metrisch·442 videos

THE GOOD-MORROW.
by John Donne

I wonder by my troth, what thou and I
Did, till we loved ? were we not wean’d till then ?
But suck’d on country pleasures, childishly ?
Or snorted we in the Seven Sleepers’ den ?
‘Twas so ; but this, all pleasures fancies be ;
If ever any beauty I did see,
Which I desired, and got, ’twas but a dream of thee.

And now good-morrow to our waking souls,
Which watch not one another out of fear ;
For love all love of other sights controls,
And makes one little room an everywhere.
Let sea-discoverers to new worlds have gone ;
Let maps to other, worlds on worlds have shown ;
Let us possess one world ; each hath one, and is one.

My face in thine eye, thine in mine appears,
And true plain hearts do in the faces rest ;
Where can we find two better hemispheres
Without sharp north, without declining west ?
Whatever dies, was not mix’d equally ;
If our two loves be one, or thou and I
Love so alike that none can slacken, none can die.

This poem puts me in mind of Robert Solomon’s description of The Love World that characterizes early stages of most romances. Also, it makes me miss being an undergraduate and just hanging out in Tim’s dorm room, but you don’t need to know that.

http://www.leicester.gov.uk/open24/

It was great seeing his photo in there.  There’s a lot of good work in the exhibition – photos, graphic art, painting and drawing as well as sculpture so it’s well worth seeing.  You can take in the excellent DNA expo as well:

http://www.leicester.gov.uk/insidedna/

Then home for a quick rest and after dinner I finally made it to Yesim’s where a huge crowd packed in to the tiny cafe to hear music and poetry ably mixed by Jan.  It was good to catch up with people again and I did two poems; The Good Morrow which I put on here the other day as being part of our wedding ceremony, and one of mine on the cult of celebrity, called ‘Seleb’.  Here it is:

Seleb

Enjoy your five minutes

you haven’t got long

your thighs are so thin it’s

a ration-camp wrong

Your femur’s fragility

sentenced to starve

then sent to facility

carbing to carve;

they sell you lite biscuits

the fat of the free;

the plan of the whizz-kids

just down from the tree:

you lunch on a leaf

and a headful of air

and dine with a thief

who came round for a dare

you’re passing on purdah;

you’re upwardly billed

your high heels are murder

as kittens are killed:

but where do you go to

o loveliest one,

ingesting your O2

and ration of sun?

Our latterday Cleo

and spouse of Big Bro

conceived under Leo,

o where do you go?

When camera’s sleeping

and internet’s down

tell me you are weeping

for every lost frown;

tell me you are weeping

the tears of a clown.

(Liz Gray, 2012)

This morning felt very weird without the Today programme.  They’re on strike so we got the Pope instead… the Pope is no substitute for John Humphrys.

Kirk out

Anyway, here’s a bit of the video (such as it is) with us talking about it:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mwAXcxR-GRA&list=UUa-j3lgC_ThPt9Ggov0yIyA&index=4

And here’s the poem:

http://www.poetryfoundation.org/poem/173360

Tomorrow: the only slightly-mitigated disaster that was our honeymoon.

Kirk out

I wonder, by my troth, what thou and I
Did, till we loved? Were we not weaned till then?
But sucked on country pleasures, childishly?
Or snorted we in the Seven Sleepers’ den?
’Twas so; but this, all pleasures fancies be.
If ever any beauty I did see,
Which I desired, and got, ’twas but a dream of thee.

And now good-morrow to our waking souls,
Which watch not one another out of fear;
For love, all love of other sights controls,
And makes one little room an everywhere.
Let sea-discoverers to new worlds have gone,
Let maps to other, worlds on worlds have shown,
Let us possess one world, each hath one, and is one.

My face in thine eye, thine in mine appears,
And true plain hearts do in the faces rest;
Where can we find two better hemispheres,
Without sharp north, without declining west?
Whatever dies, was not mixed equally;
If our two loves be one, or, thou and I
Love so alike, that none do slacken, none can die.

Students are often overwhelmed by poetry, especially poetry written centuries earlier. They are assigned a poem “cold” and told to answer analytical questions on it or write an essay. By “cold” I mean there is no preparation or “warming up” to facilitate the understanding of the poem. Before the student can even begin to analyze the poem for literary devices or interpret its meaning, they must first understand what the poem is saying literally. But this they have trouble doing because of unfamiliar or archaic vocabulary and unusual syntax. As a warm-up, students should be asked to look up and learn all words they do not know. This could be a preparatory assignment, and then the teacher could go over the words in class with the students to make sure everyone has mastered the vocabulary.

