Afterlife by Chana Bloch
Worn Words by W. S.
Merwin (suggested by Kathy: One of his later poems;
Binsey Poplars by Gerard
Manley Hopkins. (slated for Jan. 31)
London by William Blake (suggested by David)
The Garden of Love by William Blake (slated for Jan. 31)
The Laughing Child by
W. S. Merwin
Introspection Leaking Out by Judith Judson. Beautifully recited - and made Judith think of
an Ursula LeGuin poem... to do...
an Ursula LeGuin poem... to do...
The V of them -- by Anne Waldman:
6 pages of poems!
For Rundel: kept to 4 pages... but will start with Bishop's sestina... NEXT WEEK!
Afterlife by Chana Bloch
The Amen Stone by Yehuda Amichai
Twentieth Century by Maggie Smith
Binsey Poplars by Gerard Manley Hopkins
The Laughing Child by W. S. Merwin
The V of them -- by Anne Waldman
**
The first poem, "Afterlife" prompts one to think about the title, which doesn't necessary correspond
with the usual connections of continuation of spirit after death, but rather, a vivid description of a ressusitation. It is a poem which reminds me of the importance of feeling the pulse of our life --
"why else/be in a body" ? The lively adjectives are anything but how an "afterlife" might be...
We discussed at length the "pocket/that sewed itself shut, turns it,/precipitously/out into the air.
The "out" is removed from its verb... It reinforces the metaphor of "giving oneself over", dealing with whatever a "something" is that wakes us up to deal with unfinished business.
The next poem, translated by Chana Bloch weaves the idea of "fragments", both repeating the word,
but also making "fragments" with the enjambed lines "destroyed"/"seeks"/"wishes to locate"... "until they have found"... One fragment on a desk... what it means, and then midway in the poem, the introduction of the "sad, good man" practicing his "lovingkindness" cleansing the fragments.
Ken brought up the name of Tim, who works in the Pittsford cemetery, taking care of the graves...
the discussion also of people bringing a stone to lay on a grave came up. Amen: So be it. Ainsi soit-il. Not necessarily "agreement" but preserving a fragment and memory of what it stands for... the
reverence for the way families and places continue after death, even if the particulars are not known.
The fragments echo the scattering of Jews driven from their homeland as well...
Both groups spent a long time discussing "child's play." It is also a fragment. Not the expression meaning "easy" -- but rather, the work of a child is indeed, the play of putting things together, making
sense out of them. Back to the innocence of children, piecing together the mosaic of what went before them and to make sense of the world.
We all enjoyed the love story of Maggie and the 20th century -- a delightful personification of a century! The line-breaks are disconcerting, although the content isn't. The examples allow the nostalgia of the past with examples of such things as radios...(and the sound, 'shhhh' of scrolling through the stations), lyrics of "American Girl", Rothko. How do we "tune into" a century? Smith picks up on the commonplace of the good old days ("we had a good life more or less,// didn't we") and later introduces a layer of doubt about the past being simpler. Was it really? She thought she was "untouchable" -- as if
current events didn't matter to her...
( "I thought you were// a simpler time" is part of her reflection on how naive she was which emphasizes the last line, "I was in so deep, I couldn't see an end to you."
A fun poem...
We discussed Binsey Poplars at Rundel --
The alliterations, repetitions of "felled" indeed create "strokes of havoc". I love the verb "unselve". Interesting that it was written in 1879 -- (Hopkins could write a poem to the 19th century!) although not published until 1918. Discussion at Pittsford next week... David mentioned the embarrassment of Hopkins to publish, since his poems were so sensual, and he a Jesuit priest. The balance of feeling
and intellect -- the complexity of our mind and brain (strokes of havoc unselve// the sweet especial scene) -- our passion to destroy things and the regret... "O if we but knew what we do ...
Piercing of the eye, and use of the word "prick": Lori brought up a subtle undermeaning
of "prick" as a man with unbridled appetite.
I did not include "Worn Words" for Rundel -- mindful of time: It is a lovely reflection written almost 10 years ago by Merwin in his 80's. As Kathy (who offered it for discussion) said,"it is a poem of gratitude... all the weight and lightness of your whole life. Amen, we responded.
**
The first poem, "Afterlife" prompts one to think about the title, which doesn't necessary correspond
with the usual connections of continuation of spirit after death, but rather, a vivid description of a ressusitation. It is a poem which reminds me of the importance of feeling the pulse of our life --
"why else/be in a body" ? The lively adjectives are anything but how an "afterlife" might be...
We discussed at length the "pocket/that sewed itself shut, turns it,/precipitously/out into the air.
The "out" is removed from its verb... It reinforces the metaphor of "giving oneself over", dealing with whatever a "something" is that wakes us up to deal with unfinished business.
