Nice comment David, thank you. It sure says a lot about humans that the line, "Good fences make good neighbours", is what resonates rather than the counterargument.
I think of Mending Wall as the fraternal twin to The Road Not Taken. People hear one wry phrase from it and think that's the point. But Frost is in fact (tenderly) making fun of those who,
"likes having thought of it so well
He says again, ‘Good fences make good neighbors.’"
I think of this poem whenever I hear people say, "well I was raised to do x". Great, but is x good, or do you just do it because your parents did it that way?
I know you posted this some time ago Alia, but your piece just popped up in my timeline. Love the Australian interpretation and Edward Thomas also wrote of his walks with Frost in his poem 'The Sun used to Shine'. Always a bit amused that Edwards offered they "never disagreed which gate to rest on" given the essence of Frost's poem. The tragedy is that Thomas did not do as he planned and follow when Frost returned to the USA, instead feeling he had to join up and fight in the Great War.
An Arundel Tomb, another poem where people just look at the last line, ignoring the complexity of the rest of it. It’s much more ambivalent about love than people think.
I love Eliot and The Waste Land, but it is a special kind of poet/person who can provide end notes to a poem that themselves would benefit from further end-noting for those of us who don't know Italian, Latin, French, and German.
Another widely misunderstood is Wordsworth's 'Intimations of Immortality' which is often taken as 'Intimations of Mortality', which is approximately the opposite...
Thank you for this - love the Aussie version! The poetic line that most stands out for me is also Frost, and it stands out due to ignorance over a comma. After Frost’s death, when his work was being republished, the editors in charge also decided to “fix” a number of mistakes in his work. The line, “the woods were lovely, dark and deep,” was “corrected” to read “the woods were lovely, dark, and deep.” The hateful Oxford comma had ruined a beautiful, somber, yet lively passage, turning into a laundry list of pedestrian adjectives that now did little to make the woods appealing. My personal copy of the poem was published prior to the butchery and I treasure it, but how many thousands of aspiring poets or admirers will never read it the way he meant it?
Oh dear! It's just a known fact that you don't mess with a poet's commas or lack thereof. How shocking. I agree, Frost's original rhythm is much more magical.
Possibly. I just looked that one up to read the whole poem and realised that those two lines are, in fact, the whole poem! The title is interesting. 'Reflections on Ice-Breaking'. It does seem to suggest to skip the sweet talk, haha.
Oh wow, if anything I've written can even in the slightest remind someone of John Clarke, then I take that as a compliment indeed. He was a very clever and witty man.
Thanks Gillian. I'm starting to miss posting, but I've got a full plate this month and know the limits of my sanity, so February it is. In the meantime, I'm glad these essays can go another round :)
I bet if they taught the Australian version in schools, more kids would be interested in poetry 😂
Haha, ok, good idea. I'll petition the Board of Education 😂
Nice comment David, thank you. It sure says a lot about humans that the line, "Good fences make good neighbours", is what resonates rather than the counterargument.
That ocker chic version made my day! Brilliant!
Ha! Thank you Andredge. I'm relieved to hear it. I half expected it to be met with horror at the sacrilege.
I think of Mending Wall as the fraternal twin to The Road Not Taken. People hear one wry phrase from it and think that's the point. But Frost is in fact (tenderly) making fun of those who,
"likes having thought of it so well
He says again, ‘Good fences make good neighbors.’"
I think of this poem whenever I hear people say, "well I was raised to do x". Great, but is x good, or do you just do it because your parents did it that way?
I know you posted this some time ago Alia, but your piece just popped up in my timeline. Love the Australian interpretation and Edward Thomas also wrote of his walks with Frost in his poem 'The Sun used to Shine'. Always a bit amused that Edwards offered they "never disagreed which gate to rest on" given the essence of Frost's poem. The tragedy is that Thomas did not do as he planned and follow when Frost returned to the USA, instead feeling he had to join up and fight in the Great War.
The sun used to shine while we two walked
Slowly together, paused and started
Again, and sometimes mused, sometimes talked
As either pleased, and cheerfully parted
Each night. We never disagreed
Which gate to rest on. The to be
And the late past we gave small heed.
