Zinnias and Tea by Randall Davis Barfield - Poetry: The Best Words in the Best Order - #BlogchatterA2ZChallenge2021

 ZINNIAS AND TEA

RANDALL DAVIS BARFIELD

                                                               Pinterest

I shall see

after death with the

happiest eyes

The dark they now bear

Will have ceased

Their days they now bear

Full of zinnias and tea

Their aromatic nights

Of gardenias.

                                                            Amazon.in

I shall sport after death

Two new acute ears

The silence they now bear

Will have ceased

Their days will be festive

Many booms, many pops

Their nights of the sweetest

Cricketry.

After death I shall throw

The mellowest voice

My audience will travel

Many miles by choice

The days will be rich

And mellifluous

The nights harmonious

And lush.

The Poet: Randall Davis Barfield 

Randall Davis Barfield is a contemporary American writer who lives in Columbia. He is an Academic who teaches classes for IELTS, EFL and TOEFL. He also works as a proof reader. An author at authorsden, he has written many short plays that have been staged. 

His poem, 'Zinnias and Tea', is a tribute to the one and only Helen Keller, a wonderful lady who, with the help of her devoted companion, Anne Sullivan, overcame her disabilities and made a mark in the world. In fact, 50% of the proceeds of this poem go to the Carter Centre.

                                                             Wikipedia

While reams and reams are written about poets who lived in the past, the information about contemporary writers is rather sketchy. One needs to piece together tiny bits and try to create a patchwork.

The poem 'Zinnias and Tea' offers a tribute to Helen Keller who was born into a world of absolute silence. She could neither see, nor speak nor hear. Into this world came in a devoted and determined companion cum nurse named Anne Sullivan and turned this little girl's life around. Today, Helen Keller is known the world over for her incredible courage in the face of disability.

                                                              Amazon.in

The poem is a paean of hope, as it portrays Helen speaking of her life after death. She says that the darkness that her eyes now bear will cease in the afterlife and she will be able to spend her life amid zinnias and tea during the day and fragrant gardenias at night. 

Her ears which bear silence will open up to various sounds - pops and booms - and the sweet noises made by crickets in the still of the night.

After death, she will throw her voice, silent up till then, in the mellowest fashion and enthrall audiences who will travel from afar to hear her. The days will be melodious and rich, the nights harmonious and lush.

The poem exemplifies Helen Keller's beautiful spirit of acceptance and hopes that in the afterlife, she will have gained everything she was deprived of here on earth.

"Death is no more than passing from one room into another. But there's a difference for me, you know. Because in that other room I shall be able to see." Helen Keller

                                                               AuthorsDen

 This post is a part of #BlogchatterA2ZChallenge2021

   https://www.theblogchatter.com

   #BlogChatterA2Z #BlogChatterA2Z2021        

 

You Are Old, Father William by Lewis Carroll - Poetry: The Best Words in the Best Order - #BlogchatterA2ZChallenge2021

 YOU ARE OLD, FATHER WILLIAM

LEWIS CARROLL

                                                                   Literawiki  - Fandom

"You are old, Father William," the young man said,

"And your hair has become very white;

And yet you incessantly stand on your head -

Do you think, at your age, it is right?"

"In my youth," Father William replied to his son, 

"I feared it might injure the brain;

But, now that I am perfectly sure I have none,

Why, I do it again and again."

"You are old," said the youth, "as I mentioned before,

And you have grown most uncommonly fat;

Yet you turned a back-somersault in at the door -

Pray what is the reason for that?"

"In my youth," said the sage, as he shook his grey locks,

"I kept all my limbs very supple

By the use of this ointment - one shilling a box -

Allow me to sell you a couple?"

"You are old," said the youth, "and your jaws are too weak

For anything tougher than suet;

Yet you finished the goose, with the bones, and the beak -

Pray, how did you manage to do it?"

                                                                       Great Big Canvas

"In my youth," said his father, "I took to the law,

And argued each case with my wife;

And the muscular strength, which it gave to my jaw,

Has lasted the rest of my life."

