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Post by MourningIreland on Sept 29, 2017 13:52:32 GMT
For someone that has never read poetry, what would you recommend? "The Hound of Heaven" by Francis Thompson. |
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Post by MourningIreland on Sept 29, 2017 13:59:49 GMT
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Post by Stephen on Sept 29, 2017 14:00:15 GMT
Why A.E. Housman? Is there a particular book or collection?
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Post by Maolsheachlann on Sept 29, 2017 14:30:55 GMT
He's a very dark poet and I somehow think you would appreciate the darkness of his poetry! It's mostly about soldiers dying young. He was a homosexual and the great drama of his life was an unrequited passion for another guy, but he's still good. The Shropshire Lad is his most famous book, but he wrote so little poetry that even his Collected Poems is short and sweet. He was a classics professor who wrote poetry on the side.
When I was one-and-twenty
I heard a wise man say,
"Give crowns and pounds and guineas
But not your heart away;
Give pearls away and rubies
But keep your fancy free."
But I was one-and-twenty,
No use to talk to me.
When I was one-and-twenty
I heard him say again,
"The heart out of the bosom
Was never given in vain;
'Tis paid with sighs a plenty
And sold for endless rue."
And I am two-and-twenty
And oh, 'tis true, 'tis true.
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Post by Maolsheachlann on Sept 29, 2017 14:33:36 GMT
Here is one of his more characteristically dark pieces, an epitaph for fallen soldiers:
Here dead lie we because we did not choose
To live and shame the land from which we sprung.
Life, to be sure, is nothing much to lose;
But young men think it is, and we were young.
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Post by cato on Sept 29, 2017 19:10:54 GMT
I envy those who can recite whole poems from memory. I recall a teacher telling us it wasn't important to learn things off by heart anymore as it wasn't in accord with trendy 1970s ideology. I also remember a teacher who told us our writing style was unimportant and we could use block capitals or spaced letters if we liked. Later I remember being annoyed at having to unlearn my naturalistic style and learn proper joined up script. In case anyone thinks my school was avant gard it was a pretty typical Irish catholic national school.
My own nephews and nieces I notice learn joined up script straight away so not everything about modern life is mad ,sad or bad.
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Post by assisi on Sept 29, 2017 19:35:30 GMT
I envy those who can recite whole poems from memory. I recall a teacher telling us it wasn't important to learn things off by heart anymore as it wasn't in accord with trendy 1970s ideology. I also remember a teacher who told us our writing style was unimportant and we could use block capitals or spaced letters if we liked. Later I remember being annoyed at having to unlearn my naturalistic style and learn proper joined up script. In case anyone thinks my school was avant gard it was a pretty typical Irish catholic national school. My own nephews and nieces I notice learn joined up script straight away so not everything about modern life is mad ,sad or bad. In 1977 when I was doing my 'O' levels we learnt poems, or at least several verses, by heart and were often asked to quote them in class in front of the rest of the class. I can still quote some of the Keats, Frost and Shakespeare 40 years later but obviously it gets patchier over time. In 1978 as I started my 'A' level French we got a new young bearded amiable teacher. Prior to that our older French teacher had us learning by heart lists of words and learning grammar in a very structured way. Our new teacher would give out French reading homework and tell us that if you can't read it all, try to read a few paragraphs. Of course most people, myself included, ended up doing the abridged version as we knew there would be no punishment. I went from an 'A' grade in my French 'O' level to a 'C' grade at the more important 'A' level. The laid back 'laissez faire' approach proved disastrous. |
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Post by Maolsheachlann on Sept 29, 2017 20:15:04 GMT
In my teens I had a prodigious memory for poetry. I didn't even have to try to memorise them, I just remembered them. My memory for poetry is not nearly as good now. I don't remember having to memorise poetry in school.
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Post by cato on Oct 1, 2017 9:56:47 GMT
There is a short video of British foreign secretary Boris Johnston being reprimanded by the ambassador to Burma for reciting verses from Kipling's road to Mandalay in a Buddhist Temple lest it offend the Burmese by reminding them of British rule.
The ambassador didn't mention Boris using his smart phone in the temple to take pictures which struck me as being more disrespectful. I do like Boris who is one of the few politicians with a larger than life personality.
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Zeal-Of-THe-Land-BUsy
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Post by Zeal-Of-THe-Land-BUsy on Jan 14, 2018 1:37:01 GMT
O Lord, now smite the Papish dogs
And crush their idols quickly.
I hate their Ave Maries too
Because they are so sickly.
Give me an honest Preach
To tell me Bible Truth
And give me thanks, O teacher
Thou madst me not a Romisher.
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Post by optatuscleary on Jan 14, 2018 8:19:57 GMT
I only became interested in poetry after I became an English teacher. My own English teachers were all about finding hidden meanings in the poem, and especially in finding anti-Christian meanings (I had one English teacher whose stated objective for his class was “to show that Christians are hypocrites”).
I liked Latin poetry when I was studying Classics, but I only really started liking English poetry when I started teaching it. I try to do a better job teaching it than my teachers did. I try to let my students discover the various aspects of it, rather than treating it as a code to which I and only I have the key.
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Post by Maolsheachlann on Jan 14, 2018 8:35:58 GMT
O Lord, now smite the Papish dogs And crush their idols quickly. I hate their Ave Maries too Because they are so sickly. Give me an honest Preach To tell me Bible Truth And give me thanks, O teacher Thou madst me not a Romisher. The rhyme falls down a bit at the end. |
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Post by optatuscleary on Jan 14, 2018 9:27:03 GMT
O Lord, now smite the Papish dogs And crush their idols quickly. I hate their Ave Maries too Because they are so sickly. Give me an honest Preach To tell me Bible Truth And give me thanks, O teacher Thou madst me not a Romisher. The rhyme falls down a bit at the end. Maybe it’s pronounced “ro MEESH er”? |
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Post by Maolsheachlann on Jan 14, 2018 9:33:12 GMT
Ha ha!
That little poem was reported to me as administrator, but I'm going to let it stand. My general policy is to clamp down on trolls, but that was mildly amusing, so I'll let it stand, if nobody objects. However, trolling in verse is no more exempt from deletion than trolling in prose.
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Post by Maolsheachlann on Jan 14, 2018 9:35:10 GMT
I've only read the report now. (It was the first one I'd got since the forum started.) That too was amusing.  |
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