Birds and Bierds

The rule of three?

I am always interested to find new bird poems, and today I came across a review by David Barber (poetry editor of The Atlantic) of Flight: New & Selected Poems by Linda Bierds. I thought Barber raised some interesting points about the constantly changing relationship between science and the arts. I particularly noted the mention of the famous Keats and Newton discourse on rainbows, the reference to Poe on 'vultures' and the CP Snow allusion.

I also liked the red cardinal on the tree in the picture accompanying the review: it reminded me of one of the pictures in my childhood set of pelmonism cards and of how hopeless I always was at that game!

I remember, I remember ...

Left: 'Brek-ke-ke-kex-koax-koax' (the frog chorus in The Frogs, Book X, Aristophanes - in translation).

Daisy Goodwin and Jeremy Paxman are joining forces with fellow poetry aficionados, under the aegis of the BBC, to encourage teachers in schools to breathe new life into the practice (N.B. I avoid the word 'discipline') of learning favourite poems by heart (N.B. I prefer to avoid the word 'rote').

The feature (livelink above, The Daily Telegraph, 16 Nov 2008) set me thinking about my early - and later - school experiences. Alas, I am not renowned for my memory in an 'examination' kind of way; but I have tried to think of a mixed bag of poetic pieces that I learned (often only in part) at school. All these have travelled with me over the years, bringing a great sense of pleasure and satisfaction.

After 'Incey Wincey Spider', the first poem (or song) that I remember learning in its - albeit short - entirety at school was 'Four ducks on a pond' by William Allingham. Sections, and sometimes quite small sections, from the following literary pieces followed. They have been treasures in 'my memory bag' ever since. They are presented in a rough chronological order of learning, rather than in order of preference.

1. The Lady of Shalott
2. Flannan Isle
3. The Frogs Aristophanes (in translation ...)
4. Macbeth
5. Antigone by Sophocles (in translation ...)
   

I have two questions in mind:

1. What poetic pieces will our school leavers of today - or tomorrow - take with them?
2. What poetic pieces travel with you from your school days?

A final thought: it must be quite hard (I would imagine) for today's youngsters to commit pieces of contemporary literature to memory, since we now inhabit a world in which rhyme, alliteration and 'even scansion' are not as popular in poetry as they once were.

The President reads Walcott

'... sinuous swans ...'
Derek Walcott, Omeros XXXVIII, III

I had the privilege of hearing St Lucian and Nobel poet Derek Walcott at the Guardian Hay Festival the summer before last; and was captivated by his outlook on the world, and particularly by his book, Omeros which I bought in The [excellent!] Poetry Bookshop in Hay.

Here in the UK rumours currently abound in the press regarding the identity of the Poet Laureate Designate. Poetry, it seems, is equally alive and well on the opposite side of the Atlantic. I am grateful to the Poets who Blog site for pointing me in the direction of an article on CityFile about US President Obama reading Walcott's Collected Poems - thereby presumably encouraging others in the support of poetry.

I have already mentioned my early love of the tales and travels of the Greek hero, Odysseus. Omeros as the name implies, is another epic poem about the web of human existence exemplified in sea travel and culture: indeed it is - in my humble opinion - a singularly fascinating 'take' on Homer's Odyssey. It is more than that: it is a new and unique work in its own right (though I use the word 'new' advisedly as the book was first published in 1990!). The poem makes use of the engaging Terza Rima form of chiming verse, a form used effectively by Dante.

Postscript
My copy from Hay came for good measure with a news cutting inside the cover: 'Hustling Homer' by Oliver Taplin, who was reviewing a production of 'The Odyssey' (Walcott style) at The Other Place in Stratford. The production was, apparently and appropriately, 'a cyclopean feat of poetry'!

Further information

• Omeros Study Guide (enotes.com)
• Derek Walcott’s Omeros, and the Significance of the River of Ancestry

I remember, I remember ...

Left: 'Brek-ke-ke-kex-koax-koax' (the frog chorus in The Frogs, Book X, Aristophanes - in translation).

Daisy Goodwin and Jeremy Paxman are joining forces with fellow poetry aficionados, under the aegis of the BBC, to encourage teachers in schools to breathe new life into the practice (N.B. I avoid the word 'discipline') of learning favourite poems by heart (N.B. I prefer to avoid the word 'rote').