"You are old," said the youth, "one would hardly suppose

That your eye was as steady as ever;

Yet you balanced an eel at the end of your nose -

What made you so awfully clever?"

                                                                    Chasing Lydia

"I have answered three questions, and that is enough,"

Said his father. "Don't give yourself airs!

Do you think I can listen all day to such stuff?

Be off, or I'll kick you downstairs."

The Poet: Lewis Carroll (1832 -1898)

Charles Lutwidge Dodgson, popularly known as Lewis Carroll, was a wonderful writer of children's fiction, his most famous works being 'Alice's Adventures in Wonderland' and its sequel 'Through the Looking-Glass'. He wore many hats, apart from that of a writer. He was also a photographer, a mathematician and an inventor, but his popularity as a writer eclipsed all these. He did have a stammer while growing up but this did not stop him from being a amusing mimic and entertainer, and a fairly adept singer. Story telling was, of course, his real talent. 

How he picked his pseudonym, Lewis Carroll, is interesting. Lewis came from 'Ludovicus', the Latin for Lutwidge, and Carroll from the Latin 'Carolus' from which Charles is derived. Hence Carolus Ludvicus metamorphosed into Charles Lutwidge and finally was reversed to Lewis Carroll.

'You Are Old, Father William' appears in Chapter five of Alice in Wonderland. When Alice complains to the caterpillar that she is losing her memory, the latter advises her to recite this poem to test her memory.

                                                                                     Youtube

The poem is satiric, and deals with a conversation between a father and his son. They represent Old Age and Youth. The son constantly reminds his father that he is old and asks him to refrain from doing things like standing on his head and turning a back somersault. He further wonders how, despite having weak jaws, he can eat  a complete goose, bones and beak and all. Finally he asks him how he can balance an eel at the end of his nose with such a steady eye.

The father replies to all these queries in a humorous fashion. He now stands on his head because he is not worried any more that it might injure his brain, and his limbs are supple because of an ointment that he uses on them. Even more amusing is the reason he gives for his strong jaw. He talks of how he was a lawyer and enjoyed arguing cases with his wife, which enhanced the muscular strength of his jaw. 

By this time the father has run out of patience, and sternly tells his son to stop bothering him with more questions. Any more and he would kick him down the stairs.

The poem is a delight to read, and it shows the arrogance of Youth as it questions the abilities of Old Age. The generation gap comes through very clearly, albeit in a humorous manner. However, at the end, it is clear that the father has an edge over his son. What comes across is Lewis Carroll's delightful irreverence and his sense of humour, both so needed in this world where we take ourselves all too seriously and forget to smell the roses. :)

                                                                Youtube

                                                                   Notable Quotes

   This post is a part of #BlogchatterA2ZChallenge2021

   https://www.theblogchatter.com

   #BlogChatterA2Z #BlogChatterA2Z2021        

We Wear The Mask by Paul Laurence Dunbar - Poetry: The Best Words in the Best Order - #BlogchatterA2ZChallenge2021

 WE WEAR THE MASK

PAUL LAURENCE DUNBAR

                                                            Pixels

We wear the mask that grins and lies,

It hides our cheeks and shades our eyes, -

This debt we pay to human guile;

With torn and bleeding hearts we smile,

And mouth with myriad subtleties.

Why should the world be over-wise,

In counting all our tears and eyes?

Nay, let them only see us, while

We wear the mask.

                                                                     Open Culture

We smile, but, O great Christ, our cries,

To thee from tortured souls arise.

We sing, but O, the clay is vile

Beneath our feet, and long the mile;

But let the world dream otherwise,

We wear the mask!

                                                        VCU News - Virginia Commonwealth

The Poet: Paul Laurence Dunbar (1872 - 1906)

Paul Laurence Dunbar is a black American writer with an impressive repertoire of writing, consisting of short stories, novels essays and poetry. He is known for having represented the gamut of black lives in an America that was moving on to the next century. His poems display his prowess over poetic technique and content, and reveal the plight of the black community in American society. They reveal a conversational style peppered with colourful language. Today, Dunbar is considered as America's first renowned Black poet.

