If soccer and cricket are OK at the CC, why not poetry ???

[Former Member]

For those of you who know Rilke, here's a wonderful link to his poem "Herbsttag" in the original German and several different English translations:

http://www.thebeckoning.com/poetry/rilke/rilke4.html

(I like the one by Mullen best.)

If you have any favorites, feel free to add them into this thread. (No Chris - none of "those" limericks allowed - believe me, I've heard them all!)

If you do add one and it's from a web site, please be sure to link the site, out of courtesy.

[Former Member]

Possible the best of Scotland

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Burns

To the supposed worst of Scotland and some say of the English language.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Topaz_McGonagall

Though McGonagall is my preference, so bad it's good.

[Former Member]

Hi Stuart -

Thanks for posting those links.

Here's a link you may appreciate:

http://www.ablemuse.com/erato/ubbcount.cgi?expath1=Forum9&expath2=&topic=002863&type=&number=9

Or not.

Best regards

djh

[Former Member]

This thread reminded me of a T-shirt my kids wanted to buy (see Threadless|http://www.threadless.com/product/623/Haikus_are_easy_but)

Haikus are easy
But sometimes they don't make sense
Refrigerator

which made me smile...

but I agree with Stephen that modern poetry is oft found in music (of all types) - I enjoy listening to the Hilltop Hoods when I'm coding but you probably have to hear it rather than read the lyrics because the scansion and alliteration are sometimes best heard (e.g. they can rhyme "yakka" + "slammer" + "platter" + "bandana") ... "Stopping all Stations" is a fine example with three verses all telling the same story but through the eyes of different participants in the story... it's on YouTube if you want a listen {and you don't object to a strong word or five!!}.

Jonathan

[Former Member]

Yeah - agreed. More later ...

Thanks for dropping by.

djh

[Former Member]

You could combine them. I remember from school:

"Willow and cane, nothing but that

O but it's glorious swiniing the bat.

Leather and thread. There you have all

O but it's glorious gripping the ball"

I think its Kipling but it is a thirty year old memory - the only other one I remember well was about a man from Nantucket.

You know it makes sense

Gareth

[Former Member]

Gareth -

You probably picked the only piece of Kipling that wouldn't get you banned from SDN !

I think that the reason poetry is seen as "de-masculinized" in UK/US/Oz culture is because of the high death count in WW I. Up until then, there was a strong tradition of martial poetry - but the revulsion at the deaths in the trenches really put an end to that tradition, and in the process, poetry lost a traditional male audience.

Best

djh

[Former Member]

Which is a shame as poets such as Judith Wright and [Bruce Dawe|http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bruce_Dawe] to name but two very much appeal to the masculine as well as the feminine mind. The trouble is getting to the stage of actually beating the cultural impediment and reading the poetry.

But then we miss the description of our working life:

I am sitting in my dingy little office, where a stingy

Ray of sunlight struggles feebly down between the houses tall,

And the foetid air and gritty of the dusty, dirty city,

Through the open window floating, spreads it foulness over all.

Sad, because for example,

And the bush hath friends to meet him, and their kindly voices greet him

In the murmur of the breezes and the river on its bars,

And he sees the vision splendid of the sunlit plains extended,

And at night the wond'rous glory of the everlasting stars.

(both from Clancy of the Overflow by Banjo Patterson) better conveys the emotion of why I live in the bush then any of my rambling mumbles ever could.

So, should we each vote or contribute our best or favourite?

Regards

Gareth

[Former Member]

Great refs, Gareth. Thanks.

Meanwhile - no voting, if it's all the same to you.

To me, it's great just to see the various kinds of responses coming in on an admittedly "odd" topic.

Best

djh

[stephenjohannes]

David,

Are you trying to start the "Dead Poets Society" in the coffee corner? Will your role be that of Robin Wiliams character?

Take care,

Stephen

[Former Member]

Hi Stephen - long-time no chat.

See that's what's funny - that it was a society to talk about dead poets.

I mean, 2500 years ago there was a poet named Homer who was the equivalent of Dr. Phil, Oprah, and Tim Russert all rolled into one.

All the big shots looked to his poems for moral guidance as well as entertainment.

Now, the only place we expect to find poetry is on the inside of Hallmark Mother's Day cards.

Oh well - what was the score of that last cricket match?

Regards

djh

• Well actally,.there probably WASN'T a poet named Homer, but the point is the same.

Edited by: David Halitsky on Jun 11, 2008 2:10 PM

[stephenjohannes]

David,

It's been a while also, nice to hear from you. I can't remember the poem they all shouted in the last scene of the movie, but I want to say it was "O Captain, My Captain". Now I'm sure you are going to cringe when I say this, but if you really want poetry today you need to listen to rap music. I would a lot of it is not of the "classical standards", but most rappers are the modern poets of our society.

I don't know if you ever listen to the Beastie Boys, but their newer albums focus a little less on "partying" and tend be more poetic in nature on their rhymes. Then again also a lot of people say Tupac was a gifted poet.

Actually since I live on this side of the pond, it should be what was the score of last night's game. The big question is how many pitchers can the Cards put on the DL and still have a chance this year.