The next poem, translated by Chana Bloch weaves the idea of "fragments", both repeating the word,
but also making "fragments" with the enjambed lines "destroyed"/"seeks"/"wishes to locate"... "until they have found"... One fragment on a desk... what it means, and then midway in the poem, the introduction of the "sad, good man" practicing his "lovingkindness" cleansing the fragments.
Ken brought up the name of Tim, who works in the Pittsford cemetery, taking care of the graves...
the discussion also of people bringing a stone to lay on a grave came up. Amen: So be it. Ainsi soit-il. Not necessarily "agreement" but preserving a fragment and memory of what it stands for... the
reverence for the way families and places continue after death, even if the particulars are not known.
The fragments echo the scattering of Jews driven from their homeland as well...
Both groups spent a long time discussing "child's play." It is also a fragment. Not the expression meaning "easy" -- but rather, the work of a child is indeed, the play of putting things together, making
sense out of them. Back to the innocence of children, piecing together the mosaic of what went before them and to make sense of the world.
We all enjoyed the love story of Maggie and the 20th century -- a delightful personification of a century! The line-breaks are disconcerting, although the content isn't. The examples allow the nostalgia of the past with examples of such things as radios...(and the sound, 'shhhh' of scrolling through the stations), lyrics of "American Girl", Rothko. How do we "tune into" a century? Smith picks up on the commonplace of the good old days ("we had a good life more or less,// didn't we") and later introduces a layer of doubt about the past being simpler. Was it really? She thought she was "untouchable" -- as if
current events didn't matter to her...
( "I thought you were// a simpler time" is part of her reflection on how naive she was which emphasizes the last line, "I was in so deep, I couldn't see an end to you."
A fun poem...
We discussed Binsey Poplars at Rundel --
The alliterations, repetitions of "felled" indeed create "strokes of havoc". I love the verb "unselve". Interesting that it was written in 1879 -- (Hopkins could write a poem to the 19th century!) although not published until 1918. Discussion at Pittsford next week... David mentioned the embarrassment of Hopkins to publish, since his poems were so sensual, and he a Jesuit priest. The balance of feeling
and intellect -- the complexity of our mind and brain (strokes of havoc unselve// the sweet especial scene) -- our passion to destroy things and the regret... "O if we but knew what we do ...
Piercing of the eye, and use of the word "prick": Lori brought up a subtle undermeaning
of "prick" as a man with unbridled appetite.
I did not include "Worn Words" for Rundel -- mindful of time: It is a lovely reflection written almost 10 years ago by Merwin in his 80's. As Kathy (who offered it for discussion) said,"it is a poem of gratitude... all the weight and lightness of your whole life. Amen, we responded.
The late poems are the ones
I turn to first now
following a hope that keeps
beckoning me
waiting somewhere in the lines
almost in plain sight
it is the late poems
that are made of words
that have come the whole way
they have been there
**
For Rundel, I also did not include the Blake poems. ... The reality of the 18th century in England is not a happy time, where the air is sour, TB rife, orphans enslaved as chimney sweeps, the death rate high, and VD quite a problem... David, who offered it, mentioned the capitalization/punctuation…is not indicative of meaning, for instance, the capital M of marriage. The text was handwritten, surrounded by illustrations. Judith brought up the problem of VD and finding a suitable (virgin) spouse for the crown heads of Europe... Victoria and pristine Albert.
How pollution travels… VD… church's warning… pollution in
bloodstream and
pollution in the ideas.
late 18th c.
believed in oppression of church and state… mind-forged battles…
Orwell… more true socialism in this poem than in socialism.
His hard judgement.. "no use for the smelly little orthodoxies that
are contending for our souls."
illustrated version of The Garden of Love: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Garden_of_Love_(poem)
Garden, church... and a sense of impossibility... death, where flowers should be and priests binding joy and desire with briars... What more be said?
illustrated version of The Garden of Love: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Garden_of_Love_(poem)
Garden, church... and a sense of impossibility... death, where flowers should be and priests binding joy and desire with briars... What more be said?
It was a relief to discuss "The Laughing Child"... what made the carriage shake? Was it the laughter... or perhaps the mother or caregiver was shaking with sobbing... and seeing the child laugh...
Martin brought up the fact that he grew up in the Depression and had the nickname of "Happy"
as his job was to spread happiness. Without punctuation, without obeying a sense of chronology,
detail, we swim in the "vertical" memory... how the story of how one was as a child, perceived
as happy, returns, and spreads the same laughter as an old man looks over his life.
The Waldman poem does capture a V of geese, but left both groups cold. We discussed
the "mechanics" of a flock of bids, which is quite miraculous... how it shifts, cooperates...
and seems to be a static V. but of course, as the RH column hints... the pattern has "spiral, hoop, a new V, ".
If you read The v of them... (LH column starts)
shape (last word, at the apex of the V)
wind (first word RH column)
all the action of the flight could be imagined perhaps.