The reason why I chose this poem was because of the unique situation we find ourselves in. 'We Wear The Mask' had a different connotation at the time Dunbar wrote it. A lyrical poem, it spoke of the lives of African-Americans who suffered numerous miseries after the torturous Civil War. Yet, they were forced to hide their sufferings under a mask of happiness, as they faced racial discrimination at every stage.  It was a kind of fake happiness that they exhibited, even as they seethed within, yet smiling with torn and bleeding hearts.

                                                                                UpDivine

The only solace they got was from praying to Christ who, they believed, would be able to hear their pleas and see their misery. The second stanza is poignant. Why should the world have to endure the sighs of the down-trodden. Instead wouldn't it be better to let them see the mask of fake joy that they wear? 

How true this poem rings as we look at the state of the world today as the COVID-19 virus struts about in its virulent dance of death! Masks have become a way of life, and we hide myriad emotions under them... a truth that is agonizing to the human race as a whole. 

                                                               Paul Laurence Dunbar - Study.com

  This post is a part of #BlogchatterA2ZChallenge2021

   https://www.theblogchatter.com

   #BlogChatterA2Z #BlogChatterA2Z2021        

X by Jean Valentine - Poetry: The Best Words in the Best Order - #BlogchatterA2ZChallenge2021

 X

Jean Valentine

"I have decorated this banner to honor my brother. Our parents did not want his name used publicly."

--- from an unnamed child's banner in the AIDS Memorial Quilt.

                                                                    

                                                                  depositphotos

The boat pond, broken off, looks back at the sky.

I remember looking at you, X, this way,

taking in your red hair, your eyes' light, and I miss you so.

I know, you are you, and real, standing there in the doorway,

whether dead or whether living, real. 

--- then Y said, " Who will remember me three years after I die?

What is there for my eye to read then?"

The lamb should not have given

his wool.

He was so small. At the end, X, you were so small. 

Playing with a stone

On your bedspread at the end of the ocean.

                                                Jean Valentine

The Poet: Jean Valentine (1934 - 2020)

New York State Laureate from 2008 to 2010, Jean Valentine was a celebrated American poet who was awarded the 2004 National Book Award for Poetry for her collection of poems titled 'Door in the Mountain'. Her poems were lyrical, dealing with the personal as well as the political, and some with even a spiritual quality in them. They were often understated and quiet, almost as if she were sharing a secret with her readers, whispering into their ears. Through her writings, she offered solidarity and companionship, a feeling of being together on the same stage, the world.

                                                            Gwarlingo

 The poem 'X' was written to commemorate the untimely death of a young child who died of AIDs. His name was not divulged as his parents did not want to acknowledge the cause of his death. Was this boy the poet's brother or was it a poem from her imagination? 

The sorrow is palpable, the longing evident. She misses his red hair, and the light in his eyes. She talks of how loved he was, and of how he was too young to die. Yet, the irony comes through as the family wanted to hide the fact that the boy died of AIDs.

Y is another speaker in the poem, one who wonders if he will be remembered after his death. The focus comes back to X in the last few lines that lament over the death of the young boy, playing with a stone on his bedspread, the end of the ocean. This sounds like an after death reference.

                                         Jean Valentine - Gather: Learning

   This post is a part of #BlogchatterA2ZChallenge2021

   https://www.theblogchatter.com

   #BlogChatterA2Z #BlogChatterA2Z2021        

Vocation by Rabindranath Tagore - Poetry: The Best Words in the Best Order - #BlogchatterA2ZChallenge2021

 VOCATION

RABINDRANATH TAGORE

When the gong sounds ten in the morning and I walk to school by our lane,

Every morning I meet the hawker crying, "Bangles, crystal bangles!"

There is nothing to hurry him on, there is no road he must take, no place he must go to, no time when he must come home.

I wish I were a hawker, spending my day in the road, crying, "Bangles, crystal bangles!"

                                                                                  IndiaMart

When at four in the afternoon I come back from the school, 

I can see through the gate of that house the gardener digging the ground.

He does what he likes with his spade, he soils his clothes with dust, nobody takes him to task if he gets baked in the sun or gets wet.

