discussion Favourite Poem

[Vidilo]

What do you yell, when Edgar Allan is about to crash into a tree?

"Poe, a tree!"

And if you're too late, you get a Poe-a-tree-slam!

I actually like going to poetry slams, even though I've never seen a poet actually slam into anything at one of those!

 

[dpocky]

If you like Iliad and Odyssey, you might also like the Aeneid. But if you want to try a more norse touch, you should read the Kalevala at some point. Or the poetic Edda.

Finally got these on the tablet, gonna visit them soon~! Will check out Poetic Edda, is it preferable to prose?

 

[Vidilo]

Finally got these on the tablet, gonna visit them soon~! Will check out Poetic Edda, is it preferable to prose?

I think so, yes. It has a very nice rythm to it and the English translation is well done, as far as I can judge that. The use of alliterations really give the text a 'norse' feel.

For added effect, you might listen to Metal, while reading! ;-)

 

[Vidilo]

One poem is woefully missing here. By Walt Whitman (and of Dead Poet's Society fame)

O Captain! My Captain! our fearful trip is done;
The ship has weather'd every rack, the prize we sought is won;
The port is near, the bells I hear, the people all exulting,
While follow eyes the steady keel, the vessel grim and daring:
But O heart! heart! heart!
O the bleeding drops of red,
Where on the deck my Captain lies,
Fallen cold and dead.

O Captain! My Captain! rise up and hear the bells;
Rise up—for you the flag is flung—for you the bugle trills;
For you bouquets and ribbon'd wreaths—for you the shores a-crowding;
For you they call, the swaying mass, their eager faces turning;
Here captain! dear father!
This arm beneath your head;
It is some dream that on the deck,
You've fallen cold and dead.

My Captain does not answer, his lips are pale and still;
My father does not feel my arm, he has no pulse nor will;
The ship is anchor'd safe and sound, its voyage closed and done;
From fearful trip, the victor ship, comes in with object won;
Exult, O shores, and ring, O bells!
But I, with mournful tread,
Walk the deck my captain lies,
Fallen cold and dead.

 

[careful_cube]

I'm a big fan of Robinson Jeffers. His poems are all about the insignificance of man compared to nature and that really speaks to me. One of my favorites is "Their Beauty Has More Meaning":

Yesterday morning enormous the moon hung low on the ocean,
Round and yellow-rose in the glow of dawn;
The night-herons flapping home wore dawn on their wings. Today
Black is the ocean, black and sulphur the sky,
And white seas leap. I honestly do not know which day is more beautiful.
I know that tomorrow or next year or in twenty years
I shall not see these things—and it does not matter, it does not hurt;
They will be here. And when the whole human race
Has been like me rubbed out, they will still be here: storms, moon and ocean,
Dawn and the birds. And I say this: their beauty has more meaning
Than the whole human race and the race of birds.

 

[JadedSkywalker]

I like the song Gil-Galad. Gil-Galad was an Elven King. Of him the Harper's Sadly Sing. The last whose realm was fair and free between the mountain and the sea. His sword, was long. His lance his was keen. His shining helm afar was seen. The countless stars of heaven's field were mirrored in his silver shield. But long ago he rode away, and where he dwelleth none can say. For into darkness fell his star, in Mordor where the shadows are.

 

[leviathan9821]

the bluebird by Charles Bukowski from 'The Last Night of the Earth Poems'

there's a bluebird in my heart that
wants to get out
but I'm too tough for him,
I say, stay in there, I'm not going
to let anybody see
you.

there's a bluebird in my heart that
wants to get out
but I pour whiskey on him and inhale
cigarette smoke
and the whores and the bartenders
and the grocery clerks
never know that
he's
in there.

there's a bluebird in my heart that
wants to get out
but I'm too tough for him,
I say,
stay down, do you want to mess
me up?
you want to screw up the
works?
you want to blow my book sales in
Europe?

there's a bluebird in my heart that
wants to get out
but I'm too clever, I only let him out
at night sometimes
when everybody's asleep.
I say, I know that you're there,
so don't be
sad.

then I put him back,
but he's singing a little
in there, I haven't quite let him
die
and we sleep together like
that
with our
secret pact
and it's nice enough to
make a man
weep, but I don't
weep, do
you?

