- Your favorite poem
I've always been drawn to T.S. Eliot's "The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock." I can't remember now when I first read this poem--maybe my Freshman year of college when I took a basic English Lit survey course (before I was an English major). "Let us go then, you and I, When the evening is spread out against the sky, Like a patient etherized upon a table..." I have since studied the poem in several courses as well as on my own and with each reading I pick up something new. One year for Christmas I received a volume of Eliot's poetry from my dad and I love that he inscripted in the front cover, "What the hell is he talking about." Ha! Yes, exactly.
- Your favorite poet
No, Eliot is not my favorite poet. I do appreciate his writing, but I wouldn't call him a favorite. Honestly it's been so long since I've studied poetry that I've forgotten my preferences. I remember liking WB Yeats and I always smile when I catch a reference to his poetry. I think if I had to absolutely pin myself to a favorite I would consider Walt Whitman. I always loved his Leaves of Grass, especially "Song of Myself."
- Do you read poetry often? Why or why not?
I don't often make time to read poetry. Ok, I never read poetry. I don't really have a good reason--maybe because completing a poem doesn't seem as satisfying as completing a book? Because reading poetry is hard work? Because it's just not as fun outside of the classroom where you have the help of an instructor to tease out all of the nuances of the poems?
- Why did you start reading poetry?
I don't know if it's fair to say I ever *started* reading poetry. I read it when assigned in class throughout grade school and then college. There were a few authors whose work I enjoyed enough to pick up my own volumes of their poetry (Plath, Whitman, Yeats, Eliot to name a few), but I've never really been big on reading poetry on my own. See above for reasons why.
- Do you ever write poetry?
I used to write poetry but I haven't in about 10 years. It was a way for me to record my feelings without having to be blatant. Does that make sense? I actually really enjoyed writing but I found it was much easier to write in my teenaged angst than it is now that my life (and self) is less confusing to me. Ha!
- Is there a poet you’ve always wanted to read but never have?
Hrmmmmm. I don't know! :)
- What do you hope to accomplish through a year of writing about poetry?
Um, read more poetry? I love language and I love words. I love word play and I love emotions. I don't have a good reason not to read poetry. I guess my hope is to maybe make some discoveries about poetry as well as brush off some of those analytical skills. After all--I'm still paying for those skills via student loans. Ha!
- Do you think you’ll read more poetry this year?
I think that's the idea. Want to join the fun??
Do you read poetry? Do you have any favorites?
The whole idea of this was so that I would read more poetry, so hopefully I can keep it up. It was getting to be the end of January and I really had read nothing, so I dedicated a morning to catching up! It would be bad if I couldn't participate in my own meme... Glad to have you joining in!
ReplyDeleteI am a poetry lover and I read a great deal.
ReplyDeleteBut the most satisfaction comes from pulling a small book out of my purse in any of those myriad times throughout the day when I find myself having to wait - in line, for someone else...
It cuts way down on my frustration level.
Wow...I love Snowball's comment!
ReplyDeleteAnyway, you're far braver than I, Trish. I just don't have a freakin' clue how to even begin to talk about poetry. But I'm definitely going to enjoy everyone's posts throughout the year. :)
I'm already joining in on the fun. That's why I'm here: reading everyone's posts today...and lo and behold, someone I know. :) Like you, one of my favorites is Walt Whitman. I also like Eliot, but moreso, "The Wasteland" than "The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock." I guess I'm the opposite of you in that I like that feeling of finishing a poem. It's so much easier than finishing a book :).
ReplyDeleteThis is a favourite poem that concerns poetry
ReplyDeleteOatmeal
I eat oatmeal for breakfast.
I make it on the hotplate and put skimmed milk on it.
I eat it alone.
I am aware it is not good to eat oatmeal alone.
Its consistency is such that it is better for your mental health if somebody
eats it with you.
That is why I often think up an imaginary companion to have breakfast with.
Possibly it is even worse to eat oatmeal with an imaginary companion.
Nevertheless, yesterday morning, I ate my oatmeal with John keats.
Keats said I was right to invite him: due to its glutinous texture, gluey
lumpishness, hint of slime, and unusual willingness to disintegrate,
oatmeal must never be eaten alone.
He said it is perfectly OK, however to eat it with an imaginary companion,
and he himself had enjoyed memorable porridges with Edmund Spenser
and John Milton.
He also told me about writing the “Ode to a Nightingale”.
