The Poetry of "The Peace of Wild Things" Vol. 1
These are the first three songs of the work that we are doing in Carnegie. There are nine in all. Personally I really don't care for them. They have their redeeming qualities which is mostly in the actually music and the picture painting that the notes themselves to.IF (among) by e.e. cummings
if (among
silent skies
bluer than believing) a
little gay
earth opening
is all the flowers of his eyes
:april's they
this if now
or this (young
trembling any) into flame
twig or limb
explodes and o
each living ablaze greenly thing
;may has come
love (by yes
every new
bird no bigger than to sing)
leaf is wing
and tree is voice
most leastfully than i am you
,we are spring
"The Peace of Wild Things" by Wendell Berry
When despair for the world grows in me
and I wake in the night at the least sound
in fear of what my life and my children's lives may be,
I go and lie down where the wood drake
rests in his beauty on the water, and the great heron feeds.
I come into the peace of wild things
who do not tax their lives with forethought of grief.
I come into the presence of still water.
And I feel above me the day-blind stars waiting with their light.
For a time I rest in the grace of the world, and am free.
"A Song Sparrow Singing in the Fall" by Wendell Berry
Somehow it has all added up to song--
earth, air, rain and light,
the labor and the heat,
the mortality of the young.
I will go free of other singing, I will go
into the silence of my songs, to hear this song clearly.
BTW: I can't really make sense of the poetry. But it is modern and apparently you are supposed to find your own interpretation.
Labels: Carnegie
posted by Anna @ 6:56 PM
7 Comments:
e.e cummings was wierd :)
Tell me about it! Thankfully the pieces of his that we are doing are at least decent! I do not recommend his "poetry".
Oh no no no, Anna and Emily! e e cummings is one of the best poets out there, next to Carl Sandburg! I wrote a song to one of his poems when I was a freshman at Western. His poetry is positively made to be sung! listen to this one...
"16"
in time of daffodils(who know
the goal of living is to grow)
forgetting why,remember how
in time of lilacs who proclaim
the aim of waking is to dream,
remember so(forgetting seem)
in time of roses(who amaze
our now and here with paradise)
forgetting if, remember yes
in time of all sweet things beyond
whatever mind may comprehend,
remember seek(forgetting find)
and in a mystery to be
(when time from time shall set us free)
forgetting me, remember me
Or this one - it's got wonderful rhythm and makes me laugh every time I read it:
"10"
maggie and milly and molly and may
went down to the beach(to play one day)
and maggie discovered a shell that sang
so sweetly she couldn't remember her troubles, and
milly befriended a stranded star
whose rays five languid fingers were
and molly was chased by a horrible thing
which raced sideway while blowing bubbles:and
may came home with a smooth round stone
as small as a world and as large as alone.
For whatever we lose(like a you or a me)
it's always ourselves we find in the sea
Maybe he's a little esoteric, but ead a little bit more before you call him wierd!
I went to an online place that had a lot of his works. I didn't much care for them. I'm not saying that I don't like his works totally, just that I would not pick up a book of his nor recommend someone else to.
I guess I would call 16 and 10 very deep. In a very modern way. There is more of his in the work that we do.
Sorry Kat! He's just not my style!
I'll post again soon with the 3 next poems in Peace of wild things.
I have to confess that e.e. cummings hasn't been a favorite of mine in the past. I analyzed some of his works in my American Lit class last Winter. He has a very original style and can't help but appeal I think. His use of parenthises is delightful. From what I can remember his agenda is often regrettable however. Reccomended read: "All in green went my love riding"
Anna: define "deep." The deeper the better in my opinion. If a poem is deep then the reader must mine for the gold to be found. We don't enjoy a trite or too obvious poem any more than we like "cheese." You have to really want to understand the poem in order to discover its beauty. Poems require and deserve dedicated scholarship. This is not to say that all poems must seem ambiguous. On the contrary, I merely object to the slight you give poems that would not reveal their gold too readily. In the case of the poems cited by Kat, I find them to be some of the less "deep" poems written by the poet in question.
All right, now you can burn my soap box. :)
really? What makes you think a regrettable agenda, Beks? I only know his poetry, so if there's a personal agenda, I probably missed it.
Anna, I purposely picked some of the more convential poems of his. But you are welcome to your opinion. I still like him. :)
The definition of "Deep" that I was using.
It being so "deep" that you can't, however hard you try, find a meaning, definition, or reason to write.
So more of a tongue in cheek deep. I like deep usually. :)
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