An Intro to Poetry

Poetry in Movies: "Strong in will to strive..."

Recently, I saw the latest Bond film Skyfall , M recites the end of Tennyson's "Ulysses." Judy Drench's M only quotes the lines in bold below, but I couldn't resist these preceding lines. In poetry, lines build on one another like stones in a pyramid - here the conclusion resonates like its climatic apex.

Souls that have toiled, and wrought, and thought

               with me—

That ever with a frolic welcome took

The thunder and the sunshine, and opposed

Free hearts, free foreheads—you and I are old;

Old age hath yet his honour and his toil;

Death closes all: but something ere the end,

Some work of noble note, may yet be done,

Not unbecoming men that strove with Gods.

The lights begin to twinkle from the rocks:

The long day wanes: the slow moon climbs: the deep

Moans round with many voices. Come, my friends,

'Tis not too late to seek a newer world.

Push off, and sitting well in order smite

The sounding furrows; for my purpose holds

To sail beyond the sunset, and the baths

Of all the western stars, until I die.

It may be that the gulfs will wash us down:

It may be we shall touch the Happy Isles,

And see the great Achilles, whom we knew

Though much is taken, much abides; and though

We are not now that strength which in old days

Moved earth and heaven; that which we are, we are;

One equal temper of heroic hearts,

Made weak by time and fate, but strong in will

To strive, to seek, to find, and not to yield.

The scene in Skyfall juxtaposes the poetry with cutaways of violent scenes of armed assassins that are coming to kill M. In the wake of Newton, CT, the poem as well as the violence elicited unsettling feels yet consoling in the final lines. Indeed, hearing the words "heroic heart" made me think of the young teacher that shielded her students, sacrificing her life while saving theirs. While we are left in horror and sorrow, I hope we find our "will" for a way to end gun violence.

As families morn for lost loved ones, we all mourn for those innocent women and children in CT.
Which reminds me, there may be no finer elegy than...

W. H. Auden's "Funeral Blues"

Stop all the clocks, cut off the telephone.
Prevent the dog from barking with a juicy bone,
Silence the pianos and with muffled drum
Bring out the coffin, let the mourners come.

Let aeroplanes circle moaning overhead
Scribbling in the sky the message He is Dead,
Put crêpe bows round the white necks of the public doves,
Let the traffic policemen wear black cotton gloves.

He was my North, my South, my East and West,
My working week and my Sunday rest
My noon, my midnight, my talk, my song;
I thought that love would last forever, I was wrong.

The stars are not wanted now; put out every one,
Pack up the moon and dismantle the sun.
Pour away the ocean and sweep up the wood;
For nothing now can ever come to any good.

My hope is that they will not have died in vain and we will not yield until we do more to make this a safer world for all children.

Auden's poem creates a powerful moment of grief and catharsis in one of the funniest films I have seen, Four Weddings and a Funeral - a moving commentary on love.



More movies with poetry.

More Gratitude for Sarah Kay

"So, I write poems to figure things out. Sometimes, the only way I know how to work through something is by writing a poem." - Sarah Kay


End of her poem, "Hiroshima":

When I meet you, in that moment, 
I'm no longer a part of your future. 
I start quickly becoming part of your past. 
But in that instant, I get to share your present. 

And you, you get to share mine. 
And that is the greatest present of all. 
So if you tell me I can do the impossible, 
I'll probably laugh at you. 

I don't know if I can change the world yet, 
because I don't know that much about it -- 
and I don't know that much about reincarnation either, 
but if you make me laugh hard enough, 
sometimes I forget what century I'm in. 

This isn't my first time here. 
This isn't my last time here. 
These aren't the last words I'll share. 
But just in case, I'm trying my hardest to get it right this time around.


Check out: http://www.project-voice.net/

What are three things you know to be true?

Poetry - Continued

The course has ended... but the poetry goes on.
As will the posts.
I am sorry to see this class end, but much was learned. The final exam essays were inspiring and moving - the goal accomplished: poetry matters.

http://vocaroo.com/i/s0QriVK1PhW6

Between the form of Life and Life
The difference is as big
As Liquor at the Lip between
And Liquor in the Jug
The latter -- excellent to keep --
But for ecstatic need
The corkless is superior --
I know for I have tried

I could bring You Jewels—had I a mind to

Record music with Vocaroo >>

I could bring You Jewels—had I a mind to

697

I could bring You Jewels—had I a mind to—
But You have enough—of those—
I could bring You Odors from St. Domingo—
Colors—from Vera Cruz—

Berries of the Bahamas—have I—
But this little Blaze
Flickering to itself—in the Meadow—
Suits Me—more than those—

Never a Fellow matched this Topaz—
And his Emerald Swing—
Dower itself—for Bobadilo—
Better—Could I bring? 

Emily Dickinson

“Hope” is the thing with feathers - (254)

Audio recording software >>

“Hope” is the thing with feathers -

That perches in the soul -

And sings the tune without the words -

And never stops - at all -

And sweetest - in the Gale - is heard -

And sore must be the storm -

That could abash the little Bird

That kept so many warm -

I’ve heard it in the chillest land -

And on the strangest Sea -

Yet - never - in Extremity,

It asked a crumb - of me.

-Emily Dickinson