The Readers Review: Literature from 1714 to 1910 discussion

This thread has been created for our own Jan to post (and preserve) her wonderful lines and rhymes! In fact,

Any of you who are feeling witty,
and have crafted a little ditty.
Well, go ahead, just post it here,
And we'll all give a great cheer!

Jottings in Jan's Journal

8am Saturday 4th September 2010
I woke up this morning to a very nice surprise... not only is there a place for group members to post their poetry, it has been named in my honour! And even a welcome verse from Chris. Thanks so much! I do hope the title doesn't create the wrong impression, as I would love to see other people's poetry here as well. So come on everyone...this thread is for all to share...

In honour of the occasion, I would like to dedicate my first poem to Madge, our chief researcher, who knows all about lack of sleep. I've only had a sleep problem since I broke my arm, which prompted me to write this:

Sleep

I tried to sleep
But I could not
I am the one
That sleep forgot

One thing eludes me
That I desire:
To go to sleep
When I retire.

Here's one I wrote recently which first appeared in another group(The Weekly Short Story Contest and Company...which does poetry and essay contests in addition to short stories). The topic of the week was "reality".


The Reader

I lost myself
In a book....
And I went flying
And dreaming, and crying
And made new friends
And had a sad end
Had a laugh, had a smile
A bad time for a while...
Sang a song, danced a dance
Had a whirlwind romance
In the past, I wore dresses
That were fit for princesses
Lived in castles
Lived in Spain
Sailed on tall ships
Went by train
Basked in sunshine
Sang in rain
Closed my book
I'm back again
To Reality.

Thanks for that lovely dedication Jan - I slept until 5am this morning!!

I love The Reader - very much as I experience books, complete immersion and then back with a bump!

MadgeUK wrote: "Thanks for that lovely dedication Jan - I slept until 5am this morning!!"

But you fail to mention that you stayed awake until 3:44.

Following on from recent discussions on the political thread, I thought it might be relevant to post this here. But be warned...there is political content here, so if you are likely to be offended, give it a miss. I wrote this on the third morning of "shock and awe"...the bombing of Iraq.We had just had Harmony Week in Australia,celebrating our cultural diversity, and people had been marching in the streets to protest against the war. The song is not perfect,the words have to be sung quickly in places to fit the tune, and "the" carries emphasis that it should not have, but it was written with strong feelings of protest. It goes to the tune of The Mountains of Mourne.(my apologies to the Irish for borrowing their tune, but the words came to me with that tune. If you have an instrumental version, play it while you read and you might be able to get the idea. If you have no idea of this tune you can google Mountains of Mourne Instrumental youtube and you should find a nice Celtic version.(sorry I don't know how to make links) Then read...or sing if you wish...


A Plea for Peace

Everyone's heard it...the golden rule
Do unto others as you'd have them do unto you
We must observe it implicitly
To save this world from calamity

For it's as simple as one and one make two
Do unto others as you'd have them do unto you
It's the only way that wars will cease
When people of goodwill shall walk in peace

You talk loudly of peace while preparing for war
Your people, they rally, but you choose to ignore
Your bombs they are dropping while victory you seek
It sure put a dampener on harmony week

You'll bomb them, you'll kill them
Their fathers and sons
And expect them to quietly
Lay down their guns
You'll blast them with
All of your technology
And hope they'll be
Clapping their hands with glee.

Now let's just suppose for a moment you're wrong
They don't want your armies, they don't want your bombs
They're asking for medicine and something to eat
But what do you do, you just turn up the heat

You don't make it more peaceful by starting a war
You cannot fight terror with blood and with gore
You cannot teach people to live as one
While eyeing each other down the barrel of a gun

For it's as simple as one and one make two
Do unto others as you'd have them do unto you
It's the only way that wars will cease
When people of goodwill shall walk in peace.

Hear Hear Jan! Well done! I would have liked to have sung that with my children and grandchildren when I went on the anti-war rally in 2003 - all to no avail as Mr Blair had already conspired with Mr Bush to 'Shock and Awe' Iraq:(:( Instead we sang John Lennon's 'Imagine':-

Imagine there's no heaven
It's easy if you try
No hell below us
Above us only sky
Imagine all the people
Living for today...

