We have already talked about memorizing poetry, but now I have a more specific question for all of you. I have been assigned to memorize 2-3 poems and one of them mustbe an Emily Dickinson. Oh my! There are so many great ones to choose from?
Which would you choose? What is your favorite?
A Bird came down the Walk—
He did not know I saw—
He bit an angle-worm in halves
And ate the fellow, raw,
And then he drank a Dew
From a convenient Grass,
And then hopped sidewise to the Wall
To let a Beetle pass—
He glanced with rapid eyes
That hurried all abroa—
They looked like frightened Beads, I thought—
He stirred his velvet head
Like one in danger, Cautious,
I offered him a Crumb,
And he unrolled his feathers
And rowed him softer home—
Than Oars divide the Ocean,
Too silver for a seam—
Or Butterflies, off Banks of Noon,
Leap, plashless as they swim.
Note the error in her short meter at the penultimate stanza, which adds to the charm for me, personally.
There is no frigate like a book
by Emily Dickinson
There is no frigate like a book
To take us lands away,
Nor any coursers like a page
Of prancing poetry.
This traverse may the poorest take
Without oppress of toll;
How frugal is the chariot
That bears a human soul!
and
I like to see it lap the miles,
by Emily Dickinson
I like to see it lap the miles,
And lick the valleys up,
And stop to feed itself at tanks;
And then, prodigious, step
Around a pile of mountains,
And, supercilious, peer
In shanties by the sides of roads;
And then a quarry pare
To fit its sides, and crawl between,
Complaining all the while
In horrid, hooting stanza;
Then chase itself down hill
And neigh like Boanerges;
Then, punctual as a star,
Stop--docile and omnipotent--
At its own stable door.
Boanerges wasn't a famous horse- I guess Bucephalus wouldn't fit the rhythm.
pam
I can't choose between these two as my favorite.
The Bible is an antique Volume --
Written by faded men
At the suggestion of Holy Spectres --
Subjects -- Bethlehem --
Eden -- the ancient Homestead --
Satan -- the Brigadier --
Judas -- the Great Defaulter --
David -- the Troubador --
Sin -- a distinguished Precipice
Others must resist --
Boys that "believe" are very lonesome --
Other Boys are "lost" --
Had but the Tale a warbling Teller --
All the Boys would come --
Orpheus' Sermon captivated --
It did not condemn.
She dealt her pretty words like Blades --
How glittering they shone --
And every One unbared a Nerve
Or wantoned with a Bone --
She never deemed -- she hurt --
That -- is not Steel's Affair --
A vulgar grimace in the Flesh --
How ill the Creatures bear --
To Ache is human -- not polite --
The Film upon the eye
Mortality's old Custom --
Just locking up -- to Die--
This is one I'd choose (and not just because it's short):
I'm Nobody! Who are you?
by Emily Dickinson
I'm Nobody! Who are you?
Are you—Nobody—Too?
Then there's a pair of us!
Don't tell! they'd advertise—you know!
How dreary—to be—Somebody!
How public—like a Frog—
To tell one's name—the livelong June—
To an admiring Bog!
This one is quite short, but I liked the picture it painted in my mind.
XVIII Life (Third Series)
Who has not found the heaven below
will fail of it above.
God's residence is next to mine,
His furniture is love.
I'd like Jennifer Lopez to sit on my furniture.
God's residence is next to mine,
His furniture is love.
But does his dog bark all night long?
pam
Hugh can have Jennifer Lopez, and the dog sleeps late, but I wonder if God really intended for that little brown Wren to wake me up with her singing at 5 AM every morning. He must love that little bird quite a bit.
kay
I recommend a pellet rifle for the wren. Hang a bell nearby you can hit with it, I mean. Works great.
Haldane said that the only thing that the study of nature tells us about God is that he is inordinately fond of beetles.
And Emily Dickinson was inordinately fond of the dash.
Here's a celebratory one of hers, evidently written on a 'high' for which she takes nature's beauty and summer blue skies as symbols.
I taste a liquor never brewed -
From Tankards scooped in Pearl -
Not all the Vats upon the Rhine
Yield such an Alcohol!
