In recent years I’ve loved Mary Oliver and Wendy Cope, but my heart always goes back to The Lake Isle of Innisfree by Yeats. I first came across it at school when I was about 10, so we’ll over 40 years ago. We had to learn it off by heart in our English class and most of the class hated it, but I found something magical in it, and the feeling I had when I sat on my bedroom windowsill looking over the tops of the houses to the moors beyond. It’s remained a favourite ever since.
I will arise and go now, and go to Innisfree,
And a small cabin build there, of clay and wattles made;
Nine bean-rows will I have there, a hive for the honey-bee,
And live alone in the bee-loud glade.
And I shall have some peace there, for peace comes dropping slow,
Dropping from the veils of the morning to where the cricket sings;
There midnight’s all a glimmer, and noon a purple glow,
And evening full of the linnet’s wings.
I will arise and go now, for always night and day
I hear lake water lapping with low sounds by the shore;
While I stand on the roadway, or on the pavements grey,
Favorite poets: Gerard Manley Hopkins and Robert Frost. Over the winter my preschool-aged son and I enjoyed memorizing the short poem “I Heard a Bird Sing” by Oliver Herford:
Favourite poets: Mary Oliver, for sure. And Wendell Berry is a must. I've been really enjoying Malcom Guite's book, Word in the Wilderness, which is a poem a day through Lent, alongside some commentary from Malcolm - some of the poems are his own whilst others are from other well-known poets (it might become a lenten read-through each year for me from now on). Dante's Divine Comedy has just gone onto my read-again list and I'm just about to begin Selected Poems of Ted Hughes 1957-67, first read for English Literature A level back in '81....
I've always been partial to Keats and Robert Browning and, oddly, Catullus, in the original Latin. (Translations never get across the emotion he manages with broken metre and word arrangement.) When my brother died, I transcribed the poem Catullus wrote on the death of his brother and tucked it into his pocket to be buried with him. It was the only way to express the depth of my emotion. I dabble at poetry myself sometimes, though not enough to be good at it.
You nailed it. Too many people think of Austen as “nice”. But her works last because it is honest. It helps that it is also hilarious and romantic. Glad you enjoyed it. One of my favourite books. I’m inter for your thoughts on Catch-22 I thought it was brilliant when I read it as a young person but I hesitated going back to it as a more mature adult.
I love this post. Great work, and a wonderful story about innovation and pursuing dreams (or as we would say, "Listening to the still, small voice."
I have self-published two haiku poetry books. Some folks have never heard of it.
I am amazed at how much emotion you can express in three lines of poetry. It is
challenging to follow the 5-7-5 syllable count. It doesn't 'come easy' as you noted in
your article. Writing haiku is cathartic. I feel that it has a positive effect on your mental health
and overall well-being.
In recent years I’ve loved Mary Oliver and Wendy Cope, but my heart always goes back to The Lake Isle of Innisfree by Yeats. I first came across it at school when I was about 10, so we’ll over 40 years ago. We had to learn it off by heart in our English class and most of the class hated it, but I found something magical in it, and the feeling I had when I sat on my bedroom windowsill looking over the tops of the houses to the moors beyond. It’s remained a favourite ever since.
I will arise and go now, and go to Innisfree,
And a small cabin build there, of clay and wattles made;
Nine bean-rows will I have there, a hive for the honey-bee,
And live alone in the bee-loud glade.
And I shall have some peace there, for peace comes dropping slow,
Dropping from the veils of the morning to where the cricket sings;
There midnight’s all a glimmer, and noon a purple glow,
And evening full of the linnet’s wings.
I will arise and go now, for always night and day
I hear lake water lapping with low sounds by the shore;
While I stand on the roadway, or on the pavements grey,
I hear it in the deep heart’s core.
Favorite poets: Gerard Manley Hopkins and Robert Frost. Over the winter my preschool-aged son and I enjoyed memorizing the short poem “I Heard a Bird Sing” by Oliver Herford:
I heard a bird sing
In the dark of December.
A magical thing
And sweet to remember.
“We are nearer to Spring
Than we were in September,”
I heard a bird sing
In the dark of December.
Favourite poets: Mary Oliver, for sure. And Wendell Berry is a must. I've been really enjoying Malcom Guite's book, Word in the Wilderness, which is a poem a day through Lent, alongside some commentary from Malcolm - some of the poems are his own whilst others are from other well-known poets (it might become a lenten read-through each year for me from now on). Dante's Divine Comedy has just gone onto my read-again list and I'm just about to begin Selected Poems of Ted Hughes 1957-67, first read for English Literature A level back in '81....
If we can memorize thousands of song lyrics, I would think poetry would be doable as well (albeit without the infectious melodies).
I've always been partial to Keats and Robert Browning and, oddly, Catullus, in the original Latin. (Translations never get across the emotion he manages with broken metre and word arrangement.) When my brother died, I transcribed the poem Catullus wrote on the death of his brother and tucked it into his pocket to be buried with him. It was the only way to express the depth of my emotion. I dabble at poetry myself sometimes, though not enough to be good at it.
You nailed it. Too many people think of Austen as “nice”. But her works last because it is honest. It helps that it is also hilarious and romantic. Glad you enjoyed it. One of my favourite books. I’m inter for your thoughts on Catch-22 I thought it was brilliant when I read it as a young person but I hesitated going back to it as a more mature adult.