Showing posts with label poetry. Show all posts
Showing posts with label poetry. Show all posts

Tuesday, December 31, 2013

“Auld Lang Syne” (Robert Burns)


Here is the modern version of “Auld Lang Syne”:

Should old acquaintance be forgot,
and never brought to mind?
Should old acquaintance be forgot,
and old lang syne?

CHORUS:

For auld lang syne, my dear,
for auld lang syne,
we’ll take a cup of kindness yet,
for auld lang syne.
And surely you’ll buy your pint cup!
and surely I’ll buy mine!
And we’ll take a cup o’ kindness yet,
for auld lang syne.

CHORUS

We two have run about the slopes,
and picked the daisies fine;
But we’ve wandered many a weary foot,
since auld lang syne.

CHORUS

We two have paddled in the stream,
from morning sun till dine;
But seas between us broad have roared
since auld lang syne.

CHORUS

And there’s a hand, my trusty friend!
And give us a hand o’ thine!
And we’ll take a right good-will draught,
for auld lang syne.

CHORUS
_______________


Here is the original Scottish version of “Auld Lang Syne” (Robert Burns, 1788):

Should auld acquaintance be forgot,
and never brought to mind?
Should auld acquaintance be forgot,
and auld lang syne?

CHORUS:
For auld lang syne, my jo,
for auld lang syne,
we’ll tak a cup o’ kindness yet,
for auld lang syne.
And surely ye’ll be your pint-stowp!
and surely I’ll be mine!
And we’ll tak a cup o’ kindness yet,
for auld lang syne.

CHORUS

We twa hae run about the braes,
and pu’d the gowans fine;
But we’ve wander’d mony a weary foot,
sin auld lang syne.

CHORUS

We twa hae paidl’d i’ the burn,
frae morning sun till dine;
But seas between us braid hae roar’d
sin auld lang syne.

CHORUS

And there’s a hand, my trusty fiere!
and gie’s a hand o’ thine!
And we’ll tak a right gude-willy waught,
for auld lang syne.

CHORUS


Tuesday, May 8, 2012

The Chimney Sweeper (William Blake, 1757-1827)

When my mother died I was very young,
And my father sold me while yet my tongue
Could scarcely cry "'weep! 'weep! 'weep! 'weep!"
So your chimneys I sweep and in soot I sleep.

There's little Tom Dacre, who cried when his head
That curled like a lamb's back, was shaved, so I said,
"Hush, Tom! never mind it, for when your head's bare,
You know that the soot cannot spoil your white hair."

And so he was quiet, and that very night,
As Tom was a-sleeping he had such a sight!
That thousands of sweepers, Dick, Joe, Ned, and Jack,
Were all of them locked up in coffins of black;

And by came an Angel who had a bright key,
And he opened the coffins and set them all free;
Then down a green plain, leaping, laughing they run,
And wash in a river and shine in the Sun.

Then naked and white, all their bags left behind,
They rise upon clouds, and sport in the wind.
And the Angel told Tom, if he'd be a good boy,
He'd have God for his father & never want joy.

And so Tom awoke; and we rose in the dark
And got with our bags and our brushes to work.
Though the morning was cold, Tom was happy and warm;
So if all do their duty, they need not fear harm.

_________________________
From Songs of Innocence, 1789

Tuesday, November 29, 2011

Forum Thread: In 2111, What 2011 Poets Will Our Academic Descendants be Reading and Assigning?



Bump.

This post originally appeared on this site on April 9, 2008, when Poets.net was still very young. I believe this question is worthy of another look.

As Bugzita on Foetry (Reply #34, November 28, 2006), I posted the following:

Quite frankly, most poetry published today would not pass "The Uncle Lyle Test." My Uncle Lyle is an ordinary Joe who likes to read, which I did not know until he read my first book (which sort of passed the test, but not entirely--oh, well).

Say what you will about bestsellers, but they are bestsellers because they pass the test imposed by the Uncle Lyles of the reading world. Now if your work is so rarified that it leaves most readers scratching their heads, that's fine, and there's something to be said for creating work that excludes all but a few insiders--academia does it all the time. That's a choice, and I respect that.

But I have a problem when these rarified poets start whining and moaning because no one wants read or buy their books. So some of them resort to dishonest methods to drum up bogus awards, which, from what I can see, are based less on quality of work and more on how well-connected they are. So everyone sets up a "press," and poets publish each other's poetry, no matter the quality: "Wink, Wink." To those not in the know, it all looks very respectable.