Imagine there's no countries
It isn't hard to do
Nothing to kill or die for
And no religion too
Imagine all the people
Living life in peace...

You may say I'm a dreamer
But I'm not the only one
I hope someday you'll join us
And the world will be as one

Imagine no possessions
I wonder if you can
No need for greed or hunger
A brotherhood of man
Imagine all the people
Sharing all the world...

You may say I'm a dreamer
But I'm not the only one
I hope someday you'll join us
And the world will live as one



You may say I'm a dreamer/But I'm not the only one - There's Jan!!! A Big Hug from Over the Pond Jan.

One day we'll meet and sing both songs together, and if the others are there as well, they can join in or block their ears, as the case may be.

Jan wrote: "One day we'll meet and sing both songs together, and if the others are there as well, they can join in or block their ears, as the case may be."

May I accompany you on the concertina?

Oh, yes! Please join the party!

Jan wrote: "The Reader..."

I can certainly relate! Well done!

Have to get back to reality right now...heaps of physio exercises to do...30 reps each, 5 times a day...not to mention the housework...lunchtime already! Time flies on Goodreads!

Everyman wrote: "Jan wrote: "One day we'll meet and sing both songs together, and if the others are there as well, they can join in or block their ears, as the case may be."

May I accompany you on the concertina?"

How jolly! I used to play the concertina long ago, now I just carry a mouth organ around, which my cat (and probably others!) hates! It is always nice to have a portable instrument as well as a static one like a piano. My 12 year old grandaughter went 'busking' at the International Folk Dance Festival taking both her violin and her guitar!

I love folk-dancing. In Australia it's known as bush dancing, probably because it continued in rural areas "the bush". Then it was revived about forty years ago.
You may be interested to know that in the old days, on rural properties, while the wealthy landowner entertained his guests in the house, perhaps with waltzes, the farmhands and servant girls danced the night away to Irish jigs out in the shed.(barn)

That is exactly how the Trinidadian and other Caribbean Carnivals started Jan - while the slave owners were away at the Mardi Gras the slave mice would play, and compose satirical songs like Calypsos!

My family (and my parents before us) belong to the English Folk Dance and Song Society founded by Cecil Sharp in 1911 and we have done a great deal of folk dancing as a family over the years. However, now only my youngest daughter, her partner (a Morris dancer), and her two children participate on a regular basis, travelling all over the country to do so. They attend the International FDS Festival at Sidmouth every year and this year I joined them for a day when I was at Lyme Regis. It is great fun because all the festival performers go out onto the streets to entertain the public for free - dancers, musicians, singers - and this year, for the first time, my grandchildren took part in the traditional 'busking'. Their little group of 12/13 year olds collected over £200 in two days and gave £100 to the Pakistan Flood appeal!

I believe Everyman has connections to the EFDSS too, so we have the makings of a ceilidh here!:-

http://www.classicsonline.com/catalog...

http://www.seered.co.uk/sidmouth_folk...

I would feel right at home!

Jan, I have a little treat for you!

I have to tell you that your participation here has been amazing! I loved it when you piped in after 'Historybuff' posted Wordsworth's I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud the other day, and said that that poem was one of your faves too! Another friend of mine had reminded me of that same poem a couple of days ago too. Anyway, as a 'nod' to you (our resident Poet) and Historybuff, as well as the end of summer, I have posted Wordsworth's poem, and a photo of a beautiful ceramic tile from the English 'Arts and Crafts' movement on my blog here http://lonebearimagesprose.blogspot.com/

You might enjoy stopping by for a visit! Thanks for the inspiration! Cheers! Chris

Nice coincidence:). I think Historybuff also posted it. It really is a beautiful poem and the daffodils which grow in profusion in the Lake district are a delight in the Spring - opposite end of the country to Hardy though, so you have some motoring to do when you visit:).

I love the tile!

MadgeUK wrote: "Nice coincidence:). I think Historybuff also posted it. It really is a beautiful poem and the daffodils which grow in profusion in the Lake district are a delight in the Spring - opposite end of ..."

Madge, you are too quick for me! ;-) I did correct the initial reference; it was 'Historybuff' that posted it. And wasn't that a beautiful tile? I just love connections!

LOL. Yes it was gorgeous. So many things from the arts and craft movement were. A great period for art and artefacts. I love the simple rugged carpentry far more, say, than Chippendale or Sheraton.

