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Favourite poems

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Griblet
Posts: 174
Joined: January 20th, 2011, 1:45 pm

Re: Favourite poems

#261 Post by Griblet » January 23rd, 2011, 10:09 am

Latest post of the previous page:

Animist wrote:I notice - for the first time ever - that it is historically inaccurate: the Romans were here before the English, not after!
It's by no means one of the world's great poems - just a bit of fun - and I suspect GKC knew that full well. Should he have written, "..the Neolithic hunter-gatherers who re-populated these islands as the glaciers retreated, first trod those pathways which were later to become the rolling English road."? :D
A man without religion is like a fish without a bicycle.

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animist
Posts: 6522
Joined: July 30th, 2010, 11:36 pm

Re: Favourite poems

#262 Post by animist » January 23rd, 2011, 5:33 pm

Griblet wrote:
Animist wrote:I notice - for the first time ever - that it is historically inaccurate: the Romans were here before the English, not after!
It's by no means one of the world's great poems - just a bit of fun - and I suspect GKC knew that full well. Should he have written, "..the Neolithic hunter-gatherers who re-populated these islands as the glaciers retreated, first trod those pathways which were later to become the rolling English road."? :D
well quite, I suppose it is poetic licence! Maybe we should look for more poetic howlers like this one. Anyway, here is another jazz poem, this time by Christopher Logue:

ON MY MOUSE

Cats are full of death.
All horses
And even very small dogs
Frighten me.

I fear I am not very English.

Be that as it may,
Lately,
A mouse has moved in and
At thirty-two...almost thirty-three...
A man who lives alone
And breaks his teeth while eating jam
Is...is he not?...
Rather ridiculous.

So I am grateful.

I eat at home more often,
Compose with certain ease,
And yesterday
I bought a book on mice.

Mark you, he's fortunate.
Though poor, I have expensive tastes.
My mouse has camembert and brie in piece
Whereas some mice
Run most fantastic risks
For sweaty yellow Cheddar.

He's not very intelligent.
The first time I saw him
Walk round and round the room
Tail in the air
Like the tooth of a big brown comb
I thought he was brave.
Now I know
He had lost his hole.
Later, I discovered
He was blind in one eye, and,
Chances are,
Joan will not like him.
But there...what can you do?
We must bear in mind
That the mouse has moved in,
And Joan hasn't.

lewist
Posts: 4402
Joined: July 4th, 2007, 8:53 pm

Re: Favourite poems

#263 Post by lewist » January 24th, 2011, 8:28 am

animist wrote:Anyway, here is another jazz poem, this time by Christopher Logue...
I remember it well. :smile:

I really must have another search for that book.
Carpe diem. Savour every moment.

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animist
Posts: 6522
Joined: July 30th, 2010, 11:36 pm

Re: Favourite poems

#264 Post by animist » January 24th, 2011, 10:18 am

lewist wrote:
animist wrote:Anyway, here is another jazz poem, this time by Christopher Logue...
I remember it well. :smile:

I really must have another search for that book.
I'm really annoyed with myself for letting my copy get a page wedgie - I may literally try to iron it out! If you can't find the book, Lewis(t) (are you a autopartisan?) I will probably relay the whole slim collection in good time - BTW, have a good time, now and always!

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Carja
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Re: Favourite poems

#265 Post by Carja » January 26th, 2011, 4:04 pm

Another poem by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow that I really like. Especially the last two lines. So true.


Loss And Gain

When I compare
What I have lost with what I have gained,
What I have missed with what attained,
Little room do I find for pride.

I am aware
How many days have been idly spent;
How like an arrow the good intent
Has fallen short or been turned aside.

But who shall dare
To measure loss and gain in this wise?
Defeat may be victory in disguise;
The lowest ebb is the turn of the tide.
Laugh often/love much;leave the world a bit better whether by a healthy child,a garden patch,or a redeemed social condition;play w/enthusiasm & sing w/exultation;know even 1 life has breathed easier because you lived. This is success.B.A.Stanley

Fia
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Joined: July 6th, 2007, 8:29 pm

Re: Favourite poems

#266 Post by Fia » January 26th, 2011, 10:36 pm

I'm quoting some Longfellow at the beginning of a remote and intimate outdoor wedding in the Cairngorms on Friday (weather willing):