We turned from men or poetry
To rumours of the war remote
Only till both stood disinclined
For aught but the yellow flavorous coat
Of an apple wasps had undermined;
Or a sentry of dark betonies,
The stateliest of small flowers on earth,
At the forest verge; or crocuses
Pale purple as if they had their birth
In sunless Hades fields. The war
Came back to mind with the moonrise
Which soldiers in the east afar
Beheld then. Nevertheless, our eyes
Could as well imagine the Crusades
Or Caesar's battles. Everything
To faintness like those rumours fade—
Like the brook's water glittering
Under the moonlight—like those walks
Now—like us two that took them, and
The fallen apples, all the talks
And silence—like memory's sand
When the tide covers it late or soon,
And other men through other flowers
In those fields under the same moon
Go talking and have easy hours.
Thank you for sharing that poem, Harry. I love the final lines:
The fallen apples, all the talks
And silence—like memory's sand
When the tide covers it late or soon,
And other men through other flowers
In those fields under the same moon
Go talking and have easy hours.
Perhaps this poem can partly explain why Thomas was a little irritated by Frost's poem. I'd forgotten Thomas had died shortly after. Sadly tragic.
Indeed Alia, a wonderful and oft forgotten poet.
A wonderful post, thank you. I enjoyed the Monday morning mind flex.
Thank you Leslie, you've brought a smile to my face.
An Arundel Tomb, another poem where people just look at the last line, ignoring the complexity of the rest of it. It’s much more ambivalent about love than people think.
Yes it is
Excellent translation.
Mayne try The Waste Land next?
That’s an interesting poem. That could take me a while to translate!
I love Eliot and The Waste Land, but it is a special kind of poet/person who can provide end notes to a poem that themselves would benefit from further end-noting for those of us who don't know Italian, Latin, French, and German.
Sorry to add to your workload. 🙂
(Also sorry about the typo!)
Another widely misunderstood is Wordsworth's 'Intimations of Immortality' which is often taken as 'Intimations of Mortality', which is approximately the opposite...
They are quite the opposite :) That's a beautiful poem. I'll have to read deeper into it.
Thank you for this - love the Aussie version! The poetic line that most stands out for me is also Frost, and it stands out due to ignorance over a comma. After Frost’s death, when his work was being republished, the editors in charge also decided to “fix” a number of mistakes in his work. The line, “the woods were lovely, dark and deep,” was “corrected” to read “the woods were lovely, dark, and deep.” The hateful Oxford comma had ruined a beautiful, somber, yet lively passage, turning into a laundry list of pedestrian adjectives that now did little to make the woods appealing. My personal copy of the poem was published prior to the butchery and I treasure it, but how many thousands of aspiring poets or admirers will never read it the way he meant it?
Oh dear! It's just a known fact that you don't mess with a poet's commas or lack thereof. How shocking. I agree, Frost's original rhythm is much more magical.
Yeah, nah. Great.
Or perhaps you mean 'nah, yeah' or a 'yeah, nah, yeah'. 😆
I think Ogden Nash’s opus is also wildly misunderstood:
Candy is dandy,
But liquor is quicker.
Is it about getting drunk or is it really about the fragile nature of existence?
See what I mean?
Possibly. I just looked that one up to read the whole poem and realised that those two lines are, in fact, the whole poem! The title is interesting. 'Reflections on Ice-Breaking'. It does seem to suggest to skip the sweet talk, haha.
this ‘strayan-isation reminds me of the famous poems John Clarke repurposed, pretending that the famous poets were aussies
Oh wow, if anything I've written can even in the slightest remind someone of John Clarke, then I take that as a compliment indeed. He was a very clever and witty man.
That translation was bloody useful. Maybe the last part of the Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam could be translated as well.
Oooh, that's a tricky one...
"Drink! For you know not whence you came, nor why;
Drink! For you know not why you go, nor where."
We might as well get pissed because we've got no bloody idea what the hell is going on.
Excellent start! I imagine old Omar would wink.
So good! Glad you are sharing some older things before I found you - they deserve the light of day again for everyone for whom they are new!
Thanks Gillian. I'm starting to miss posting, but I've got a full plate this month and know the limits of my sanity, so February it is. In the meantime, I'm glad these essays can go another round :)