Inebriate of Air - am I -
And Debauchee of Dew -
Reeling - thro endless summer days -
From inns of Molten Blue –
When "Landlords" turn the drunken Bee
Out of the Foxglove's door -
When Butterflies - renounce their "drams" -
I shall but drink the more!
Till Seraphs swing their snowy Hats -
And Saints - to windows run -
To see the little Tippler
Leaning against the - Sun -
Seraphs
Tsk.
"Seraphs" doesn't trouble me as much as "a seraphim."
I assume that Hugh is referring to the very common mistake of using the wrong plural form of the word.
IN HEBREW:
One Seraph, two Seraphim (actually, ehad seraf, shray serafim)
One Cherum, two Cherubim
Someone on "Quote-Unquote" asked about the difference between a cherub and a Seraph, and another panelist quoted someone as saying, "A cherub is a seraph beneath the age of consent."
FUNNY!!! But in case anyone is really wondering, seraph is the HIGHEST order of angels and cherub is the SECOND-HIGHEST. Their jobs involve hovering around God in paroxisms of exultation. The LOWEST and SECOND-LOWEST orders are angels and arch-angels; those are the only two orders low enough for humans to see.
Oops - sorry - I should have warned y'all that a Pause for Pedantry was imminent.
Other unusual plurals are children and soliloquies. Only one word becomes plural by adding an 's' to the beginning: semordnilap. So, what's the plural of potato?
semordnilap - Wonderful!
The plural of POTATO is MASHED.
Gosh Marian before this I thought that angels were angles! I mean I hate to ask my pastor bout this. He preaches a lot you know. And all this time I was just wishing for middle mangment.
Are there any others in between? I've heard of thrones and dominations being in there somewhere, but I'm doubtful of them.
Anyone else got any favorite ED poems?
Here's one. She's says a lot here without hitting you in the face.
Nature, the gentlest mother,
by Emily Dickinson
Nature, the gentlest mother,
Impatient of no child,
The feeblest or the waywardest,
Her admonition mild
In forest and the hill
By traveller is heard,
Restraining rampant squirrel
Or too impetuous bird.
How fair her conversation,
A summer afternoon,--
Her household, her assembly;
And when the sun goes down
Her voice among the aisles
Incites the timid prayer
Of the minutest cricket,
The most unworthy flower.
When all the children sleep
She turns as long away
As will suffice to light her lamps;
Then, bending from the sky
With infinite affection
And infiniter care,
Her golden finger on her lip,
Wills silence everywhere.
Les
Off topic again, but I hate to let this thread get away without one last bit of trivia about plurals. What is the plural of curriculum vitae? Two answers required, one for multiple people, one for a single person.
The firdt answer is "squares" and the second answer is "mote"
Curricula vitarum for multiple people, curricula vitae for one person.
I wonder if Linda meant 'dominions' rather than 'dominations' - dominations smack more of the other place, than heaven.
Curricula vitarum for multiple people, curricula vitae for one person.
Stange, but true, I believe.
Yes, dominions:
[www.thesoulelement.com]
Curricula vitarum for Bill's CV and Ted's CV
Curricula vitae for Sally's academic CV and her performance CV
Curriculum vitae for a married couple filing jointly
Sorry, I did. Thrones and dominations is a book title, I think. If its not that then I don't know where I came across it.
"thrones and dominations" is good!
From the lowliest to the highliest, here are the orders of angels:
ARCHANGELS and ANGELS
These are the only ones that human beings have dealings with.
PRINCIPALITIES
Tony Kushner did NOT make this up for ANGELS IN AMERICA. In the play, the angel that tries to recruit Prior as a prophet is a "Continental Principality" (North America, to be specific.)
POWERS
VIRTUES
DOMINIONS or DOMINATIONS
(Linda is absolutely right.)
THRONES
CHERUBIM
SERAPHIM
For their general job descriptions, go here:
[www.sarahsarchangels.com] />
I was just struck by the phrase "Go here." What strange things computers make us say!