MadgeUK wrote: "Nice coincidence:). I think Historybuff also posted it. It really is a beautiful poem and the daffodils which grow in profusion in the Lake district are a delight in the Spring - opposite end of ..."

I very much want to visit that part of England too. In fact, my primary focus on my next visit to England will be the following:

1. Yorkshire & Bronte Country (the moors), The Dales, and The Lake District;
2. Wales; and
3. Devon/Dorset/Somerset and Cornwall.

I think this might make a very nice 3-4 week holiday!

It will indeed and a very costly one! I look forward to meeting you, possibly at one of those venues:):).

MadgeUK wrote: "It will indeed and a very costly one! I look forward to meeting you, possibly at one of those venues:):)."

You can count on it, Madge! My oldest daughter, Amber, will be coming along as well, and I can't wait for you to meet her too. You two will be thick as thieves in a matter of minutes!

Note to Jan--

Jan, you mentioned that you read Hardy's poem "At Castle Boterel" in the library yesterday.

I thought you might be interested to know that Hardy wrote that in 1913, following the death of his wife Emma Gifford Hardy (in 1912). Hardy made a trip shortly after her death and revisited many of the areas that they had been as a young courting couple. He went back to 'Castle Boterel' on the Cornish coast on a rainy day. This was the name he gave the little town of Boscastle. He and Emma, and Emma's sister, Helen Holder, had visited the town in a little pony-cart on a beautiful sunny day in 1870. It seems that Helen drove the pony-cart while Hardy and Emma walked behind it, and when Helen went over the hill, and was out of sight, the particular moment of exhilaration that "filled but a moment" seems to have occurred. Cool, huh?

I keep coming over here when I see there's a new message, hoping someone else has contributed a poem...come on ...somebody give me a rhyme...
But it's all good...and thanks for that background info, Chris.
Oh well, time for a poem. Here's one I composed the other day while out walking...I find the rhythm of walking helps. For those of you who reside in the northern hemisphere, this is from a southern hemisphere perspective. It is spring now, but the cold winter winds have not yet gone away. The warm sunshine pours in through my window on the northern side of the house, while cold weather comes from the south. Here's the poem:

South Wind

There was a cold southwind blowing
When I went out today
You always know it's cold
When the birds hide away
Although the sun was shining
And the clouds had blown away
There was a cold, cold southwind blowing from Antarctica today.

Jan wrote: "I keep coming over here when I see there's a new message, hoping someone else has contributed a poem...come on ...somebody give me a rhyme...
But it's all good...and thanks for that background info..."

Wow! Jan, this has real power. It is very well constructed, with excellent metre. The final triplet is the core of the power and drama of the poem too. This is quite well done, my friend! Thank you for sharing with us!

Jan wrote: "I keep coming over here when I see there's a new message, hoping someone else has contributed a poem...come on ...somebody give me a rhyme...
But it's all good...and thanks for that background info..."

Yesterday was an unseasonably cool and blustery day in Jakarta --- perhaps we got the tail end of that "South Wind"?

I wish I could put that into a verse form. : )

Chris, you'll have to try it reading while walking, as it was composed while walking!

Jan wrote: "Chris, you'll have to try it reading while walking, as it was composed while walking!"

I'll do it in the morning while walking to my train! I bet I'll even have it memorized by the time the train arrives.

The Poetry Reader

I'll do it in the morning
While walking to my train
I'll read it in the evening
While walking back again

And if I bump somebody
While this poem's in my brain
I'll tell them not to blame me...
Jan can explain!

Jan wrote: "The Poetry Reader

I'll do it in the morning
While walking to my train
I'll read it in the evening
While walking back again

And if I bump somebody
While this poem's in my brain
I'll tell them not ..."

Priceless! Now I have two to learn! ;-)

You are on a serious roll, Jan! Go Girl!

You are getting betterer and betterer Jan:D.

And fasterer and fasterer...that one took less than ten minutes.

LOL. Don't aim for the speed of light or we might not be able to see them!:O

On the poetry thread above this one, David contributed a Welsh poem about the country, it's history and so on.I heard recently that Welsh poetry often makes use of alliteration, so while we're thinking about all things Welsh...


Wales

Why, it would be wonderful
To while away one's week
With words used alliteratively
What wisdom we would seek.

