hand!
The rich is level with the poor,
The weak is strong to-day;
And sleekest broadcloth counts no more
Than homespun frock of gray.

To-day let pomp and vain pretence
My stubborn right abide;
I set a plain man’s common sense
Against the pedant’s pride.
To-day shall simple manhood try
The strength of gold and land
The wide world has not wealth to buy
The power in my right hand!

While there’s a grief to seek redress,
Or balance to adjust,
Where weighs our living manhood less
Than Mammon’s vilest dust, --
While there’s a right to need my vote
A wrong to sweep away,
Up! clouted knee and ragged coat!
A man’s a man to-day!

 
“A man should hear a little music, read a little poetry, and see a fine picture every day of his life, in order that worldly cares may not obliterate the sense of the beautiful which God has implanted in the human soul.” ~ Goethe

Tomereader1

  • Posts: 1870
Re: Poetry Page
« Reply #1309 on: March 03, 2010, 01:11:43 PM »
Very nice election day poem! 
With the poles/polls thing, first thing popped into my mind was "pole dancer's poles" and I thought I probably ought to answer Babi's questions quickly before anyone misunderstood!  LOL (but I have an off-color mind sometime!) 
The reading of a fine book is an uninterrupted dialogue in which the book speaks and our soul replies.


André Maurois

mrssherlock

  • Posts: 2007
Re: Poetry Page
« Reply #1310 on: March 03, 2010, 01:56:29 PM »
Oh, Tome, it's hard to repress that naughty sense of humor, isn't it?  Luckily I type slowly these days or I'd have been censored long ago.
Jackie
The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing. Edmund Burke

BarbStAubrey

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Re: Poetry Page
« Reply #1311 on: March 03, 2010, 03:39:13 PM »
Signs
          ~ Geraldine Moorkens Byrne

Slight touch of green life
the first blush of bud

the seedlings sprout
before the ides of March

the rain falls in fat tears
the sky clears to egg blue

the air smells of earth
the light changes daily

the season rushes forward
the sap rises high
“A man should hear a little music, read a little poetry, and see a fine picture every day of his life, in order that worldly cares may not obliterate the sense of the beautiful which God has implanted in the human soul.” ~ Goethe

BarbStAubrey

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Re: Poetry Page
« Reply #1312 on: March 03, 2010, 04:01:47 PM »
I found reading Genji written in the 11th century, to be long and tedious however, it is filled with poetry exchanged by lovers as well as, entertainment that included group poetry nights where an original poem written on the spot contest was the entertainment. The following poetry is not from Genji but from a 7th century poet who later had to kill himself because he was accused of rebellion by the Empress as a ploy to promote her own son to high office.

The poem is typical of those found in Genji when a man returning home from a tryst.  The man would immediately sit down and compose a Tanka of gratitude, perhaps commenting upon some specific event that had occurred. The note would then be immediately dispatched to his lover by messenger or servant and his lover would be expected to instantly compose and return a suitable Tanka response, even if that meant arising from sleep. This form of poetry took on the name of Somonka.

Poem sent by Prince Otsu to Lady Ishikawa

Gentle foothills, and
in the dew drops of the mountains,
soaked, I waited for you--
grew wet from standing there
in the dew drops of the mountains.

Poem by Lady Ishikawa in response (7th C. CE)

Waiting for me,
you grew wet there
in gentle foothills,
in the dew drops of the mountains--
I wish I'd been such drops of dew.

 
“A man should hear a little music, read a little poetry, and see a fine picture every day of his life, in order that worldly cares may not obliterate the sense of the beautiful which God has implanted in the human soul.” ~ Goethe

Tomereader1

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Re: Poetry Page
« Reply #1313 on: March 03, 2010, 04:08:38 PM »
mrssherlock, oh, yes it is sometimes hard to suppress the old naughty sense of humor.  I have to pray that little prayer we've all seen on line:
Lord, keep your arm around my shoulders and your hand over my mouth!
The reading of a fine book is an uninterrupted dialogue in which the book speaks and our soul replies.