He wrote it quickly, he said, on scraps of paper, which he then stuck in
his pocket,
but when he got home he couldn’t figure out the order of the stanzas,
and he and a friend spread the papers on a table, and they made
some sense of them, but he isn’t sure to this day if they got it right.
He still wonders about the occasional sense of drift between stanzas,
and the way here and there a line will go into the configuration of a
Moslem at prayer, then raise itself up and peer about, then lay
itself down slightly off the mark, causing the poem to move
forward with God’s reckless wobble.
He said someone told him that later in life Wordsworth heard about
the scraps of paper on the table, and tried shuffling some stanzas
of his own, but only made matters worse.
When breakfast was over, John recited “ To Autumn”
He recited it slowly, with much feeling, and he articulated the words
lovingly, and his odd accent sounded sweet.
He didn’t offer the story of writing “To Autumn”, I doubt if there is
much of one.
But he did say the sight of a just-harvested oat field got him started on it
and two of the lines, “For Summer has o’er-brimmed their clammy cells”
and “Thou watchest the last oozings hours by hours” came to him
while eating oatmeal alone.
I can see him – drawing a spoon through the stuff, gazing into the
glimmering furrows, muttering – and it occurs to me:
maybe there is no sublime, only the shining of the amnion’s tatters.
for supper tonight I am going to have a baked potato left over from
lunch.
I’m aware that a leftover baked potato can be damp, slippery, and
simultaneously gummy and crumbly,
and therefore I’m going to invite Patrick Kavanagh to join me.
Galway Kinnell.
I can't say that I do read much poetry, but I can't help but be moved by the poem 'High Flight' by John Gillespie Magee Jr. It's not the poem that I read most, but it's always the first piece to pop into my head when people ask for my favourite.
ReplyDeleteI wish I read more poetry, but I haven't found a way to successfully fit it into my reading / days / whatever.
ReplyDeleteHave you read The Lost Summer of Louisa May Alcott? Something you said here made me think you'd like it, if you haven't. :) [Is that obtuse enough for you?]
I love the T. S. Eliot inscription from your dad. :) I think I like his "Four Quartets" the best, though Prufrock feels like some of the library patrons I meet on a daily basis.
ReplyDelete"What the hell is he talking about." Ha! Yes, exactly. This is how I feel about a lot of the poetry I've tried to read!
ReplyDeleteMy favorites are Wordsworth's "I Wandered Lonely As A Cloud" and Auden's "Stop All the Clocks." And, of course, the poem my husband wrote for me for Valentine's Day several years ago. I'll have to dig up the link. I know I posted it somewhere.
I'll pop over to Kelly's blog and make an effort to join in this month.
*Kailana - I don't know why it's so hard to fit in poetry--seems it should be easy! Will definitely do better this month.
ReplyDelete*Snowball - I think keeping a little book of poetry in your purse is a great idea. I have one or two at home that would definitely work for that!
*Debi - Start with the questions that Lu posted--the ones that I answered here. I don't know how to talk about poetry either but I figure we can all learn! :) Or...just make it up.
*Unfinished - I have read Wasteland a few times and like parts of it--honestly Eliot's poetry doesn't always seem accessible to me. ;) I should revisit that one as well.
*Parrish Lantern - Wow!! I love it! Wonderful way to share poetry--thanks for visiting.
*Nisa - I haven't heard of 'High Flight' by John Gillespie Magee Jr. but I'll have to check it out!
*Word Lily - I haven't read The Lost Summer--hadn't even heard of it until recently. You've definitely sparked my attention (obtuse comments will do that!). ;)
*Phaedosia - I think I might have Eliot's "Four Quartets" at home--I'll have to pull out the book I have of his poems and see if it's included. Either way I haven't read it (yet).
*Les - WH Auden has some fantastic poems as well--I do really love his "Stop All the Clocks." And how awesome that you wrote your husband a poem! I bet he loved that.
Oh, I didn't write a poem for my hubby. He wrote one for me! And, I loved it. :)
ReplyDeleteYAY Poetry! I never remember poems or who wrote them. But I do enjoy some of it, but it's not a habit. I don't remember learning about poetry, either but I'm sure I must have...
ReplyDeleteThis is great! I love that you responded to every one of my prompts. That's amazing! I hope that this blogalong will get you started reading more poetry and that you'll find more poetry that you can call "favorite." :) Thank you so much for participating!
ReplyDelete