Well, we can only wish to be
In Wales with its history
Where wonders worked in words
Will never cease!

You're so very kind. It is indeed wonderful here with the sun shining but when it rains, as it often does, you'll wish you were somewhere else.

Jan wrote: "On the poetry thread above this one, David contributed a Welsh poem about the country, it's history and so on.I heard recently that Welsh poetry often makes use of alliteration, so while we're thin..."

That's neat Jan - yes Welsh poets do use a lot of alliteration. To comment on David's post above, Wet Wales is one such:).

Jan, would you mind if I posted a poem I wrote?

Please go ahead. I'm having a very busy weekend(slept in till 9am Sunday after dinner with friends last night where I read two poems, one was The Reader,above) and besides, I've been waiting for someone else to post one. Hopefully it will encourage others to take part.
All poems welcome. Come on everybody!

This is a poem that I won a local poetry contest with:

A Game of Chess

The board is set,
Earnest onlookers bet.

The faceless pawns,
Important to any good strategy,
Ready themselves.
Will they make the first moves?
Or shall the hooves
Of the knights leap over them?

The rooks stand firm.
They know what their duty is:
One shall castle when he is instructed
And move in their own way—not a crooked,
But powerful, straight sweep.
Perhaps he will go deep
And check the enemy king
While he is asleep.

The jolly knights grin,
For when they know it is time to go in
The equines will jump over friend and foe
To wherever they are instructed to go.

The bishops frown upon the violence,
But realize they will plunge into it too, hence
Their being on the board.
They look out at the enemy horde
And ponder their own ethics.

The queen
Is serene.
Waiting at her king's side,
She watches the knight's graceful stride
And the pawn formations collide.
No piece is as powerful as she,
Though more important is he!

Finally, there is he.
He rises above all.
Cross above crown,
He, and his opponent, look down on all.
Emperor,
Czar,
Shogun,
Sultan,
Chieftain,
Mogul,
Khan,
President,
Prime Minister,
Chancellor,
Dictator,
Führer,
Dear Leader—
None of these have such a ring
As King.

It is done.
He falls, crown upon felt,
The final blow dealt.
"Checkmate."
The game is won.

Congratulations History Buff! I always knew you were a clever kid!:D.

Historybuff93 wrote: "This is a poem that I won a local poetry contest with:

A Game of Chess

The board is set,
Earnest onlookers bet.

The faceless pawns,
Important to any good strategy,
Ready themselves.
Wi..."

Truly excellent! And being a chess player, I can even appreciate this more. Thank you for sharing! I love it. I am going to ship it off to my brother who is a very good player and plays in tournaments in Santa Fe, New Mexico. Cheers! Chris

Historybuff93 wrote: "This is a poem that I won a local poetry contest with:

A Game of Chess

The board is set,
Earnest onlookers bet.

The faceless pawns,
Important to any good strategy,
Ready themselves.
Wi..."

I love it, HB!

Definitely a winner! I love it! Every Sunday at my grandparents' place, we had to keep quiet if we ventured into the loungeroom where my Dad and Grandpa sat silently absorbed in their game. You brought back memories. My grandfather used to play by correspondence against the Russians. I can't imagine how long a game would have taken.
Checkmate! You can feel it coming in your poem.
Encore!

Yes, Encore, Hbuff!

Thanks everyone for your enthusiastic responses!:) I'm glad my fellow chess players enjoyed it too--I tried to infuse my passion for chess into the poem.

I'm almost done with a poem I'm working on right now, and I'll post it when it's finished.

W P to K4!

Announcement! I have decided to award occasional 'Poem of the Week' awards to encourage fellow contributors. The rewards will be virtual,which saves time , money and trees and will be in the form of virtual books which the recipients will be able to add to their virtual shelves. As far as possible I shall endeavour to match the award to the interests of the poet.

Drum roll....and the first 'Poem of the Week' award goes to....Historybuff93 for his poem 'A Game of Chess'. Congratulations Historybuff93...and your virtual prize is....

The Immortal Game: a History of Chess,or how 32 Carved Pieces on a Board Illuminated Our Understanding of War, Art, Science and the Human Brain.

Thank you very much!:)

"Poetry is like bread, it should be shared by all." (Pablo Neruda)