The problem is: the published work itself becomes insular and not all that interesting to the average reader. And because most readers are average in terms of intellect and tastes, the rarified poets' books sell, perhaps, one or two hundred copies, sold to other poets. Of course there are always exceptions, but, unfortunately, this insularity seems to be the norm.

And you wonder why poetry no longer matters? :?:

Bugz

So, then, in 2008 (2011), as Jennifer, I pose the following questions for your consideration and opinion:

In 2111, what 2011 poets will be considered as literary representatives of our era, their works published in The Norton Anthology (2111 edition) and assigned by our academic descendants to school children and college students? If you wish, support your supposition with details.

Conversely, what 2011 poets will slide into obscurity? If you wish, support your supposition with details.

Related thread: "Is Poetry Dead?"

Tuesday, December 16, 2008

Winter (William Shakespeare, 1564 - 1616)

*

When icicles hang by the wall
---And Dick the shepherd blows his nail,
And Tom bears logs into the hall,
---And milk comes frozen home in pail,
When blood is nipt, and ways be foul,
---Then nightly sings the staring owl,
------------Tuwhoo!
Tuwhit! Tuwhoo! A merry note!
While greasy Joan doth keel the pot.

_________________________________________________________

Winter (A reading by SpokenVerse)



_________________________________________________________


When all aloud the wind doth blow,
---And coughing drowns the parson's saw,
And birds sit brooding in the snow,
---And Marian's nose looks red and raw;
When roasted crabs hiss in the bowl,
---Then nightly sings the staring owl,
------------Tuwhoo!
Tuwhit! Tuwhoo! A merry note,
While greasy Joan doth keel the pot.
From Love's Labours Lost, Act V, Scene ii.
*

Saturday, August 2, 2008

Poetry in Music: "Sounds of Slience" (Simon and Garfunkel) Concert in Central Park

*

The Concert in Central Park is a live album by Simon and Garfunkel. On September 19, 1981, the folk-rock duo reunited for a free concert on the Great Lawn of New York's Central Park attended by more than 750,000 people. They released a live album from the concert the following March (Warner Brothers LP 2BSK 3654; CD 3654). It was arranged by Paul Simon and Dave Grusin, and produced by Paul Simon, Art Garfunkel, Phil Ramone and Roy Halee.

____________________________________________________

"Sounds of Silence" in Central Park (1981)



trying4
____________________________________________________

A video of the concert was also released. The video contains two songs that were omitted from the live album: "The Late Great Johnny Ace" and "Late in the Evening (Reprise)". The song about Johnny Ace had been disrupted by a fan rushing the stage. Both of these songs appear in the DVD release. The Late Great Johnny Ace is not listed in the track listing but appears between A Heart in New York and Kodachrome.

From Wikipedia. For more information and track listing, click here.

____________________________________________________

Monday, June 2, 2008

Post Removed

The text of this post has been removed as requested by Bill Knott.

I hope that this situation works out for Mr. Knott.

Thursday, May 29, 2008

ON BUTTERFLIES, BROTHELS and, Oh Yes, POETRY

Anonymous #1 said… [May 26, 2008 8:29 PM]

Huh?

Anyone writing any poetry here?


I thought not.

Anonymous #2 said... [May 26, 2008 8:52 PM]

If you were a poet looking for life insurance and you decided to go for a policy that had been written by a poet, do you think you could have spotted Wallace Stevens at Hartford?

Anonymous #3 said... [May 27, 2008 12:58 PM]

"Anyone writing any poetry here?



I thought not."

This sums up the stupidity of a certain kind of 'poet' offended by any machinations in the poetry world which don't boil down to 'writing poetry,' as if everything is OK as long there are great assembly lines 'writing poetry.'

According to this silliness, 'writing poetry,' is the only criterion necessary.
Thinking what it means to 'write poetry' in a wider context is a waste of time. We should just be 'writing poetry.'

There is indeed truth to the remark: "I thought not."


This opinion contains no thought.

Christopher Woodman said... [May 27, 2008 11:59 PM--This is an edited version]

It's like all attacks on orthodoxy. If a criticism contradicts a tenet of faith it's an invalid criticism.

If the tenet of faith is that guns make you free, then guns are a non-negotiable matter. If it's a tenet of faith that sex is bad then sex-education is a non-negotiable matter. If it's a tenet of faith that men have a much higher sex drive than women, as it is in a great many cultures in the world today, including where I live, and that true men are truly driven by sex, then you get boys taken by their fathers to brothels at 14 while the mothers wait at home with the daughters until they can be married off as pure virgins--and the crowning irony of that absurd tenet of faith is that in addition to brothels on every street corner you get men who are butterflies and women who run the whole show!

