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Post by Barry on Aug 26, 2008 21:34:04 GMT
The British library produce an excellent CD of some of these people reading their own poetry. The earliest track is Tennyson reading 'The Charge of the Light Brigade' in a wonderfully clipped accent (with plenty of rrrrrrolled rrrrs). But the best is good old Robert Browning reading Pete's choice. They've obviously caught him at a party, because you can hear a couple of 'rowdy fellows' raising a bumper or two behind him. He starts fine, but then peters out ... finally saying "can't remember me own demned poem". Priceless.
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Post by Pete on Jan 18, 2009 23:04:27 GMT
I came across this the other day, and I think it's lovely. The whole poem, by Siegfried Sassoon, is here www.bartleby.com/135/34.html, but I like these last two stanzas. "Light many lamps and gather round his bed. Lend him your eyes, warm blood, and will to live. Speak to him; rouse him; you may save him yet. He’s young; he hated War; how should he die When cruel old campaigners win safe through? But death replied: ‘I choose him.’ So he went, And there was silence in the summer night; Silence and safety; and the veils of sleep. Then, far away, the thudding of the guns."
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Post by WeeWilly on Feb 14, 2009 8:00:31 GMT
As I was walking up the stair I met a man who wasn't there. He wasn't there again today. I wish, I wish he'd stay away.
-Hughes Mearns
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Post by WeeWilly on Feb 19, 2009 7:24:32 GMT
For fun, I looked through all of these favourites, both to enjoy them and to see of anyone had posted Desiderata by Ehrman. It was there, right on schedule. Chacun à son goût, as was elsewhere stated. This is a poem that - oddly enough - has always repelled me, as I find it artificial, pretentious and outright corny. Over the years, at work in the office I have often run across it posted in cubicles of female employees. In particular, I always expect to see it in any office frequented by the Human Resources Manager, but at least one of my very good friends has - rather distressingly - posted it in her office. But then no one's perfect! Actually, I intend no offense, for the fact that I am mystified by anyone's being moved by or liking this poem says as much about me and my shortcomings as it does about anything else! But this is forum for discussion, and I often wondered if I am alone in my decided lack of enthusiasm for this oft-admired piece. In truth, it is likely that I am a juvenile at heart, for I love Jabberwocky, The Owl and the Pussycat, and The Walrus And The Carpenter. Absurdity, playfulness and quirkiness will always draw me away from studied solemnity and sombre contemplation of virtue. However, I also like The Rime Of The Ancient Mariner for some of its spectacular imagery, such as the following: "The very deep did rot: O Christ! That ever this should be! Yes, slimy things did crawl with legs Upon the slimy sea." or "As idle as a painted ship Upon a painted ocean" or "About, about, in reel and rout The death-fired danced at night; The water, like a witch's oils, Burnt green, and blue, and white." or "I looked upon the rotting sea, And drew my eyes away; I looked upon the rotting deck, And there the dead men lay. " ..and if profound is to be the order of the day, one of my favorite pieces is out of The Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam: "The Moving Finger writes; and, having writ, Moves on: nor all your Piety nor Wit Shall lure it back to cancel half a Line, Nor all your Tears wash out a Word of it." .. as usual, I have somewhat strained the theme of this particular thread, but I felt like chatting, and I hope that any offense I have given is, at worst, moderate and fleeting ...
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Post by Pete on Feb 19, 2009 8:39:16 GMT
Nothing at all offensive in your post and I am sure none taken. And it's great to see some more favourite poetry. _ had forgotten the Rubayyat verse, although I have a fairly old copy of the Rubayyat illustrated by Edmund DuLac, which is beautiful.
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Post by Pete on Feb 19, 2009 8:57:37 GMT
I am also a big fan of Edward Lear's work. When I was 6 my mother's younger sister lent me her copy of The Book of Nonsense to retain until she had a child who could read. I had to give it back when I was 17 and it was nearly ten years before I found a copy to buy for myself. But what a fabulous book!
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Heidi
New Member
Punctuating Reality, since 1984. Haven't I seen you somewhere before ...?
Posts: 33
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Post by Heidi on Mar 11, 2009 19:47:13 GMT
I always have trouble appreciating other poetry - often it is the humorous lines which attract me.
The Centipede, by Ogden Nash:
I objurgate the centipede, A bug we do not really need. At sleepy-time he beats a path Straight to the bedroom or the bath. You always wallop where he's not, Or, if he is, he makes a spot.
Introspective poetry appeals to me only rarely; and I do like it to rhyme!
Conversations, by Anemone Flynn:
Every Conversation ever had, Has limbs and roots and branches. The paths not taken, good or bad, And those beyond our reaches.
As each new phrase from my lips drops, And a reply from each of yours My heart quickens with the possibilities All the galaxies yet unexplored.
Words can have so varied meanings, Homonyms, antonyms, and more. And each pronoun left untethered Is better than the one before.
This one has a slightly odder feel to me, because the sentences don't end at the breaks and rhymes - but I like it anyway.
Sonnet 43, by Elizabeth Barret Browning:
How do I love thee? Let me count the ways. I love thee to the depth and breadth and height My soul can reach, when feeling out of sight For the ends of Being and ideal Grace. I love thee to the level of every day's Most quiet need, by sun and candle-light. I love thee freely, as men strive for Right; I love thee purely, as they turn from Praise. I love thee with a passion put to use In my old griefs, and with my childhood's faith. I love thee with a love I seemed to lose With my lost saints, --- I love thee with the breath, Smiles, tears, of all my life! --- and, if God choose, I shall but love thee better after death.
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Post by Dave on Mar 13, 2009 3:23:26 GMT
Welcome, Heidi! It's been a while, hasn't it? Did you become a stenographer?
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Post by Paul Doherty on Mar 15, 2009 2:24:11 GMT
Heidi, very nice to see you back.
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Heidi
New Member
Punctuating Reality, since 1984. Haven't I seen you somewhere before ...?
Posts: 33
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Post by Heidi on Mar 17, 2009 17:17:05 GMT
Yes, it is me. And yes, it has been a long time! No, I'm not a stenographer - after 5 years of studying and much money, I decided I had to stop and get a real job ... I'm a purchasing agent at the moment, with a side business of copywriting for web pages. I'm also enjoying the new positions of homeowner and newlywed, so lots of changes. :-) How've things been for you guys? I see you're still enjoying yourselves with punctuation and grammar chatter!
By the way, weewilly, I think that poem about the man who wasn't there is hilarious.
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Post by WeeWilly on Mar 18, 2009 6:41:16 GMT
Wow! Some pretty nice stuff there, Heidi. It would seem that we share a mild liking for the absurd. Many years ago in the British actuarial student paper, FIASCO, there was a lovely little poem that personified a whole slew of mathematical entities in a delightful, entertaining and totally off-the-wall way. It was extremely clever, and all I vaguely remember of it was a phrase about the little surd who ran away ... or something akin to this. This would have appeared in that paper all of 30 years ago, but, it did not originate there, I believe!
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