(Carrion Comfort)
Not, I’ll not, carrion comfort, Despair, not feast on thee;
Not untwist—slack they may be—these last strands of man
In me ór, most weary, cry I can no more. I can;
Can something, hope, wish day come, not choose not to be.
But ah, but O thou terrible, why wouldst thou rude on me
Thy wring-earth right foot rock? lay a lionlimb against me? scan
With darksome devouring eyes my bruised bones? and fan,
O in turns of tempest, me heaped there; me frantic to avoid thee and flee?
Why? That my chaff might fly; my grain lie, sheer and clear.
Nay in all that toil, that coil, since (seems) I kissed the rod,
Hand rather, my heart lo! lapped strength, stole joy, would laugh, cheer.
Cheer whóm though? The héro whose héaven-handling flúng me, fóot tród
Me? or mé that fóught him? O whích one? is it eách one? That night, that year
Of now done darkness I wretch lay wrestling with (my God!) my God.
~ Gerard Manley Hopkins
* * *
December: Three
This weariness of mine, may it not come
From something that doth need no setting right?
Shall fruit be blamed if it hang wearily
A day before it perfected drop plumb
To the sad earth from its nursing tree?
Ripeness must always come with loss of might,
The weary evening fall before the resting night.
~ George MacDonald
* * *
.sustaineD
I am the
Widow’s jar
Holding only
Enough oil
For one
More
Morn
But
When
You
Pour me
Out the oil continues
Flowing in unending stream of praises
~ n4m 9/22/08
23 comments:
Militia Divine
My men of militia divine
Carry on into the battle
When faced with tales of wreckage and malice
Carry on into the battle
And remember these words of mine
Tis’ better to die in a battle of blaze
Than fall to a field of flowers
For the King my men, for the King
Carry on, you must carry on
And when at last the world is done
The battle you will have won
For years of toil, years of strife
You did not lose the fight for your life
But you carried on and carried home
The ones you loved and the ones you hold
For the victory is not won with shame
With eagerness and pride you must fight for the king
Fight to the death my sons of men
And you will find your home again
For with the King you shall be
When the battle is ended and stilled are the seas
So carry on my son, carry on
Carry on to victory
Imoutochan, I really like this poem. Would you please tell me who wrote it?
But I don't want to... :P
"The True Diana"
You drew me up from the foam
and the brine you wiped me clean
of Titan’s filth and you called
me your own sweet darling one
to be fed on ambrosia
and commune eternally
with you as your warrior
handmaid no longer ravaged
and ravaging in the deep
Just as the moon reflects the
sun so do I reflect you
my God-King in this silver
bright armor born of the blood
of your Vulcan and polished
with tears for his sister-bride
radiant beloved chaste in
armor you commissioned and
he willingly toiled into
This girdle of mail such strong
bright links to guard and display
as only your armor can
full hips and thighs dearly loved
as the full heart and breasts now
cradled and protected by
chest plates fire-tempered bearing
your seal etched and polished
claiming me for Olympus
A helmet-crown he wrought of
filigree ornate and strong
as the heart who fashioned it
for this the mind it must form
to direct feet and ankles
in these shoes swift as time
delicate and rugged as
the white hart my companion
and pursuit above all else
This shield so broad and shining
as a mirror polished to
reflect your bright face not mine
this sword he fashioned in your
image for guided arms to hew
and heal a protector pierced
to divide and mend serves me
better than the finest bow
my warrior heart could want
Refined metal becomes skin
of my skin over and in
soul of my soul exults at
your most lavish provision
of me the sister-bride in
Vulcan your truest lightning
equipping me for love and
the hunt in silver-gilt flesh
to be both chaste and chaser
I've read that one before. :)
Yeah, it's a pretty famous one. ^_~
It's like Star Trek! Spock's wife... :D
...uh...
O.o
o.O
I'm not following...
It talks about Vulcan. ^_^
(Yes, your poems sometimes kind of just go right over my head. I don’t have a writing degree remember)
^_^ Oh, gotcha. *giggling*
Look up the Roman goddesses Venus and Diana; look up the Roman god Vulcan. Then, consider this poem an allegory.
Okay, I'll do that. :P
(And then consider ths a crummy poem.) ^_~
Oh, shut up.
^_~
Zeus is the supreme god in Roman mythology. He slit open Titan (his father) and rescued all of his older siblings--whom Titan had consumed.
Vulcan is the son of Zeus. Vulcan himself is the god of "beneficial and hindering fire" (wikipedia); he manufactures all of Zeus's weaponry, and is also considered responsible for artistic metalwork.
Vulcan received Venus (the goddess of love and beauty) as his bride shortly after she was mysteriously born from the sea.
Diana (goddess of chastity, hunting, and the moon) is the daughter of Zeus. She is often accompanied by a deer (“hart” in old English).
Hopefully that's enough information for you to begin picking out the symbolism. Since this is an allegory, the poet is using only the aspects of each mythical character that fit the poet's purpose. ^_^
So, here's some Christmas vacation homework for you:
Who is the "you" seemingly being addressed in this poem? Who does that figure actually represent?
Who does Vulcan represent?
What about the white hart--who is being represented by that figure?
What is the apparent subject described throughout this piece? What does it actually represent?
<3 Jj
Ah! O.O I'm horrible at this. Panda will tell you! O.o
Nonsense! I have great confidence in you. It's just a matter of practice--learning to reading and examine in a new way. ^_^ You'll be fine.
(Besides, you don't have to do anything until Christmas vacation.)
That's wonderful of you. Hey, you can't give me homework, you're not my teacher. And I don't have problems "learning to reading," I have problems with poetry.
That's exactly what I mean: where symbolism and imagery are cncerned, literature ranges from Easy to Moderately Difficult; poetry is the Advanced level of difficulty. You enjoy thinking, Imoutochan. I'm sure you'll want to step it up at some point, right? ^_~
Ugh... *shivers and sticks out tongue in disgust*
vegetables before dessert, my dear
^_~
Nuhuh! 8D
Yu-huh!
<3 Jj
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