The tenet of faith in American poetry is that the true poet is the product of not just higher but higher and higher and even higher "assembly lines," and that the more a poet pays for it the more right he or she has to be truly successful in it.

Anyone who suggests that the poets, critics, editors or publishers who are running this extravagant industry are self-interested, or even, God-forbid, in it for profit or life insurance, is considered not a real poet. Indeed, I myself am mocked as a jealous loser and amateur all the time, and every word I speak is dismissed as “the product of a willful misunderstanding of the process of editing and publishing poetry!”

And you know who said that? A famous contemporary poetry “critic.”

And you know where? In Poets & Writers Magazine, the bastion of our contemporary faith in exactly what sort of training you need to become a poet in America today, plus the retreats, conferences, camps, travel groups, summers abroad in castles and wine tastings and weekends you have to attend, and what they cost.

But you say you think the son should at least wash the dishes before he goes out to the brothel at 14 with his father?

Just ask the mother for an answer to even that question. "You must be joking," she’ll reply. "Any true mother would keep her daughter carefully cleaning as well as clean at home so she can attract a true man for a husband!"

So that's a monstrous problem, both for their sex and our poetry.

Yes indeed, tenets of faith always polarize, always lead to intolerance, always lead to abuse.

There's nothing wrong with virginity per se, of course there isn't, any more than there's anything wrong with sex--but oh the heart-ache when too much stock is placed in either!

There's nothing wrong with training poets either, even in castles, it's just when you make a religion out of it, install priests at all the altars, and charge an entrance fee not only to get into church but heaven!

And, of course, excommunicate those who say it ain't necessarily so!

Tuesday, April 1, 2008

Book Review Thread: Poetry

Have you recently read a poetry collection that you absolutely loved or hated?

Here's the thread for you.

This thread is open to those of you who want to review poetry of all kinds: free verse, form, experimental, LangPo, etc.

The first signed (not anonymous) and quality review (negative or positive), will be elevated into this post.

Some Guidelines and Caveats:

  • No Self-Promotion. There is another thread for self-promoting your work. However, you may add an link to where one can buy and/or see more information about and other reviews of the book.

  • You may use this thread only; book reviews in other comment or incorrect genre threads will be moved or deleted.

  • By posting a negative or even neutral review, you do leave yourself open to attack by unhappy and angry authors about your review, and these comments will not be deleted.

  • Anyone may comment on your review, including reviewed authors. If you are an author, you are welcome to respond to the review, but you may not self-promote in this thread. Instead, go to the self-promotion thread. Self-promoting comments will be deleted from this thread.

Questions? Email me

Wednesday, March 26, 2008

ACommoner's Deleted Poll Question...

Has been recreated and posted here:

"Should ACommoner have been locked out of "The First Amendment and Forums" thread (on Poets.org)?

The question refers to a thread on another forum:

poets.org First Amendment Thread

Technically, forums (unless they are established by the government) are not really bound by the First Amendment.

However, it seems to me that dissenters ought to have at least one place to raise unpopular issues and engage in "impolite" conversation.

In fact, on the surface, poetry is just too darn polite (never mind the backstabbing and deals made behind the scenes). Give me a noisy poetry slam any day.

Nothing that ACommoner has said has raised any legal red flags; it seems he has some questions that no one seems to want to answer.

The Admin of the aforementioned forum said, "If you wish to continue to debate this topic, you are free to create your own blog or website to do so."

So true, and one reason why THIS admin has decided to start up this forum (which is not yet in forum format).

Vote in our poll (see left panel).

Monday, March 24, 2008

Poets (in-your-face) Dot Net is Coming Soon!


Are you tired of being kicked off writing forums because your ideas and opinions do not mesh with that of the literary establishment?

Are your posts being deleted because you would dare to question literary conventional wisdom and practices?

Are you sick of the pap that passes for poetry these days?


Then Poets.net may be the forum space for you.

Poets.net will offer a great big voice for the serious poet and writer who doesn't have the time or stomach to kiss establishment butt.

What would YOU like to see featured in Poets.net?

Post your ideas here in the comment section. For a limited time (or until the spam becomes overwhelming), the comment feature for this thread will be wide open for your comments.

No captchas to type in.

During summer 2008, a forum format will be launched.

Poets.net will not and could never be a reincarnation of Foetry, but this forum may (with permission) link to the Foetry archives.

Post Foetry will remain active.

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