Written by Dorothy L Sayers (Finished by Patton long after DLS death)
Thanks for educating me (AGAIN) Marian. Sorry Linda, you were right all along - I'd only heard of 'thrones and dominions' and had no idea they were even orders of angels. I wonder what business a Continental Principality had contacting a mere mortal (putative prophet or not) .
Their jobs involve hovering around God in paroxisms of exultation
Sounds Wodehousean!
pam
"It is not easy to explain to the lay mind the extremely intricate ramifications of the personnel of a Hollywood picture organization. ...The chief executive throws out some statement of opinion, and looks about him expectantly. This is the cue for the senior Yes-Man to say yes. He is followed, in order of precedence, by the second Yes-Man - or Vice-Yesser, as he is sometimes called - and the junior Yes-Man. Only when all the Yes-Men have yessed, do the Nodders begin to function. They nod."
P. G. Wodehouse
Wonderful!
"I wonder what business a Continental Principality had contacting a mere mortal (putative prophet or not)."
GOOD CATCH -- I WONDERED, AFTER I POSTED THAT, IF ANYONE WOULD BE BOTHERED BY THE DISCREPANCY.
IN THE PLAY (ANGELS IN AMERICA) THAT PARTICULAR ANGEL IS DELIBERATELY BREAKING THE RULES. YOU HAVE TO SEE IT (OR READ IT) -- IT DEFIES SUMMARY.
And let me say this before Hugh does:
The THRONES are there for the CHERUBIM and SERAPHIM to sit on.
Sleep is supposed to be
By souls of sanity
The shutting of the eye.
Sleep is the station grand
Down which, on either hand
The hosts of witness stand!
Morn is supposed to be
By people of degree
The breaking of the Day.
Morning has not occurred!
That shall Aurora be --
East of Eternity --
One with the banner gay --
One in the red array --
That is the break of Day!
Going to Heaven!
I don't know when --
Pray do not ask me how!
Indeed I'm too astonished
To think of answering you!
Going to Heaven!
How dim it sounds!
And yet it will be done
As sure as flocks go home at night
Unto the Shepherd's arm!
Perhaps you're going too!
Who knows?
If you should get there first
Save just a little space for me
Close to the two I lost --
The smallest "Robe" will fit me
And just a bit of "Crown" --
For you know we do not mind our dress
When we are going home --
I'm glad I don't believe it
For it would stop my breath --
And I'd like to look a little more
At such a curious Earth!
I'm glad they did believe it
Whom I have never found
Since the might Autumn afternoon
I left them in the ground.
Wild Nights -- Wild Nights!
Were I with thee
Wild Nights should be
Our luxury!
Futile -- the Winds --
To a Heart in port --
Done with the Compass --
Done with the Chart!
Rowing in Eden --
Ah, the Sea!
Might I but moor -- Tonight --
In Thee!
The Loneliness One dare not sound --
And would as soon surmise
As in its Grave go plumbing
To ascertain the size --
The Loneliness whose worst alarm
Is lest itself should see --
And perish from before itself
For just a scrutiny --
The Horror not to be surveyed --
But skirted in the Dark --
With Consciousness suspended --
And Being under Lock --
I fear me this -- is Loneliness --
The Maker of the soul
Its Caverns and its Corridors
Illuminate -- or seal --
<[www.americanpoems.com] />
Interesting site, thanks for the link. I like the fact that they (appear to) keep her original capital nouns and em----dashes.
Here is the home page: [www.americanpoems.com] />
The search feature is interesting. I searched for perfect rose and 'perfect rose', hoping to isolate Dottie's ditty, but it returned every instance of both perfect and rose. Lots of good biographies also.
Plural of potato: Tater Tots?
Hungry Jack.
pam
"Love is
anterior to life
posterior to death
initial of creation, and
the exponent of breath" --Emily Dickinson
I love that one!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Mystic: One who experiences mystical union, or direct communion with God or Ulitmate reality.
Elixir: A substance held capable of prolonging life indefinitely, a sweetened, alcoholic, medicinal solution...I am
I opted for "I Felt a Funeral In my brain". The poem had to be at lease 12 lines long. I managed it.