André Maurois

BarbStAubrey

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Re: Poetry Page
« Reply #1314 on: March 03, 2010, 04:09:30 PM »
And finally - from the sublime to the silly... Another from the Irish poet, Geraldine Moorkens Byrne

Chortle , Gargoyle , Hullabaloo, Portmanteau, pomegranate, countenance

Stanza 1
You know what makes me chortle?
Said the monster to the Gargoyle
when I jump out of a portmanteau
and my victims make a hullabaloo
One swallowed whole, a pomegranate
Turning puce in her fair countenance.

Stanza 2
The other would not countenance
this; cruelty did not make him chortle
- his was a noble race, The Gargoyle
lofty towers, not cheap portmanteau
Silent watching, not raucous hullabaloo
And no choking on pomegranate.

Stanza 3
She could have choked on that pomegranate
He said with a stern countenance.
While you indulged in your chortle
Why can’t you be more like a gargoyle?
As it is she packed your portmanteau
You’ve lost your place for that hullabaloo!

Stanza 4
The Monster sniggered. That Hullabaloo
Was worth a dozen strangled pomegranate
eating women, however fair her countenance.
Your problem is you never have a chortle.
You don’t know how to live, Gargoyle.
So what if all I have is my portmanteau?

Stanza 5
If you are happy living out of a portmanteau
Then by all means, enjoy the result of your hullabaloo
You’ll never find another girl to feed you pomegranates
Or who will love your ugly countenance
But you’ll have had a good old chortle.
Thus spake the wise old, cool headed Gargoyle

Stanza 6
The monster looked at his friend, the Gargoyle.
He scratched the worn leather of his portmanteau
He was a monster, his business was hullabaloos
It seemed hard that his nature lost him pomegranates
And soft words and kind hands and pretty countenance.
And yet, he could not have stifled that fateful chortle.

Stanza 7
Monster sighed -Gargoyle, I did not mean to chortle
. but jumping out of portmanteau and causing a hullabaloo
Is more to me than sweet pomegranates and fair countenance.
“A man should hear a little music, read a little poetry, and see a fine picture every day of his life, in order that worldly cares may not obliterate the sense of the beautiful which God has implanted in the human soul.” ~ Goethe

BarbStAubrey

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Re: Poetry Page
« Reply #1315 on: March 03, 2010, 06:04:07 PM »
This is in memor of Deems - a quote from her written during her leadership of BREAK, BLOW, BURN   by Camille Paglia

Quote
Deems
June 8, 2005 - 09:50 am
I have a new direct computer connection and it is running very slowly today. It's ordinarily fast as lightning. Since this occurred a week or so ago, I expect it to last the day.

So.

I differ somewhat from Paglia in her reading of this poem. She suggests that the poet is accompanied to church by the soul (her) who goes to a separate part of the chapel to pray while the body goes to the area of the church, or the crypt, where the dead of the parish are buried in sarcophagi with their inscriptions above them and perhaps their shield bearing the family arms. The body (the mortal part of us) is sent to a harsh school where he will learn that he is mortal as are all those buried dead.

I'm not convinced that one has to see this duality represented in the way Paglia presents it. I can see the poet's soul deep in prayer while his body (his intellect perhaps) is concentrating on the church monuments. I'm pretty good at multitasking myself and that's what I see going on here.

Whichever.

The poem can be paraphrased as "while my soul is busy with prayer, I consider my flesh that is subject (as all flesh is) to death. The study of these monuments will be a school lesson that will teach my body how to spell (the names on the monuments) and to note the birth (and death) dates on the stones. The monuments are made of Jet (a black anthracite stone) and Marble and they prevent all the dust of those dead from mingling together. They signify who the dead are, but the poet wonders what will point to the stones when they themselves fall down and "kiss those heaps, which now they have in trust"? Everything falls, all comes to ruin, even the stones meant to keep the names of the dead in the memory of the living.

