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Post by Gerry on Jun 7, 2024 12:23:45 GMT -5
This quote is from Richard Jackson and it's about how poem's engage us:
"...when I read a poem, I care about the characters and events and ideas not because they happened but because an original and fresh engagement with language has led me to involve my own imagination with the play of metaphors and figures, syntax and rhythms, and that involvement has drawn me into the consciousness of the speaker, and so into her or his concerns."
Thoughts? How have you seen that play out in the poems you admire?
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shelleyg
New Member
Ready for this journey!
Posts: 31 
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Post by shelleyg on Jun 14, 2024 15:02:24 GMT -5
I read this quote multiple times and I have seen this play out strongly in Lawrence Ferlinghetti's I am Waiting.
I also love this one. A different take on Chagall.
Don’t Let That Horse . . .
BY LAWRENCE FERLINGHETTI
Don’t let that horse
eat that violin
cried Chagall’s mother
But he
kept right on
painting
And became famous
And kept on painting
The Horse With Violin In Mouth
And when he finally finished it
he jumped up upon the horse
and rode away
waving the violin
And then with a low bow gave it
to the first naked nude he ran across
And there were no strings
attached
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Post by Gerry on Jun 17, 2024 12:06:50 GMT -5
Ferlinghetti's humor--his playfulness--is always something I admired. I'm curious, Shelley, if you see this poem as embodying Jackson's quote, and if so, how so for you? This idea, in the end, is a purely subjective thing--even when talking about how syntax grabs us--someone's syntax might engage me but not another person.
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Post by bluebird on Jul 24, 2024 10:39:41 GMT -5
I love this: and I suppose this is what I've always loved about reading: that our own imaginations are stimulated. I was a lucky kid,
my mother read hundreds of fairy tales to me as a child. The language was like an overdose of candy and/or hot shots (those fire engine
red candies that burnt your tongue)... I didn't know anything about metaphors and syntax etc. as a child. My mother didn't either. She
had only a sixth grade education....but what we both loved was the power of words to create images in our minds and souls....and it was
those fairy tales that enabled me to "visualize" what words stood for. Kids who learn to play an instrument, I think, also learn early about
rhythm and layers and moods all that good stuff that music has.
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Post by bluebird on Jul 26, 2024 17:20:13 GMT -5
Wow, just read Shelly's note on "Don't let that horse eat that violin" Ferlinghetti's playful side.
I was a starving actress in San Francisco in those beat poet days....spent all my time studying
at the American Conservatory Theater...learning about iambic pentameter and how to walk across
the stage with meaningful intention....we do what we are driven to do and can do when we can
do it....but don't I wish I'd taken time to listen to the poets there in little Italy....and perhaps then,
perhaps I might have met you Shelly. I am always amazed at how many "near hits, i.e. misses"
I've had in my life....the worst part is the uncertainly of: if any of it matters. So, thanks Shelly
for a good (and very serious) laugh!
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Post by bluebird on Jul 26, 2024 17:23:15 GMT -5
Wow, just read Shelly's note on "Don't let that horse eat that violin" Ferlinghetti's playful side. I was a starving actress in San Francisco in those beat poet days....spent all my time studying at the American Conservatory Theater...learning about iambic pentameter and how to walk across the stage with meaningful intention....we do what we are driven to do and can do when we can do it....but don't I wish I'd taken time to listen to the poets there in little Italy....and perhaps then, perhaps I might have met you Shelly. I am always amazed at how many "near hits, i.e. misses" I've had in my life....the worst part is the uncertainly of: if any of it matters. So, thanks Shelly for a good (and very serious) laugh! |
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