Take care,

Stephen

[Former Member]

SJ -

I agree totally - except I tend to look at country & western lyrics because I think they use rhyme and meter more skillfully. But as the say: one man's Mede is another man's Persian.

BTW - I just noticed something.

If you had decided to become a Jesuit, you could sign your name

Fr. SJ, SJ.

Best

[stephenjohannes]

David,

I understand what you are saying on the country, provided it is the "old country" and not the more modern tunes that try to be rock or pop music. I also think bluegrass is another one of those forms where it is present. Then again Billy Corgan from the smashing pumpkins I believe published a whole book of poetry some while ago. The Zwan songs definitely had some poetic value. Now the only problem is that at times you could never understand parts what he was saying. My favorite double album from them Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness had the liner notes arranged for each song as minature poems.

On your other comment, I never thought about that. That is kinda funny since I almost went to Jesuit school for college. Actually I use all my initials then I could be "S" - DJ, which would work great if I was an actual radio "DJ".

Take care,

Stephen

[Former Member]

i agree with stephen when it comes to the point that poems are getting transported by music. i experienced this with a poem of christian morgenstern which was transferred to music by achim reichel - i don't know how long ago. i had great difficulties understanding this poem when i went to school and the music didn't help me understanding but memorizing - this is the strangest poem i ever met:

Sophie, mein Henkersmädel,

komm, küsse mir den Schädel!

Zwar ist mein Mund

ein schwarzer Schlund u2014

doch du bist gut und edel!

Sophie, mein Henkersmädel,

komm, streichle mir den Schädel!

Zwar ist mein Haupt

des Haars beraubt u2014

doch du bist gut und edel!

Sophie, mein Henkersmädel,

komm, schau mir in den Schädel!

Die Augen zwar,

sie fraß der Aar u2014

doch du bist gut und edel!

i found translations in greek and hungarian but none in english? david halitsky, can you help me here - your are perfect at finding 'impossible' links?

for the english people in here: this is out of morgensterns 'gallows poems' and about a person -obviously about to be hanged- talking to a being (personated as the girl Sophie) whom he aks to do a couple of things like kiss his 'mouth' while he has a skull only, look into his skull and such ... i depend on david to find a link to an english translation, this is not easily explained.

reichels interpretation -which is perfect- can be viewed here.

[Former Member]

My. Eu.

Here you are:

Thanks for dropping by.

djh

http://www.hampsong.com/foundation/library/texts_comments.php?id=979_0_13_0_C

English Translation by Max Knight

Sophia, hangman's mate,

O come and kiss my pate!

My mouth now is

A black abyss -

But you are nobly great!

Sophia, hangman's mate,

O come, caress my pate!

My skull is bare

And lacking hair -

But you are nobly great!

Sophia, hangman's mate,

O come, behold my pate!

The eagle flies -

He picked my eyes -

But you are nobly great.

[Former Member]

Just to make sure that no one thinks I'm being "Euro-centric", here's a link to another of my favorite translations. It's from a poem originally written in Sanskrit - the ancestor of Hindi and the other modern Prakrits languages.

http://www.humanistictexts.org/bilhana.htm

Those of you who have read a lot of John Steinbeck probably know that exceprts from this poem appear at the end of his great short novel "Cannery Row".

[Former Member]

Ah, but there's no testosterone in poetry 😛

[Former Member]

Hi Chris -

No testosterone in poetry ?????

Why, one might as well say "there's no F in lettuce"!

(Long-time CoffeeCorner habitues will recognize the allusion here to a previous CC thread of distinction.)

On a more serious note, if you really feel that way, I urge you to find DVD copies of two movies:

1) "A Fine Madness" (starring Sean Connery as a poet, and who is more macho than Sean Connery?)

2) "The Horse's Mouth (starring Alec Guinness as an iconoclastic rebel artist - and if you think Sir Alec couldn't do macho, you've never seen "Captain's Paradise!")

Watch both of these movies and then tell me there's no testosterone in poetry (or art, for that matter.)

Best

djh

[Former Member]

>>there's no F in lettuce

There's only one F in FICO;)

i remember that:))

[Former Member]

There's only one F in FICO;)
i remember that:))

I remember that too...She called me Stalker -:'(

@David About Poetry...Well...It's not my weapon of choice....I'm more into Literature...But have read some LatinAmerican Poets...You know...It's hard to read Poetry in other language than you Mother's one...

Greetings,

Blag.

[Former Member]

Hi Aamir -

Glad to see someone remembered ...

Best

djh

[Former Member]

Hi Alvaro -

Central and South America hold their own poets in high esteem - for example, Neruda comes to mind immediately.

There is also a stronger tradition of oral recitation or declamation - for example, I know there are still folks who make a living giving readings of Garcia Lorca, etc.

It's different up here in North America - the only place poetry is accepted is in Country&Western song lyrics.

Best

djh

[matt]

>

> Ah, but there's no testosterone in poetry  :-P

I remember that yorkshire poem that contains the immortal lines.

I took 'er gently by t'throat and said

"Tha' great ugly waart"

Probably a tad too much testosterone there.