Poetry?

Saffron · Posted: Mon Jul 14, 2008 4:42 pm Post subject: NJ

Babyblue,
I grew up in Mercer County, near Hightstown, Hamilton, and Allentown. I live in Virginia now. I think it would be great to have a whole forum for poetry and then different threads for themes or poets.

Chris, you out there? How about it?

Saffron

Saffron · Posted: Thu Jul 17, 2008 4:13 pm Post subject: Summer Poetry

It is 92 degrees in Virginia! This is my solution to the heat (Ah me, I should be heading for the cool waters of the Shenandoah River, but not today. Tomorrow, maybe).

IN SUMMER'S HEAT

by: Ovid (43 BC-17 AD?)

In summer's heat, and mid-time of the day,
To rest my limbs, upon a bed I lay;
One window shut, the other open stood,
Which gave such light as twinkles in a wood,
Like twilight glimpse at setting of the sun,
Or night being past, and yet not day begun;
Such light to shamefaced maidens must be shown
Where they may sport, and seem to be unknown:
Then came Corinna in her long loose gown,
Her white neck hid with tresses hanging down,
Resembling fair Semiramis going to bed,
Or Lais of a thousand wooers sped.
I snatched her gown being thin, the harm was small,
Yet strived she to be covered therewithal,
And striving thus as one that would be cast,
Betrayed herself, and yielded at the last.
Stark naked as she stood before mine eye,
Not one wen in her body could I spy.
What arms and shoulders did I touch and see,
How apt her breasts were to be pressed by me,
How smooth a belly under her waist saw I,
How large a leg, and what a lusty thigh.
To leave the rest, all liked me passing well;
I clinged her naked body, down she fell:
Judge you the rest, being tired she bade me kiss;
Jove send me more such afternoons as this!

I love the description of the woman's leg and thigh -- How large a leg, and what a lusty thigh.

Melting in VA,
Saffron

Saffron

For anyone you would like to read more summer poetry.

http://www.poets.org/viewmedia.php/prmMID/20043

Shall I compare thee to a summer's day? (Sonnet 1 Cool

by William Shakespeare

Shall I compare thee to a summer's day?
Thou art more lovely and more temperate.
Rough winds do shake the darling buds of May,
And summer's lease hath all too short a date.
Sometime too hot the eye of heaven shines,
And often is his gold complexion dimmed;
And every fair from fair sometime declines,
By chance, or nature's changing course, untrimmed;
But thy eternal summer shall not fade,
Nor lose possession of that fair thou ow'st,
Nor shall death brag thou wand'rest in his shade,
When in eternal lines to Time thou grow'st.
So long as men can breathe, or eyes can see,
So long lives this, and this gives life to thee.

Saffron · Posted: Thu Jul 17, 2008 5:26 pm Post subject:

DWill,
What was the poem you were reciting the other day -- the one that comes out when you are stressed? I recognized it, but can't quite place it. I've been looking for it now for a day and give up.

Saffron

BabyBlues · Posted: Fri Jul 18, 2008 1:51 am Post subject: another one to ponder

a different kind of summer poem...

Indian Summer by Dorothy Parker
In youth, it was a way I had
To do my best to please,
And change, with every passing lad,
To suit his theories.

But now I know the things I know,
And do the things I do;
And if you do not like me so,
To hell, my love, with you!

Saffron · Posted: Sat Jul 19, 2008 2:41 pm Post subject: Kay Ryan, new Poet Laureate

Kay Ryan was named Poet Laureate on July 17, 2008. You can read about her at:

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/17/books/17poet.html?ref=arts

Nothing Ventured
by Kay Ryan

Nothing exists as a block
and cannot be parceled up.
So if nothing's ventured
it's not just talk;
it's the big wager.
Don't you wonder
how people think
the banks of space
and time don't matter?
How they'll drain
the big tanks down to
slime and salamanders
and want thanks?

DWill · Posted: Sat Jul 19, 2008 6:34 pm Post subject:

Saffron · Posted: Sat Jul 19, 2008 6:46 pm Post subject:

DW:

DWill · Posted: Sat Jul 19, 2008 7:20 pm Post subject: Re: NJ

Saffron · Posted: Sat Jul 19, 2008 11:06 pm Post subject:

Here's a bit of interesting information I found on Ovid.

Ovid died at Tomis after nearly 10 years of banishment. He is commemorated today by a statue in the Romanian city of Tomis (modern day Constanţa) and the 1930 renaming of the nearby town of Ovidiu, alleged location of his tomb. The Latin text on the statue says (Tr. 3.3.73-76):

Hic ego qui iaceo tenerorum lusor amorum

Ingenio perii, Naso poeta, meo.

At tibi qui transis, ne sit grave, quisquis amasti,

Dicere: Nasonis molliter ossa cubent.

Here I lie, who played with tender loves,

Naso the poet, killed by my own talent.

O passerby, if you've ever been in love, let it not be too much for you

to say: May the bones of Naso lie gently.

(Ovid's nickname was Nasus, "The Nose" — a pun on his cognomen, Naso.)

Saffron · Posted: Sun Jul 20, 2008 12:43 pm Post subject: Joyful Noise

Has anyone out there hear of Joyful Noise: Poems for Two Voices by Paul Fleischman? It won the 1989 Newbery Medal. It is one of my all time favorite books of poetry. It is a very unusual collection, in that the poems are written for two people to read them together. On the page they appear in two columns. As my daughters were growing up we read these often for company and for our own pleasure. I will try to type out part of one of them -- I'm not sure the formating will allow it -- let's see. When reading keep in mind that these are for two voices and part of the beauty is the rhythm at which the two voice sound out.

Water Striders

Whenever we're asked - - - - - - - - -Whenever we're asked
if we walk upon water - - - - - - - - - if we walk upon water
we answer - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - we answer

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Of course.

To be sure.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -It's quite true.
Whenever we're asked - - - - - - - - Whenever we're asked
if we walk on it often - - - - - - - - - - if we walk on it often
we answer - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - we answer
Quite often.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Each day.

Penelope · Posted: Sun Jul 20, 2008 1:39 pm Post subject:

Dear Saffron

'Joyfull Noise' is a phrase from a Psalm...which over many years has come to mean so much to me.

Make a 'Joyful Noise unto the Lord'.......

Thank you so much, Saffron.

We make a 'joyful noise' but unfortunately...we are not all singing from the same songsheet.

I say, let's all stop arguing about the 'songsheet'.

Saffron · Posted: Sun Jul 27, 2008 8:43 am Post subject:

Another poem for summer

In those days I thought their endless thrum
was the great wheel that turned the days, the nights.
In the throats of hibiscus and oleander...

—from "Insect Life of Florida" by Lynda Hull

Penelope · Posted: Sun Jul 27, 2008 2:46 pm Post subject:

Saffron - I liked that...even though I haven't ever been to Florida.

You might like to look up - Sir Edwin Arnold:-

The Light of Asia -

http://www.theosophy-nw.org/theosnw/books/lightasi/asia-hp.htm

If you don't know this work already.

I think Thomas Hood would like it too.

Saffron · Posted: Sun Jul 27, 2008 8:22 pm Post subject:

Thanks, Penny! I will have a look soon as I've got a free minute. I heard from my daughter, the one in London, today. She reports that she is having a lovely time.

Saffron


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