"Come join us in celebration, those who love sunshine on meadow
Who love shadow of the forest,
love the wind among the branches and the palisades of pine trees,
and the thunder in the mountains whose innumerable echoes flap like eagles in their eries.”

lewist
Posts: 4402
Joined: July 4th, 2007, 8:53 pm

Re: Favourite poems

#267 Post by lewist » January 26th, 2011, 11:08 pm

That's lovely, Fia! :)

I have just read two of Ninny's poems at my book group, tonight having been a poetry night. They were Penguins in Toowoomba (in this thread)and Fruit from Dear Mr Asquith. They went down well and I did make it clear Ninny had a new book but whether it will bring any sales I'm not sure, Ninny.
Carpe diem. Savour every moment.

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animist
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Joined: July 30th, 2010, 11:36 pm

Re: Favourite poems

#268 Post by animist » January 29th, 2011, 8:25 am

another jazz poem - this one shows that there was already concern, in the early 1960s, about the effects of overpopulation of humans on the populations of other animals (even rabbits!) It's interesting to see how many of these poems are on the Web: this was one which was, with questions about it following the poem itself.


To See the Rabbit
( after Prévert )
Alan Brownjohn


We are going to see the rabbit.
We are going to see the rabbit.
Which rabbit, people say?
Which rabbit, ask the children?
WHICH rabbit?
The only rabbit,
The only rabbit in England,
Sitting behind a barbed-wire fence
Under the floodlights, neon lights,
Sodium lights,
Nibbling grass
On the only patch of grass
In England, in England
(Except the grass by the hoardings
Which doesn’t count ).
We are going to see the rabbit
And we must be there on time.
First we shall go by escalator,
Then we shall go by underground,
And then we shall go by motorway,
And then by helicopter way,
And the last ten yards we shall have to go on foot.
And now we are going
All the way to see the rabbit,
We are nearly there,
We are longing to see it,
And so is the crowd
Which is here in thousands
With mounted policemen
And big loudspeakers
And bands and banners,
And everyone has come a long way.
But soon we shall see it
Sitting and nibbling
The blades of grass
In – but something has gone wrong !
Why is everyone so angry,
Why is everyone jostling
And slanging and complaining?
The rabbit has gone,
Yes, the rabbit has gone.
He has actually burrowed down into the earth
And made himself a warren, under the earth
Despite all these people.
And what shall we do?
What CAN we do?
It is all a pity, you must be disappointed,
Go home and do something else for today,
Go home again, go home for today.
For you cannot hear the rabbit, under the earth,
Remarking rather sadly to himself, by himself,
As he rests in his warren, under the earth:
“It won’t be long, they are bound to come,
They are bound to come and find me, even here.”

lewist
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Joined: July 4th, 2007, 8:53 pm

Re: Favourite poems

#269 Post by lewist » January 29th, 2011, 8:52 am

I couldn't find the book, Animist, so I found another one at an Amazon trader and it arrived in time for my book group on Wednesday. I read The Red Piano.
Carpe diem. Savour every moment.

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animist
Posts: 6522
Joined: July 30th, 2010, 11:36 pm

Re: Favourite poems

#270 Post by animist » January 29th, 2011, 10:40 am

lewist wrote:I couldn't find the book, Animist, so I found another one at an Amazon trader and it arrived in time for my book group on Wednesday. I read The Red Piano.
great! Are you going to post some poems, either from this book or any others? What poets do you like?

Radius
Posts: 133
Joined: January 25th, 2011, 5:54 am

Re: Favourite poems

#271 Post by Radius » January 30th, 2011, 6:15 am

Hermann von Lingg - „Der schwarze Tod”
Erzittre Welt, ich bin die Pest,
ich komm' in alle Lande
und richte mir ein großes Fest,
mein Blick ist Fieber, feuerfest
und schwarz ist mein Gewande.

Ich komme vom Ägyptenland
in roten Nebelschleiern,
am Nilusstrand im gelben Sand
entsog ich Gift dem Wüstenbrand
und Gift aus Dracheneiern.

Talein und aus, bergauf und ab,
ich mäh' zur öden Heide
die Welt mit meinem Wanderstab,
ich setz' vor jedes Haus ein Grab
und eine Trauerweide.