I wish I were a gardener digging away at the garden with nobody to stop me from digging.

Just as it gets dark in the evening and my mother sends me to bed,

I can see through my open window the watchman walking up and down.

The lane is dark and lonely, and the street-lamp stands like a giant with one red eye in its head.

The watchman swings his lantern and walks with his shadow at his side, and never once goes to bed in his life. 

I wish I were a watchman walking the streets all night, chasing the shadows with my lantern.

                                                                          Pxfuel

The Poet: Rabindranath Tagore: (1861 - 1941)

Rabindranath Tagore is one of the greatest litterateurs that India has ever produced. At the age of sixteen, he started his writing career writing short stories. His stories revolved around what he saw around him, the householders, the workers, the untold stories that make society what it is. He focused on emotions rather than rather than action. Some of his stories turned into household names - 'Kabuliwala' ( The Fruitseller from Kabul), 'Athithi' (The Runaway) and 'Kshudita Pashan' (The Hungry Stones).

                                                                   Cinestaan

In 1913, Tagore won the Nobel Prize for Literature for Gitanjali, his collection of poetry. Despite having a classical style of his own, he was willing to embrace new poetic concepts. He composed more than 2000 songs (Rabindra Sangeet) known for their lyricism and melody. He was knighted to honour his literary prowess, but in 1919, he renounced his knighthood in solidarity with the Jallianwala Bagh massacre.

The Poem 'Vocation' gives voice to a little child who looks out into the world and wishes to be free. As he walks to school and back, he watches with envy people around who appear to be unfettered by rules, like the bangle seller who walks about, selling his crystal bangles, the gardener who digs the ground, getting as wet or dirty as he wishes, and the watchman at night who swings his lantern and walks with his shadow by his side. He wishes he could also have a vocation like them.

In the innocent mind of the child, these men are fortunate enough to be able to do what they want. Little does he realise that these men too are fettered by the need to work to feed their families. He sees the freedom they enjoy, but not the toil and the hardships that go with their jobs.

                                                                       

                                                            The Hindu

  This post is a part of #BlogchatterA2ZChallenge2021

   https://www.theblogchatter.com

   #BlogChatterA2Z #BlogChatterA2Z2021        

Ultimatum by Dorothy Parker - #BlogchatterA2ZChallenge2021 - Poetry: The Best Words In the Best Order

 ULTIMATUM

DOROTHY PARKER

                                    I am wearied of wearying love, my friend,

Of worry, and strain, and doubt;

Before we begin, let us view the end,

And maybe I'll do without.

There's never the pang that was worth the tear,

And toss in the night I won't - 

So either you do or you don't, my dear,

Either you do or you don't.

The table is ready, so lay your cards

And if they should augur pain,

I'll tender you ever my kind regards

And run for the fastest train.

I haven't the will to be spent and sad;

My heart's to be gay and true -

Then either you don't or you do, my lad,

Either you don't or you do!

                                                                    Amazon.in

The Poet: Dorothy Parker (1893 - 1967)

American writer, Dorothy Parker, is best known for her biting wit and scintillating sense of humour. Her pieces often mocked the foibles of modern society. Some of her poems were set to music much after her time. Her short stories were often acerbic, but they were also known to be bitter-sweet. 'Big Blonde', her most popular short story won the O Henry Award for the best story in 1929. 

She had friends in the literary world like Ernest Hemingway and F Scott Fitzgerald, and her own writing was influenced by luminaries like Charles Dickens and Thackeray. She bequeathed her estate to Martin Luther King Jr. and the plaque on her tombstone read "Excuse my dust", signifying that her sense of humour remained intact till the end.

                                                                            Pinterest

'Ultimatum' is an example of her satiric attitude towards life and love. She talks of being weary of love to her lover, explaining that no pang is worth sleepless nights. She asks him to lay his cards on the table, and if she has the slightest doubt that this love will lead to pain, she will offer him her kind regards and take the fastest train away from him. She prefers to have be happy and carefree. 

