Poetry, it's good for me! Or, is it?

Poetry is the hallmark of exalted life--it is our intended/natural speech. It is because we are broken that we must speak prose.

 

-G.K. Chesterton

 

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Well, do you agree with old GK?

Why?...or, why not?

As for me...I'll let ya know tomorrow.



comments below.

(altho the Smothers Brothers sang, "Let's fuggetabout tomorrow, for...tomorrow never comes...here we are!)


Clearly, GK Chesterton had either a high view of poetry or a low view of humankind's current status...or both!

When I read good poetry, that is, something that's polished to a high sheen, not merely an ensemble of words that rhyme...it does beat prose all to pieces. Here's a fav:

Nothing Gold Can Stay

  by Robert Frost

Nature's first green is gold, 
Her hardest hue to hold. 
Her early leaf's a flower; 
But only so an hour. 
Then leaf subsides to leaf. 
So Eden sank to grief, 
So dawn goes down to day. 
Nothing gold can stay. 

Something that's got more than one layer of meaning, something where not only the words but the thoughts rhyme, now THAT is poetry.

I think of the scene in Lewis' THAT HIDEOUS STRENGTH where the various eidola are descending into Ransom's house, and the humans are swept up into ecstatic utterance beyond their own capacity to utter or (previously) to even understand--now, that was poetry. "They all agreed that it was the most, the best..." if only they could have written down those words.

So, I agree with Chesterton...if our words flowed like those of the great poets, we'd need to be renewed, rejuvenated, somehow rebooted ... hmmm, sounds nigh-theological.

Happy New Year.

So what?

What's new about it? Have you tried anything, done anything, mastered/read/studied/disciplined yrself for anything yet?

If not, why not? Get off yer duff and go and DO!

What? Whattabout me? yer asks?

Unfair--I'm playing the role of Mr. Interlocutor! Really.

Oh, phooey. Well, since you insist:

This is the yr when I study in much greater depth the fascinating world of investing. This is the yr that I sit back and re-evaluate myself as a writer. This is the yr that I--wha? What am I doing now, today, this week?

Okay, I'm making lists go away: I'm doing or consolidating, acting and/or discarding...fewer potentials and more actuals. Today I threw out several pages that needed transcribing, several scrids of paper after actually performing the prescribed action, and prioritized what remains. I'm tracking things in my email by using draft copies--I can update and save the draft and it's right there at hand, easily edited and saved...nice.

Oh, and my resolution to do a poem a day? Doing it.

My annual read thru the Bible? Yep...on track with this plan, which is a new one to me:
http://www.biblestudytools.com/bible-reading-plan/thematic.html

My next goal is to start reading more serious works and less fluff...just copied down a great-books list and hope to get going on that soon. Inspired after reading A MIND FOR GOD by James Emery White...a brief but compelling book about the need to train the brain.

Howzabout you? Where are you at in this "new" year? Anything truly newly happening? Lemme know, below, ya know?

CHRISTMAS GIFTS

Really? Socks? How practical of you!

And, Junior--a tie! The colors are very, um, bright! Thank you so much...I'll hang with the others. All the others. [And I hope they enjoy one another's company, 'cuz they'll be spending the next 364 huddled together until one sacrificial lamb is offered up for wearing on next Christmas Eve!]

And, last and not least--my dear, thank you so much for the Complete Works of [another one of my Favorite Authors]. You hit the ball outa tha park. Again.

Love, Joy, and Peace, now and all thru this life!

David (and Elizabeth)

All I Want for Christmas...is more time to read!

Dunno if I like the graphic or the text better in this image!

More than once I've wondered if being the headmaster of a boys' prep school wouldn't be about the best job ever...or, mebbe, better still, being the underutilized librarian at said school! Mmm...books and learning...learning and books, yum!

Are you someone who loves to look around you and see rows or heaps and piles of books? Or, do you buy and read then pass along or resell? Me, I'm by nature acquisitive (and inquisitive!) but am learning to simplify, unacquire, and down-size. Happily, both my wife and I have always been library people...sadly, I tend to salivate to excess in bookstores or libraries! So many books, so little time!

There are some books that just MUST be acquired, read, and reread. Lewis and Tolkien, Scripture, and Robert Frost are life-long keepers for me. Howzabout you?

Storytelling

Every major work of the master (Auguste Rodin) told a story and laid bare the human heart...it is up to the artist to use language that can be understood, not to hide it in some private code.

 

Heinlein. STRANGER IN A STRANGE LAND.

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"Tell me a story," demanded the child.
"But I just told you one," said the weary parent.
"I know--I want another one!"

Been there/done that?
As the petitioner, or the petitionee?

Didn't we all asked for stories at some time or another...do you remember?...and, in fact, as adults, we continue to ask...oh, not as openly/honestly as a kiddo, but, listen:  We watch advertisements that follow a story line, as Mercedes attempts to present the tale of Santa checking his naughty/nice list; the Olympics are now a series of human-interest stories (like it or not, that's what the powers that be have determined, driven by polls, focus groups, and feedback.) Political elections are much less about facts and stances than about story. Shows about dancing/singing/surviving/dating work hard to find a theme, a story line that makes the players much more than mere dancers/songsters/etc.

When my wife and I watch college football, each school runs a 1 or 2 minute video, touting the virtues of their training/heritage/geography. Many schools show a picture of some pretty buildings, a variety of handsome students, someone in a study carrel, one or more sporting events, and so forth. Notre Dame instead tells a story of one student or prof who is pursuing something important...for instance, the fight to eradicate tuberculosis, a global nemesis.

We are unfailingly moved by these ads--why? Because they tell a story!

We read stories, fiction or non-fiction...but, when I rave about a work of non-fiction, what do I say? "It read just like a novel...wove a nice story that captured and retained my interest."

I think that's why, while I can enjoy (some) modern art, it is representational art that engages me, because there's a good chance that there's a story being told. [I know, there's story behind abstract art--and, when we know that story, the art offers us much more for our mind to wrap around.]

Hey, tell me a story? [Well, go tell a kid or a grandkid... or write me a comment, below!]

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Tell me the stories of Jesus

I long to hear,

Things I would ask Him to tell me

if He were near...