Ich bin der große Völkertod,
ich bin das große Sterben,
Es geht vor mir die Wassernot,
ich bringe mit das teure Brot,
den Krieg tu' ich beerben.

Es hilft euch nichts, wie weit ihr floh't,
ich bin ein schneller Schreiter,
ich bin der schnelle schwarze Tod,
ich überhol' das schnellste Boot
und auch den schnellsten Reiter.

Dem Kaufmann trägt man mich ins Haus
zugleich mit seiner Ware;
er freut sich hoch, er lacht beim Schmaus,
ich steig' aus seinem Schatz heraus
und streck' ihn auf die Bahre.

Mir ist auf hohem Felsvorsprung
kein Schloß zu hoch, ich komme;
mir ist kein junges Blut zu jung,
kein Leib ist mir gesund genung,
mir ist kein Herz zu fromme.

Wem ich nur schau' ins Aug' hinein,
der mag kein Licht mehr sehen;
wem ich gesegnet Brot und Wein,
den hungert nur nach Staub allein,
den durstet's, heimzugehen.

Im Osten starb der große Chan,
auf Indiens Zimmetinseln
starb Negerfürst und Muselmann,
man hört auch nachts in Ispahan
beim Aas die Hunde winseln.

Byzanz war eine schöne Stadt,
und blühend lag Venedig;
nun liegt das Volk wie welkes Blatt,
und wer das Laub zu sammlen hat,
wird auch der Mühe ledig.

Sie liegen in der Stadt umher;
ob Tag' und Monde schwinden,
es zählt kein Mensch die Stunden mehr -
nach Jahren wird man öd' und leer
die Stadt der Toten finden.
Black metal rendition here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=67qlQEdvJ0Y

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animist
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Re: Favourite poems

#272 Post by animist » January 30th, 2011, 8:42 am

Radius wrote:Hermann von Lingg - „Der schwarze Tod”
Erzittre Welt, ich bin die Pest,
ich komm' in alle Lande
und richte mir ein großes Fest,
mein Blick ist Fieber, feuerfest
und schwarz ist mein Gewande.

Ich komme vom Ägyptenland
in roten Nebelschleiern,
am Nilusstrand im gelben Sand
entsog ich Gift dem Wüstenbrand
und Gift aus Dracheneiern.

Talein und aus, bergauf und ab,
ich mäh' zur öden Heide
die Welt mit meinem Wanderstab,
ich setz' vor jedes Haus ein Grab
und eine Trauerweide.

Ich bin der große Völkertod,
ich bin das große Sterben,
Es geht vor mir die Wassernot,
ich bringe mit das teure Brot,
den Krieg tu' ich beerben.

Es hilft euch nichts, wie weit ihr floh't,
ich bin ein schneller Schreiter,
ich bin der schnelle schwarze Tod,
ich überhol' das schnellste Boot
und auch den schnellsten Reiter.

Dem Kaufmann trägt man mich ins Haus
zugleich mit seiner Ware;
er freut sich hoch, er lacht beim Schmaus,
ich steig' aus seinem Schatz heraus
und streck' ihn auf die Bahre.

Mir ist auf hohem Felsvorsprung
kein Schloß zu hoch, ich komme;
mir ist kein junges Blut zu jung,
kein Leib ist mir gesund genung,
mir ist kein Herz zu fromme.

Wem ich nur schau' ins Aug' hinein,
der mag kein Licht mehr sehen;
wem ich gesegnet Brot und Wein,
den hungert nur nach Staub allein,
den durstet's, heimzugehen.

Im Osten starb der große Chan,
auf Indiens Zimmetinseln
starb Negerfürst und Muselmann,
man hört auch nachts in Ispahan
beim Aas die Hunde winseln.

Byzanz war eine schöne Stadt,
und blühend lag Venedig;
nun liegt das Volk wie welkes Blatt,
und wer das Laub zu sammlen hat,
wird auch der Mühe ledig.

Sie liegen in der Stadt umher;
ob Tag' und Monde schwinden,
es zählt kein Mensch die Stunden mehr -
nach Jahren wird man öd' und leer
die Stadt der Toten finden.
Black metal rendition here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=67qlQEdvJ0Y
as I don't speak German I am only getting a general idea that this is about the Black Death :laughter: - I listened and laughed at the video. Suppose plague is one way of reducing the population, if that's your main goal in life, Rad

lewist
Posts: 4402
Joined: July 4th, 2007, 8:53 pm

Re: Favourite poems

#273 Post by lewist » January 30th, 2011, 9:52 am

That all needs an antidote. Here goes with a whimsical piece from Jazz Poems.