The repetition of the lines, "Either you do or you don't" ends with an endearment both times, but there is an inherent threat, albeit conveyed in a laughing manner. The meaning is clear. Either he keeps her happy or she lets him go.

                                                                                SlidePlayer

                                                      Another Night of Reading - Word Press

  This post is a part of #BlogchatterA2ZChallenge2021

   https://www.theblogchatter.com

   #BlogChatterA2Z #BlogChatterA2Z2021                                                                                            

The Arrow and the Song by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow - Poetry: The Best Words in the Best Order - #BlogchatterA2ZChallenge2021

 THE ARROW AND THE SONG

HENRY WADSWORTH LONGFELLOW

                                                                  Brad Jacobsen

I shot an arrow into the air,

It fell to earth, I knew not where;

For, so swiftly it flew, the sight

Could not follow it in its flight.

                                                                   Hannah Spuler

I breathed a song into the air,

It fell to earth, I knew not where;

For who has sight so keen and strong,

That it can follow the flight of song?

                                                                    Prezi

Long, long afterward, in an oak

I found the arrow, still unbroke;

And the song, from beginning to end,

I found again in the heart of a friend.

The Poet: Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (1807 -1882)

HW Longfellow, the American poet, is known for his lyrical poems which abound in themes imbued in legend and mythology. He experimented with free verse, often working painstakingly on the form of the poem because he believed that writers wanted their readers to listen to how it sounded. Some of his popular works were 'The Song of Hiawatha', 'The Wreck of the Hesperus', 'The Village Blacksmith' and of course, the wonderful 'A Psalm of Life'.

'The Arrow and the Song' is a lovely little poem that has a simple rhyme scheme, and hence, used extensively for recitation by young children. The poet makes a comparison between the flight of an arrow and that of a song.

The poet shoots an arrow into the air, and it flies so quickly that his eyes could not follow and fathom where it landed. Likewise, he sings a song into the air, but obviously, he could not follow its flight, a feat humanly impossible.

Long afterwards, however, he found the arrow, unbroken and intact, in the trunk of an oak tree. The song he found, from beginning to end, in the heart of a friend. 

The poem reveals how quickly both the arrow and the song disappear into the air, but reappear later, proving that they are both long-lived.

Another interpretation is the contrast between an arrow and a song. One is sharp and can hurt others, while the other is joyful and filled with love. 

                                                                          Etsy

                                                                 Times Literary Supplement

(Such a distinguished looking gentleman!)

         This post is a part of #BlogchatterA2ZChallenge2021

       https://www.theblogchatter.com

      #BlogChatterA2Z #BlogChatterA2Z2021                                                                                            

Stopping By Woods on a Snowy Evening by Robert Frost - Poetry: The Best Words in the Best Order - #BlogchatterA2ZChallenge2021

 STOPPING BY WOODS ON A SNOWY EVENING

ROBERT FROST

                                                 Sunset Wings - Bandcamp 

Whose woods are these I think I know.

His house is in the village though;

He will not see me stopping here

To watch his woods fill up with snow.

                                                                     AllPosters.com

My little horse must think it queer

To stop without a farmhouse near

Between the woods and frozen lake

The darkest evening of the year.

He gives his harness bells a shake

To ask if there is some mistake.

The only other sound's the sweep

Of easy wind and downy flake.

The woods are lovely, dark and deep, 

But I have promises to keep,

And miles to go before I sleep,

And miles to go before I sleep.

                                                               Obvious State

The Poet: Robert Frost (1874 -1963)

Recently I read somewhere that for many American students, Frost's two most popular poems - Stopping By Woods on a Snowy Evening and The Road Not Taken - were their first definition of poetry. Today, the two have found a place in text books across the world, and I have myself been honoured to teach them both to high schools students over the years. On the surface, they are both simple and uncluttered, but they have myriad layers of meaning to them.

Frost himself considered 'Stopping By Woods' one of his most influential poems, judging by his words to his fellow poet, Louis Untermeyer, that this poem was "my best bid for remembrance". This was true because the poem found its way into the heart of the world. It was quoted at two important funerals - that of President John F Kennedy and also that of the Canadian President, Pierre Trudeau. Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru also often quoted the last stanza, a favourite of his.

