Author Topic: Poems that move you  (Read 17230 times)

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Re: Poems that move you
« Reply #15 on: August 20, 2018, 02:08:12 PM »

Offline Redz

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Poetry eludes me.  I’m impatient and literal.  I do a have a soul though, so there’s hope.

I signed up for a poetry class this summer that a friend was teaching.  As I type, I’m sitting in a seat where the class was taught.

Life got in the way.  Once again no time for poetry.

At least I’m writing something from this space.

He’d be proud.

What you just wrote could be a poem and a pretty good one.

The beauty of poetry is that it doesn't have to be anything just some words presented in any way you wish....

Well that was easy!

What’s all the fuss?

Kidding.  I do admire the craftsmanship of well constructed poems.

I struggle with implied meaning when reading poetry, but I guess that’s a skill to work on like anything. 
Yup

Re: Poems that move you
« Reply #16 on: August 20, 2018, 02:41:11 PM »

Offline greece66

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Always liked this Dylan Thomas poem. I try not to overthink my enjoyment of things like poetry, but it makes me think of renewal and the transcendence of human experience.


Light breaks where no sun shines

Light breaks where no sun shines;
Where no sea runs, the waters of the heart
Push in their tides;
And, broken ghosts with glow-worms in their heads,
The things of light
File through the flesh where no flesh decks the bones.

A candle in the thighs
Warms youth and seed and burns the seeds of age;
Where no seed stirs,
The fruit of man unwrinkles in the stars,
Bright as a fig;
Where no wax is, the candle shows its hairs.

Dawn breaks behind the eyes;
From poles of skull and toe the windy blood
Slides like a sea;
Nor fenced, nor staked, the gushers of the sky
Spout to the rod
Divining in a smile the oil of tears.

Night in the sockets rounds,
Like some pitch moon, the limit of the globes;
Day lights the bone;
Where no cold is, the skinning gales unpin
The winter’s robes;
The film of spring is hanging from the lids.

Light breaks on secret lots,
On tips of thought where thoughts smell in the rain;
When logics die,
The secret of the soil grows through the eye,
And blood jumps in the sun;
Above the waste allotments the dawn halts.

Dylan Thomas is among my favourites. His verses have depth without having to use "difficult" words. An ex from Wales had bought me a collection of his poems. My favourite is And Death Shall Have No Dominion.

Re: Poems that move you
« Reply #17 on: August 20, 2018, 02:49:39 PM »

Offline Redz

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My poet friend tells me what I wrote was an “Ars Poetica”.  Which, of coourse, I had to a google.

——
Ars Poetica
A poem that explains the “art of poetry,” or a meditation on poetry using the form and techniques of a poem. Horace’s Ars Poetica is an early example, and the foundation for the tradition. While Horace writes of the importance of delighting and instructing audiences, modernist ars poetica poets argue that poems should be written for their own sake, as art for the sake of art. Archibald MacLeish’s famous “Ars Poetica” sums up the argument: “A poem should not mean / But be.” See also Alexander Pope’s “An Essay on Criticism,” William Wordsworth’s Prelude, and Wallace Stevens’s “Of Modern Poetry.”

——

I’m more of an Arse than an Ars...
Yup

Re: Poems that move you
« Reply #18 on: August 20, 2018, 04:36:23 PM »

Offline designmao

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From Robin Williams when he was teaching at a Prep School.
(For these uncertain times) 


Invictus

Out of the night that covers me,   
  Black as the Pit from pole to pole,   
I thank whatever gods may be   
  For my unconquerable soul.   
   
In the fell clutch of circumstance
  I have not winced nor cried aloud.   
Under the bludgeonings of chance   
  My head is bloody, but unbowed.   
   
Beyond this place of wrath and tears   
  Looms but the Horror of the shade,
And yet the menace of the years   
  Finds, and shall find, me unafraid.   
   
It matters not how strait the gate,   
  How charged with punishments the scroll,   
I am the master of my fate:
  I am the captain of my soul.

Re: Poems that move you
« Reply #19 on: August 20, 2018, 04:39:27 PM »

Offline Celtics4ever

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Invictus, is one I like as well.   Really makes on stronger in adversity and was helpful during my time as a soldier.

Re: Poems that move you
« Reply #20 on: August 20, 2018, 07:42:55 PM »

Offline csfansince60s

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Regarding the interconnectedness of humanity, Robert Dunne's "No man is an island...." Canto is the one that has stood the test of time for me:

"No man is an island,
Entire of itself,
Every man is a piece of the continent,
A part of the main.
If a clod be washed away by the sea,
Europe is the less.
As well as if a promontory were.
As well as if a manor of thy friend's
Or of thine own were:
Any man's death diminishes me,
Because I am involved in mankind,
And therefore never send to know for whom the bell tolls;
It tolls for thee."



But the one that moves me the most is by the immortal "Curly" Howard:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HSS_C73yJck

EDIT: Swingin the Alphabet was a classic too.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bgmdnxtz3Bo
« Last Edit: August 20, 2018, 07:54:57 PM by csfansince60s »

Re: Poems that move you
« Reply #21 on: August 20, 2018, 08:06:18 PM »

Offline More Banners

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Saw Bobby Kennedy's speech in Indy, 1968 on PBS the other night.