ANSELM HOLLO
The Red Piano
  • A red piano
he says
  • a red piano.
I never saw one.
I knew a man who had a red typewriter,
he hardly ever used it.
  • A red piano.
Would it seem lighter to carry upstairs
than a black one?
  • A red piano, a red piano.
Let us think more musical thoughts.
Carpe diem. Savour every moment.

Vicky
Posts: 561
Joined: August 30th, 2010, 9:48 am

Re: Favourite poems

#274 Post by Vicky » January 30th, 2011, 10:06 am

I like the poems of Wendy Cope, as many of them ring true for me. She's roughly the same vintage as me, and this one was published in 1986 when I was just venturing, nervously, into the "dating" world again for the first time in eighteen years.

It wouldn't be a good idea
To let him stay.
When they knew each other better -
Not today.
But she put on her new black knickers
Anyway.

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Ninny
Posts: 545
Joined: December 13th, 2007, 12:03 pm

Re: Favourite poems

#275 Post by Ninny » January 30th, 2011, 11:48 am

Thank you, Lewist! x

Maria Mac
Site Admin
Posts: 9306
Joined: July 3rd, 2007, 10:34 pm

Re: Favourite poems

#276 Post by Maria Mac » January 30th, 2011, 12:18 pm

Great stuff, Lewis and Vicky.

One of my favourite Wendy Cope poems is this one:

Why isn't there an Engineers' Corner in Westminster Abbey? In Britain we've always made more fuss of a ballad than a blueprint ... How many schoolchildren dream of becoming great engineers?
Advertisement placed in The Times by the Engineering Council


Engineers' Corner


We make more fuss of ballads than of blueprints --
That's why so many poets ends up rich,
While engineers scrape by in cheerless garrets.
Who needs a bridge or dam? Who needs a ditch?

Whereas the person who can write a sonnet
Has got it made. It's always been the way,
For everybody knows that we need poems
And everybody reads them every day.

Yes, life is hard if you choose engineering --
You're sure to need another job as well;
You'll have to plan your projects in the evenings
Instead of going out. It must be hell.

While well-heeled poets ride around in Daimlers,
You'll burn the midnight oil to earn a crust,
With no hope of a statue in the Abbey,
With no hope, even, of a modest bust.

No wonder small boys dream of writing couplets
And spurn the bike, the lorry and the train.
There's far too much encouragement for poets --
That's why the country's going down the drain.

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animist
Posts: 6522
Joined: July 30th, 2010, 11:36 pm

Re: Favourite poems

#277 Post by animist » January 30th, 2011, 2:16 pm

loved these Wendy Cope ones - more please! Know I could get a book from the library, but it is not the same somehow...

BTW, I am 64 today (a truth, not a poem!)

thundril
Posts: 3607
Joined: July 4th, 2008, 5:02 pm

Re: Favourite poems

#278 Post by thundril » January 30th, 2011, 2:41 pm

Happy Birthday Animist. All together now
"When I get older, losing my hair,
Many years from now.
..."
When I'm 64. The Beatles

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Alan C.
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Joined: July 4th, 2007, 3:35 pm

Re: Favourite poems

#279 Post by Alan C. » January 30th, 2011, 2:54 pm

Happy birthday animist, you share it with my mother who is 83.
Abstinence Makes the Church Grow Fondlers.

thundril
Posts: 3607
Joined: July 4th, 2008, 5:02 pm

Re: Favourite poems

#280 Post by thundril » January 30th, 2011, 3:15 pm

Happy birthday Alan C's Mum!

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Alan H
Posts: 24067
Joined: July 3rd, 2007, 10:26 pm

Re: Favourite poems

#281 Post by Alan H » January 30th, 2011, 5:23 pm

Happy birthday to Animist and Alan's mum!
Alan Henness

There are three fundamental questions for anyone advocating Brexit:

1. What, precisely, are the significant and tangible benefits of leaving the EU?
2. What damage to the UK and its citizens is an acceptable price to pay for those benefits?
3. Which ruling of the ECJ is most persuasive of the need to leave its jurisdiction?

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