'Stopping By Woods' was written in 1922 after Frost spent a whole night writing another poem at his home in Vermont. Once he had finished writing, he went for a walk in the woods, and his most significant poem was born.

The inspiration for the poem is the beauty of nature, the snowy ambience and the grandeur of the trees in the forest. The poet watches the woods fill up with snow, aware that they belong to a person he knows. His little horse seems puzzled and gives the harness bells a shake as though asking whether his master has made a mistake in halting at a spot they had never stopped at earlier.

One can only imagine the serenity invoked by the tinkle of the bell and the peaceful sweep of easy wind and downy snow flake. 

In the last stanza, the meaning of the poem suddenly becomes clear. The journey undertaken by the poet is akin to the journey of life. The woods are lovely, dark and deep, maybe even a metaphor for death, which is the very end. However,  the poet has miles to go before he sleeps, meaning that he has many responsibilities to fulfill in life before he has the luxury of sleep/ death. 

It would not be wrong to say that these last four lines are maybe the most widely quoted lines of all times.

                                                                           Pinterest

As I was browsing, I came across this absolute gem of a video where Frost recites two poems with such apparent ease. As I listened to 'Stopping By Woods', I had goosebumps. Here it is: Robert Frost reads 'Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening' and 'The Drumlin Woodchuck' (1952)

                https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rebVUgCgSAU                 

                                                             Robert Frost - Poetry Foundation

         This post is a part of #BlogchatterA2ZChallenge2021

       https://www.theblogchatter.com

      #BlogChatterA2Z #BlogChatterA2Z2021                                                                                            

Remember by Christina Rosetti - Poetry: The Best Words in the Best Order - #BlogchatterA2ZChallenge2021

 REMEMBER

CHRISTINA ROSETTI

                                                   GoodFon.com

                                                      Internet Archive

Remember me when I am gone away,

Gone far away into the silent land;

When you can no more hold me by the hand,

Nor I half turn to go yet turning stay.

Remember me when no more day by day

You tell me of our future that you plann'd:

Only remember me; you understand

It will be late to counsel then or pray.

Yet if you should forget me for a while

And afterwards remember, do not grieve:

For if the darkness and corruption leave

A vestige of the thoughts that once I had,

Better by far that you should forget and smile

Than that you should remember and be sad.

                                                                         CoolINSmart                                                                        

The Poet: Christina Rosetti (1830 - 1894)

Christina Rosetti was seen as one of the finest poets of the Victorian Age, along with Elizabeth Barrett Browning. Though the latter's work was considered more intellectual and political, Rosetti's writing was considered more lyrical, her poems displaying a simplicity that veered towards perfection of tone and form. Later in life, her poems turned devotional as she turned towards faith as her family shifted from Evangelism to Anglo-Catholicism. Themes that recur in her poetry are the inconstancy of human love, the ephemeral nature of human passion, renunciation and the perfection of divine love. Some of the influences in her life were William Blake, George Herbert, Shelley, Keats and Tennyson. 

She was very close to her brother, Dante Charles Gabriel, who was her most helpful critic and found publishers for her. She even posed as Mary for his painting titled 'The Girlhood of Mary Virgin'. 

'Remember' is a sonnet, a poem of grief, where the person being mourned is the one speaking. It was written when Rosetti was just nineteen, and deals with the themes of life, love and death. The poet exhorts her lover to remember her after she goes away into the silent land of death, where he cannot hold her hand any more. Nor can she turn back to bid farewell to him. She asks him to remember her when it is too late to tell her of the future he has painstakingly planned for her with him.

And after she dies, she does not want her death to be a burden on her lover. She would prefer him to forget her and smile rather than remember her and grieve.

The whole poem stresses on the word 'remember' till the last two lines, where ironically, she urges him to forget her, so that he does not feel sad at having lost her. 

                                                      The British Library

This post is a part of #BlogchatterA2ZChallenge2021

https://www.theblogchatter.com

#BlogChatterA2Z #BlogChatterA2Z2021