The next preparatory step is the syntax. What is sometimes confusing and difficult in old poetry is that the order of the words is not the one we are used to. For example, in the line Or snorted we in the Seven Sleepers’ den? the verb and subject are reversed. Ordinarily, we would use “did” to start the question and keep the usual subject-verb order: Did we snort in the Seven Sleeper’s den? The line, If ever any beauty I did see would also normally be in a different order: If I ever did see any beauty.

Another possible syntactical difficulty might be the omission of words that would ordinarily be there. In the line Which watch not one another out of fear;“do” is omitted; normally we would say: Which do not watch one another out of fear. And sometimes there is both atypical order and omission: but this, all pleasures fancies be, which would normally be: but this be all fancies and pleasures. Not only that, in the latter line, we would use “is” instead of “be.”

A useful exercise that would help the student to decipher the syntax is to have them rewrite the lines in contemporary English. It should be stressed that they are not rewriting the poem in their own words or making it sound very different but rather changing the order, filling in missing words, or substituting contemporary words for archaic words.

The following is a worksheet with exercises to help students prepare to analyze John Donne’s “The Good-Morrow.” It also includes questions to test their basic comprehension of the poem. By the way, all worksheet files include an answer page at the end.

RC9goodmorrow(9th grade and up)

BY JOHN DONNE

***

I told you about my London-Brighton visits. Photos are available now; click HERE. My favourites are the graffiti photos. Street art.

***

What a lovely day in Stirling. Sun and fresh grass smell. I could hug a swan! Oh, this brings to my mind a writing fun we had at Skidmore College, NY, last summer, around Yeats’ Leda and the Swan. Stop, stop. Do not attempt a Freudian analysis now! I promise to write about that later.

Finished my Q&A draft for the next post on PRAIRIE SCHOONER (University of Nebraska-Lincoln). Will do the edits tonight after my run/walk.

Carpe Diem!

A sundial inscribed carpe diem: Wikipedia

So I started reviewing for my english midterm yesterday. It’s going great actually. I read Shakespere’s Twelfth Night yesterday, and today, read some sonnets by Donne, Herbert, and Marvel. They’re so amazing.

Sometimes, when I’m in English class, or just doing my readings, I suddenly get hit with this inexplicable feeling. It amazes me how these writers use words to convey such intense emotions! The way they speak, the way they write about things, I wouldn’t be able to say it any better. The way the words compliment each other seem like an exotic dance that sometimes, is hard to understand. Hard to understand, yet, they fully describe all that we feel, and all that we know. And that’s what I love about these works; they’re not obvious. 

Subtlety is beautiful.

The way the words mingle with each other, intertwine if you will, makes it hard to know exactly what the author means by them. Each word is carefully plucked from the imagination, each with intentionality.

So next time, when you’re enjoying that good ol’ read, take a step back and think about what the author wants you to think and what the author is really saying.

One of my favourites from John Donne:

The Good Morrow

“I wonder, by my troth, what thou and I

Did, till we loved? Were we not weaned till then,

But sucked on country pleasures, childishly?

Or snorted we in the seven sleepers’ den?

‘Twas so; but this, all pleasures fancies be.

If ever any beauty I did see,

Which I desired, and got, ’twas but a dream of thee.

And now good morrow to our waking souls,

Which watch not one another out of fear;

For love all love of other sights controls,

And makes one little room an everywhere.

Let sea-discoverers to new worlds have gone,

Let maps to others, worlds on worlds have shown:

Let us possess one world; each hath one, and is one.

My face in thine eyes, thine in mine appears,

And true plain hearts do in the faces rest;

Where can we find two better hemispheres,

Without sharp North, without declining West?

Whatever dies was not mixed equally;

If our two loves be one, or thou and I

Love so alike that none do slacken, none can die.”

Seven Sisters,Sussex

Everyone in the UK is encouraged to submit their own love messages or suggest their own favourite poems, or even submit their own poetry for inclusion.

Hundreds of submissions and suggestions have already been made, including  a poem by Lemn Sissay, and this one, chosen by actor Fiona Shaw, by another of my favourites, John Donne (1572 – 1631).

....poet dude...

I love John Donne. I think you’ll love this.

The Good Morrow

I wonder, by my troth, what thou and I
Did, till we loved? Were we not weaned till then?
But sucked on country pleasures, childishly?
Or snorted we in the Seven Sleepers’ den?
‘Twas so; but this, all pleasures fancies be.
If ever any beauty I did see,
Which I desired, and got, ‘twas but a dream of thee.

