Favorite lines of poetry

[PaulS]

thanks - truly a wonderful ending to this Elegy.

[PaulS]

apologies if we've had this guy previously.

 

Francis Thompson - another troubled English soul, and whose addition to opium probably caused his early demise in 1907 at the age of 48 - this is the first verse of his best known poem - 'The Hound of Heaven'. Apparently it describes his interpretation of God chasing man's soul.

 

I fled Him, down the nights and down the days,

I fled Him down the arches of the years;

I fled him, down the labyrinthine ways

Of my own mind; and in the mist of tears

I hid from Him, and under running laughter.

Up vistaed hopes I sped

and shot, precipitated.

Adown Titanic glooms of chasmed fears,

From those strong Feet that followed, followed after.

But with unhurrying chase,

And unperturbed pace,

Deliberate speed, majestic instancy

They beat - and a voice beat

More instant than the Feet -

'All things betray thee, who betrayest Me'.

Edited September 22, 2018 by PaulS

[theunwittingphilosopher]

...river rippling loveliest allegro.

 

 

- "You That Love England", Cecil Day Lewis

[RoyalBlueNotebooks]

I'm back home!

 

Second stanza of "Piano" by D. H. Lawrence.

Pelikan MK10,

Rohrer & Klingner Scabiosa.

[PaulS]

have to say I don't know this side of Lawrence - though the 'home thoughts' aspect is appealing to most of us with its nostalgic/sentimental love of happier times. Dare say the poetry probably gets overshadowed by the more risqué tales he left behind.

I see in fact that one of the London auction houses is set to sell a Penguin paperback copy of Lady C in the coming weeks, and the price is expected to be in the region of £15,000 - but don't rush to dig out your own Penguin copy of this novel - like mine, yours will be worthless. The auction paperback is an association copy - apparently it's the actual Penguin paperback used daily by the court judge during the obscenity trial at the London Old Bailey in the '60s - annotated by one of the legal prosecutors to highlight the rude bits. Apparently one of the legal barristers famously turned to the jury some way through the trial and asked of them whether this was a book that they would be happy to let their servants read.

 

Most of the entries in this thread offer poetry of a serious tone - so for a change something of a flippant nature - from Christopher Isherwood.

Better known for his engaging Berlin stories from 1930s German Weimar Republic - Sally Bowles being one of the better known souls whose character eventually finds its way into the film Cabaret, with Liza Minnelli.

This is 'The Common Cormorant' - regret I don't know the date of publication...……… neither was I aware of this little number until I spotted it in a 'Penguin Paperback'

 

The common Cormorant (or shag)

Lays eggs inside a paper bag,

You follow the idea, no doubt?

It's to keep the lightening out.

 

But what these unobservant birds

Have never thought of, is that herds

Of wandering bears might come with buns

And steal the bags to hold the crumbs.

Edited September 26, 2018 by PaulS

[RoyalBlueNotebooks]

PaulS, no wonder that copy of Lady Chatterley's Lover is so costly, its trial determined the history of literature thereafter! Oh, to see the notes inside that copy..

 

Another stanza of Piano, lovely poem.

 

[PaulS]

Although I suspect most folk will know the trial verdict, I forgot to mention that Penguin were in fact found not guilty of the charge of obscenity, and yes, this landmark decision did allow publication of other similar fiction. I do have a copy of the first paperback edition of Lady C. - I'm open to offers, and can annotate with any sort of comment you might wish

Edited September 27, 2018 by PaulS

[inkstainedruth]

Makes me think of the old joke about some guy in the House of Lords. When asked whether he'd allow his daughter to read LCL, he said he would -- but he WOULDN'T let his gamekeeper read it!

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

[RoyalBlueNotebooks]

A sad poem. I was not feeling the most optimist when I wrote it down. I'm better now, resignation is better.

 

 

[migo984]

A sad poem. I was not feeling the most optimist when I wrote it down. I'm better now, resignation is better.

 

 

That is such a sad poem!

[RoyalBlueNotebooks]

That is such a sad poem!

It is, I'm so sorry, I wasn't feeling my best. Today I'll look for something to cheer us all up though!

[migo984]

It is, I'm so sorry, I wasn't feeling my best. Today I'll look for something to cheer us all up though!

Please don’t apologise! It is sad, that’s for sure, but is quite beautiful and evocative. It’s new to me, and I love being introduced to unfamiliar verse, so thanks for posting it.

 

I’m enjoying “Poetry For a Change”, an anthology published for National Poetry Day here in the U.K. It’s actually written for young people but is an excellent selection of new and old. I’ll copy one out and post it later.

[TSherbs]

All poems are sad. Art is humanity's way of speaking to the void in search of meaning, and, at best, we receive only muffled responses which we then even wonder might only be conjured up in our own minds. But art is beautiful, which is sometimes truth and solace enough.

[PaulS]

quite agree, it's all in the mind - it is our consciousness that brings everything into being - nothing would exist without it. But I don't agree that all poetry is sad - perhaps a major part is, but that's only because we look for and crave the sort of emotional response that meaningful poetry induces, so we tend to write or read more sad lines in our search for that kind of experience. I did think that Isherwood's 'Common Cormorant' (above) was a break from the heavy stuff, and there's much more from folk like Lear, Milne, Belloc, Pam Ayres and Wendy Cope - though appreciate these are all Brits., and their humour may not travel too well.

 

How about this six liner from Spike Milligan called:- FATHER THAMES.

 

Let us look at the River Thames

One of England's watery gems,

Oily, brown, greasy, muddy,

Looking foul and smells of cruddy,

The Conservancy say they're cleaning it.

So why is it the colour of (bleep).

[PaulS]

sorry, they've bleeped the final word, which was s--t.

[TSherbs]

sorry, they've bleeped the final word, which was s--t.

 

we got it

[PaulS]

By way of an apology for repeated offerings from British poets - how about something from the late Felicia Lamport - States poet and satirist, whose adventures in semantics, puns, parodies etc. brought her much acclaim. Being ignorant of much on the other side of the pond, I only recently stumbled on her 'Scrap Irony' volume because of the book's illustrator - I'm a big fan of Edward Gorey (sadly also no longer with us), and his distinctive doodles can be seen a mile away. I'm a big fan of pop-up books and his pop-up called 'The Disappearing Party' is a real gem of that genre.

I apologise if some of her writing is less than obvious to those whose first tongue is not English, but the lady is well worth searching out for her uniquely distinctive poetry - in the form of at least two books - one is the above and the other is 'Mink on Weekdays'.

 

This offering (from Scrap Irony) is ……………… Mother, Mother, Are You All there?

 

The after-effects of a mother's neglects

May spoil her boy's orientation to sex,

But the converse is worse: if she overprotects,

The pattern of Oedipus wrecks.

 

The lady's full name appears to have been Felicia Lamport Kaplan - quite why the surname wasn't used I've no idea.

Edited September 29, 2018 by PaulS

[Carrau]

sorry, they've bleeped the final word, which was s--t.

I suppose Milligan couldn’t make Lie de Thé or Bekakt Haags work in the rhyme scheme.

[Carrau]

First Fig

BY EDNA ST. VINCENT MILLAY

 

My candle burns at both ends;

It will not last the night;

But ah, my foes, and oh, my friends—

It gives a lovely light!

[RoyalBlueNotebooks]

PaulS, thank you for sharing that gem. : )

 

 

Found solace in the bucholic scenery described by Barrett Browning.

 

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