 

[whows]

I dont know that if I can say any poem is my favorite but one that had a deep effect on me was

"Mother to Son"
Well, son, I’ll tell you:
Life for me ain’t been no crystal stair.
It’s had tacks in it,
And splinters,
And boards torn up,
And places with no carpet on the floor—
Bare.
But all the time
I’se been a-climbin’ on,
And reachin’ landin’s,
And turnin’ corners,
And sometimes goin’ in the dark
Where there ain’t been no light.
So boy, don’t you turn back.
Don’t you set down on the steps
’Cause you finds it’s kinder hard.
Don’t you fall now—
For I’se still goin’, honey,
I’se still climbin’,
And life for me ain’t been no crystal stair

*end*

I love this poem because we all have our struggles, the cut with shame, they burn us with doubt, they drown us in worry. But don't stop, keep climbing. Life is hard but you're never alone, keep going, stand up and try again.

 

[Zahrkeus]

The one i know by heart, the german version atleast but i will post both

She walks in beauty by Lord Byron 1814

She walks in beauty, like the night
Of cloudless climes and starry skies;
And all that's best of dark and bright
Meet in her aspect and her eyes
Thus mellow'd to that tender light
Which heaven to gaudy day denies.

One shade the more, one ray the less,
Had half impair'd the nameless grace
Which waves in every raven tress,
Or softly lightens o'er her face;
Where thoughts serenely sweet express
How pure, how dear their dwelling-place.

And on that cheek, and o'er that brow,
So soft, so calm, yet eloquent,
The smiles that win, the tints that glow,
But tell of days in goodness spent,
A mind at peace with all below,
A heart whose love is innocent


In ihrer Schönheit ...

In ihrer Schönheit wandelt sie
Wie wolkenlose Sternenacht;
Vermählt auf ihrem Antlitz sieh'
Des Dunkels Reiz, des Lichtes Pracht:
Der Dämmerung zarte Harmonie,
Die gar hinstirbt, wann der Tag erwacht.

Ein Schatten mehr, Licht minder klar,
So wär' die tiefe Anmuth nicht,
Die niederwallt im Rabenhaar
Und sanft verklärt ihr Angesicht,
Aus welchem hold und wunderbar
Die reine liebe Seele spricht.

O diese Wang', o diese Brau'n,
Wie sanft und still und doch beredt,
Was wir in ihrem Lächeln schau'n!
Ein frommes Wirken früh und spät;
Ein Herz voll Frieden und Vertraun,
Und Lieb', unschuldig, wie Gebet.

 

[Flaming1]

Roses are red
Violets are blue
I suck at poetry
Show me your tits.

 

[JadedSkywalker]

The leaves were long, the grass was green,
The hemlock-umbels tall and fair,
And in the glade a light was seen
Of stars in shadow shimmering.
Tinúviel was dancing there
To music of a pipe unseen,
And light of stars was in her hair,
And in her raiment glimmering.

J.R.R. Tolkien.

 

[beun_haas]

I sow my posts like cheeky seeds,
grinding my daily coin farming needs.
Not for crops, nor golden fuss,
just sweet entry, to members+!

 

[retteq135]

Big fan of the single letter poem "M" by Aram Saruyan.

 

[Deleted member 235796]

Pablo Neruda - tower of light

tower of light, sad beauty
that magnified necklaces and statues in the sea,
calcareous eye, insignia of the vast waters, cry
of the mourning petrel, tooth of the sea, wife
of the Oceanian wind, O separate rose
from the long stem of the trampled bush
that the depths, converted into archipelago,
O natural star, green diadem,
alone in your lonesome dynasty,
still unattainable, elusive, desolate
like one drop, like one grape, like the sea.