And now good-morrow to our waking souls,
Which watch not one another out of fear;
For love, all love of other sights controls,
And makes one little room an everywhere.
Let sea-discoverers to new worlds have gone,
Let maps to other, worlds on worlds have shown,
Let us possess one world, each hath one, and is one.

My face in thine eye, thine in mine appears,
And true plain hearts do in the faces rest;
Where can we find two better hemispheres,
Without sharp north, without declining west?
Whatever dies, was not mixed equally;
If our two loves be one, or, thou and I
Love so alike, that none do slacken,  one can die.

You + me, at Mallory and Michael's wedding.

Hey, Guion:

I glanced over at you in church this weekend and thought for a moment about how immensely privileged I am to be your wife. As of today, we’ve been married one year, eight months, and two weeks. It’s flown by. I feel like we just moved here together, just bought a car, just learned who is a blanket hog (ahem) and who is simultaneously bossy and brooding when stressed (me, clearly, because stress rolls off you like water off a mallard). I’m always asking you silly questions like, “Do you remember walking down the aisle? Do you remember what a fail my bouquet toss was? Do you remember that watermelon we had during sunset at the cabin? Do you remember the immobile snake in the middle of the path?” Just because I want to be reminded that it really was almost two years ago, that it really did happen.

Marriage to you is more enjoyable with every passing day. Deep down, I half-expected the excitement to wear off a little. We’d settle into a routine, like they do in all those novels, and we’d have a pleasant, passive life together. How grateful I am that that’s not the case! It’s a Hallmark-y thing to say, but every day with you is exciting. It’s exciting because you’re fun and loving and generous in all the right ways, but it’s also exciting because I feel like I’m still getting to know you. You are full of surprises.

I love watching you do the things you love, whether it’s playing music, brewing beer, writing poetry, or even just talking about doing all of those things. You enter no project half-heartedly and you inspire me to be braver, freer, stronger. I love watching you work. You are humble and competent and generous. I am daily amazed that a man of your caliber would be willing and even eager to love me.

And so Valentine’s Day seems a little superfluous, frankly, because I don’t think I need a day set aside to be reminded of how much and how well you love me. You love me in all the little ways that I never thought I would want to be loved. Somehow, you knew that I felt loved when you emptied the dishwasher; when you started the tradition of holding my hand during the Lord’s Prayer before the Eucharist; when you let me talk about the intricacies of canine psychology for an hour; when you kiss me without warning; when you show me gentleness and patience when I do not deserve it.

I love you, dear. Thanks for showing me how to love well. With you, one little room is an everywhere.

Love,
Abby

. . . . . . . . . . . .

The Good Morrow
John Donne

World Poetry Day’s aim is to get people to take more notice of poetry whether that is by reading a classic poem or helping new poets get their work published. Ultimately, today is all about celebrating the wonderful work of great poets.

Personally I think that poetry is a fantastic form of literature, which can bring an enormous amount of joy.  All ages can get so much out of a great poem, whether it is a child exploring their first poem or, an elderly person recalling their past times in prose.

I’ve decided to share my favourite poems with you today and throughout the week to celebrate.  As a former English teacher and a lover of poetry I have many favourites to choose from, all of which I hope you enjoy as much as I do.  

John Donne- The Good Morrow

“The Good-Morrow”

I wonder by my troth, what thou, and I
Did, till we lov’d? Were we not wean’d till then?
But suck’d on countrey pleasures, childishly?
Or snorted we in the seaven sleepers den?
T’was so; But this, all pleasures fancies bee.
If ever any beauty I did see,
Which I desir’d, and got, ’twas but a dreame of thee.
And now good morrow to our waking soules,
Which watch not one another out of feare;
For love, all love of other sights controules,
And makes one little roome, an every where.
Let sea-discoverers to new worlds have gone,
Let Maps to other, worlds on worlds have showne,
Let us possesse one world; each hath one, and is one.
My face in thine eye, thine in mine appeares,
And true plaine hearts doe in the faces rest,
Where can we finde two better hemispheares
Without sharpe North, without declining West?
What ever dyes, was not mixed equally;
If our two loves be one, or, thou and I
Love so alike, that none doe slacken, none can die.

The subject: This is one of Donne’s best known poems, and a perfect sample of his way. The subject is love, love seen as an intense, absolute experience, which isolates the lovers from reality but gives them a different kind of awareness; a simultaneous narrowing and widening of reality.