The poet then addresses his flesh and tells it to learn that it is but the (hour) glass that holds the dust (which he will eventually be) that measures time. The final lesson is to notice how tame the dust inn view is and to teach yourself how to prepare for the ultimate fall.

Paglia's reading is more extensive and creative. We agree on the basic meaning of the poem.

Maryal

“A man should hear a little music, read a little poetry, and see a fine picture every day of his life, in order that worldly cares may not obliterate the sense of the beautiful which God has implanted in the human soul.” ~ Goethe

BarbStAubrey

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Re: Poetry Page
« Reply #1316 on: March 03, 2010, 06:21:56 PM »
The poem we were discussing from Paglia's book Break, Blow, Burn that was the subject of Deems remarks -

Church-Monuments
          by George Herbert
(1593 - 1633) English Christian : Protestant 17th Century
 
While that my soul repairs to her devotion,
Here I entomb my flesh, that it betimes
May take acquaintance of this heap of dust;
To which the blast of death's incessant motion,
Fed with the exhalation of our crimes,
Drives all at last. Therefore I gladly trust

My body to this school, that it may learn
To spell his elements, and find his birth
Written in dusty heraldry and lines;
Which dissolution sure doth best discern,
Comparing dust with dust, and earth with earth.
These laugh at jet and marble put for signs,

To sever the good fellowship of dust,
And spoil the meeting. What shall point out them,
When they shall bow, and kneel, and fall down flat
To kiss those heaps, which now they have in trust?
Dear flesh, while I do pray, learn here thy stem
And true descent; that when thou shalt grow fat,

And wanton in thy cravings, thou mayst know
That flesh is but the glass, which holds the dust
That measures all our time; which also shall
Be crumbled into dust. Mark here below
How tame these ashes are, how free from lust,
That thou mayst fit thyself against thy fall.
“A man should hear a little music, read a little poetry, and see a fine picture every day of his life, in order that worldly cares may not obliterate the sense of the beautiful which God has implanted in the human soul.” ~ Goethe

mrssherlock

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Re: Poetry Page
« Reply #1317 on: March 03, 2010, 07:43:02 PM »
Barb:  You pulled off a hat trick, three goals in a row.  Much to savor and reflect upon.  Looking for haiku I found thism site with "interpretations" by other authors of some of Basho's works.  http://www.haikupoetshut.com/basho1.html
Jackie
The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing. Edmund Burke

Babi

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Re: Poetry Page
« Reply #1318 on: March 04, 2010, 07:54:01 AM »
  Thanks, TOME.  And to both you and JACKIE... :-X   ;D

  That did make me grin, BARB, esp. Stanza 3.  Not that I actually chortled.
"I go to books and to nature as a bee goes to the flower, for a nectar that I can make into my own honey."  John Burroughs

BarbStAubrey

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Re: Poetry Page
« Reply #1319 on: March 04, 2010, 11:15:49 AM »
Ah the Bane of my existance and dear Margerat has written a poem about it...

SPELLING
          ~ Margaret Atwood

My daughter plays on the floor
with plastic letters,
red, blue & hard yellow,
learning how to spell,
spelling,
how to make spells.

I wonder how many women
denied themselves daughters,
closed themselves in rooms,
drew the curtains
so they could mainline words.

A child is not a poem,
a poem is not a child.
there is no either/or.
However.

I return to the story
of the woman caught in the war
& in labour, her thighs tied
together by the enemy
so she could not give birth.

Ancestress: the burning witch,
her mouth covered by leather
to strangle words.

A word after a word
after a word is power.

At the point where language falls away
from the hot bones, at the point
where the rock breaks open and darkness
flows out of it like blood, at
the melting point of granite
when the bones know
they are hollow & the word
splits & doubles & speaks
the truth & the body
itself becomes a mouth.

This is a metaphor.

How do you learn to spell?
Blood, sky & the sun,
your own name first,
your first naming, your first name,
your first word.

 
“A man should hear a little music, read a little poetry, and see a fine picture every day of his life, in order that worldly cares may not obliterate the sense of the beautiful which God has implanted in the human soul.” ~ Goethe