His use of that poem at that moment and the response...ahh...beauty.

Re: Poems that move you
« Reply #22 on: August 20, 2018, 09:36:53 PM »

Offline colincb

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Regarding the interconnectedness of humanity, Robert Dunne's "No man is an island...." Canto is the one that has stood the test of time for me:

"No man is an island,
Entire of itself,
Every man is a piece of the continent,
A part of the main.
If a clod be washed away by the sea,
Europe is the less.
As well as if a promontory were.
As well as if a manor of thy friend's
Or of thine own were:
Any man's death diminishes me,
Because I am involved in mankind,
And therefore never send to know for whom the bell tolls;
It tolls for thee."

...



Actually, the poem's author is John Donne and it was originally written as prose in 1623. Nonetheless, its sentiments are timeless and it is also one of my favorites:


"No man is an iland, intire of it selfe; every man is a peece of the Continent, a part of the maine; if a clod bee washed away by the Sea, Europe is the lesse, as well as if a Promontorie were, as well as if a Mannor of thy friends or of thine owne were; any mans death diminishes me, because I am involved in Mankinde; And therefore never send to know for whom the bell tolls; It tolls for thee...."

Re: Poems that move you
« Reply #23 on: August 21, 2018, 12:40:57 AM »

Offline csfansince60s

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Regarding the interconnectedness of humanity, Robert Dunne's "No man is an island...." Canto is the one that has stood the test of time for me:

"No man is an island,
Entire of itself,
Every man is a piece of the continent,
A part of the main.
If a clod be washed away by the sea,
Europe is the less.
As well as if a promontory were.
As well as if a manor of thy friend's
Or of thine own were:
Any man's death diminishes me,
Because I am involved in mankind,
And therefore never send to know for whom the bell tolls;
It tolls for thee."

...



Actually, the poem's author is John Donne and it was originally written as prose in 1623. Nonetheless, its sentiments are timeless and it is also one of my favorites:


"No man is an iland, intire of it selfe; every man is a peece of the Continent, a part of the maine; if a clod bee washed away by the Sea, Europe is the lesse, as well as if a Promontorie were, as well as if a Mannor of thy friends or of thine owne were; any mans death diminishes me, because I am involved in Mankinde; And therefore never send to know for whom the bell tolls; It tolls for thee...."

TP FOR THE CORRECTION

I had a brain fart. John Donne!!!! I’m intimately familiar with that name. I

I had a Xaverian brother who was a doctoral candidate at Tufts back in the late 60s when I had him as my HS English teacher in Malden. His doctoral dissertation was on John Donne, and the Old English that you quote was as we studied it and how Donne obviously had written it, despite the modernized version that I proffered for readability and clarity. We spent a lot more time on John Donne in that class than any survey of English Lit class should.

The Olde English’s use is somewhat pedantic to me, so I rarely use it, except in a scholarly setting.

Re: Poems that move you
« Reply #24 on: August 21, 2018, 03:22:37 AM »

Offline greece66

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@liam

Nice Buk poem, he's very popular on this side of the Atlantic. He's well known and translated in Greece, and back in the day I went once or twice to the "Bukowski Bar" in Madrid - poetry nights and good cocktails. I'm also grateful to him because he wrote one of the few books that are simple written enough that I can enjoy in Russian (Factotum).
« Last Edit: August 21, 2018, 06:29:50 AM by greece666 »

Re: Poems that move you
« Reply #25 on: August 21, 2018, 03:42:41 AM »

Offline blink

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What a great / interesting / unconventional thread.  Nice job Greece!  TP

Re: Poems that move you
« Reply #26 on: August 26, 2018, 04:31:31 PM »

Offline greece66

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Anxiety

The hoar-frost crumbles in the sun,   
The crisping steam of a train   
Melts in the air, while two black birds   
Sweep past the window again.   

Along the vacant road, a red
Bicycle approaches; I wait   
In a thaw of anxiety, for the boy   
To leap down at our gate.   

He has passed us by; but is it   
Relief that starts in my breast?
Or a deeper bruise of knowing that still   
She has no rest.   

D. H. Lawrence

Re: Poems that move you
« Reply #27 on: August 26, 2018, 04:39:17 PM »

Offline Greenback

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The Poetical Books of the Bible:

Job
Psalms
Proverbs
Ecclesiastes
Song of Solomon
Everyone wants truth on his side, not everyone wants to be on the side of truth.

Re: Poems that move you
« Reply #28 on: August 26, 2018, 05:07:37 PM »

Offline greece66

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The Poetical Books of the Bible:

Job
Psalms
Proverbs
Ecclesiastes
Song of Solomon

I haven't read much the Old Testament, partly bcs I find the LXX text harder to follow than the New Testament Greek. And tbh because I just find  the Gospels more enjoyable.

By all means, quotes of the parts you consider poetic are welcome.

Re: Poems that move you
« Reply #29 on: August 26, 2018, 05:27:51 PM »

Offline tarheelsxxiii

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Excerpt from Teddy Roosevelt's speech, Man in the Arena:

It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat.
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