The feature (livelink above) set me thinking about my early - and later - school experiences. Alas, I am not renowned for my memory in an 'examination' kind of way; but I have tried to think of a mixed bag of poetic pieces that I learned (often only in part) at school. All these have travelled with me over the years, bringing a great sense of pleasure and satisfaction.

After 'Incey Wincey Spider', the first poem (or song) that I remember learning in its entirety at school was 'Four ducks on a pond' by William Allingham. Sections - and sometimes quite small sections - from the following literary pieces followed, and have been treasures in 'my memory bag' ever since. They are presented in a rough chronological order of learning rather than in order of preference.

1. The Lady of Shalott
2. Flannan Isle
3. The Frogs Aristophanes (in translation ...)
4. Macbeth
5. Antigone by Sophocles (in translation ...)
   

I have two questions in mind:

1. What poetic pieces will today's - or tomorrow's - school leavers take with them?
2. What poetic pieces travel with you from your school days?

A final thought: it must be quite hard (I should have thought) for today's youngsters to commit pieces of contemporary literature to memory, since we now inhabit a world in which rhyme, alliteration and even scansion are not as popular in poetry as they once were.

Further Reading:

• 'Rote-learning poetry competition launched by BBC' The Daily Telegraph, 16 Nov 2008
  

Todd Swift on the friendship between poets

Right: Nether Stowey, The Ancient Mariner Pub (click to enlarge)

One tends to think of poets as lonely souls who wander cloud-like through life's ethereal by-ways. Swift, however, reminds us of the very real and beneficial friendships that have bolstered so much of our literary heritage. We think of the poetically symbiotic relationships between Keats and Shelley, Wordsworth and Coleridge, Edward Thomas and Robert Frost - to name but three.

Swift's point in writing was, I feel, to explore the nature of poetic relationships in these days of nepotism in the world of publication. Politics aside, I know that I have benefited greatly from the tutelage of others and from the community of 'poets who blog'. I thought Swift's post was a good reminder of the help that we can be to one another as we pursue our passion to write.

When a (bucket and) spade is not a spade

Left: snow white on pecan pie or Little Egret in the Loughor Estuary?

Unlike fellow blogger and poet, Mistlethrush, home decorating is definitely not my scene. That's not to say, however, that I take no interest in material swatches or paint cards. In the course of my craft class work, I have greatly enjoyed looking at and developing colour schemes for particular projects. I was intrigued, therefore, by an article by Lori Borgman in The News & Observer on the 'poetry' of the extraordinary plethora of names for different shades of paint.

Modern poets try to restrict their use of adjectives for the sake of strength, punch and clarity. Are there times, I wonder, when names like those in the feature (e.g. Southern Pecan Pie, Sand Between Your Toes and Peach Slush, to name but three) are simply too irresistible to pass over?

In a recent draft of a poem as part of a Poetry Prompt Month for Sol Magazine, I found myself struggling to find a suitably dull alternative for the word 'beige'. Some colour names definitely seem to suit their respective shades, rather in the way that there can sometimes be an uncanny resemblance between owners and their pets. I should know about these things: many years ago, my Shetland Sheepdog won a green rosette in an exemption dog show class for coming third in the contest for 'pets who look most like their owners'!

Poetry Form Challenge (1) Cornish Sonnet

The sonnet, as I understand, became a part of the poetry scene in English under the influence of Thomas Wyatt in the early 16th century.

I came across the Cornish Sonnet for the first time today, and am in the process of trying out the form. Can anyone tell me anything about 'early' Cornish sonnets?

The Cornish Sonnet is purported to be a hybrid of English and Arab writing that found its form in the eighteenth century. It would be good to be able to back this statement up with some evidence!

The rhyme scheme has two alternative patterns:

A, b, a, c, b, c - D, e, d, f, e, f - A, D

where capitals stand for lines that will be repeated in the closing couplet, and where other repeated letters stand for lines that share an end-rhyme e.g. 'e' and 'e' or 'A' and 'a'. The dashes represent the breaks in the flow of the text.

or

a, b, a, c, b, C - d, e, d, f, e, F - C, F.

• The Cornish Sonnet form on (or in) The Poet's Garret