[New-Poetry] For the WEPD experiment: Houseman's Poem

[Judy Prince]

Thanks, John; I had begun to despair at folks' reading of a simple, direct
text.  And I thank Linda Sue Grimes for her patient, clear, logical
explanation.  Frankly, the interpretation that the three of us hold redeems
Housman, in my eyes.  As a 'seize the day' poem, oh how crashingly obvious
'twould be!
Judy

2009/2/2 John Jeffrey <jjeffreymail at yahoo.com>

> Funny you should send this interpretation because that's the way I've
> always read the poem:  That the speaker, noting that there's not enough room
> to look at things in bloom in spring only, must also go about the woodlands
> in winter to look at the trees while they're hung with snow.  And, to
> respond to Bob, yes, the cherry may look no different from any other
> deciduous tree in winter, but it is.  Since it's a cherry tree hung with
> white it implies spring and the blooms.  Squint and it's spring!  Okay,
> bundle up and wear boots, and then squint and it's spring.  You could argue
> that it's a stretch, perhaps, but I don't think it's blatantly wrong.  The
> poem doesn't have any hard evidence against it.  It doesn't even mention
> boots.
>
> John J
>
>
>
>
> ------------------------------
> *From:* Judy Prince <jbalizsprince at googlemail.com>
> *To:* Robin Hamilton <robin.hamilton2 at btinternet.com>; "NewPoetry:
> Contemporary Poetry News &, Views" <new-poetry at wiz.cath.vt.edu>
> *Sent:* Monday, February 2, 2009 8:20:20 PM
> *Subject:* Re: [New-Poetry] For the WEPD experiment: Houseman's Poem
>
> We now have evaluations from Barry, me, Bob, and Finnegan on Housman's
> 'Loveliest of trees', and I wanted to let you all know more about Linda Sue
> Grimes' interpretation of the poem's 'message'.  I had read the following
> paragraph of Linda Sue's, thought it intriguing and came up with my
> interpretation sent in two days ago, as given further below.  Here's Linda
> Sue's paragraph, from April 1, 2007:
> "A.E. Housman's 'Loveliest of trees,' often misread as a carpe diem poem,
> actually offers a way to increase the enjoyment of beauty, not just grasp it
> for a while."
>
> Today I read her article which the paragraph above introduces.  Here's a
> paragraph from the article that gets to the core of her interpretation:
>
> "In the third stanza, the speaker claims that because fifty more
> opportunities to enjoy these lovely trees with their luscious blossoms is
> not enough, he will go to observe the same trees also in winter, when they
> are 'hung with snow'.  That way the speaker doubles his opportunities to
> enjoy the cherry trees 'wearing white'."
>
> The entire brief article is a clear, logical argument for her
> interpretation which is well worth our serious consideration.  She and I
> find it the most logical of interpretations.  The poem itself is further
> below, and   here's the url for Linda Sue's article:
>
> http://poetry.suite101.com/article.cfm/housmans_loveliest_of_trees
>
> Best,
>
> Judy
>
>
>
> 2009/1/31 Judy Prince <jbalizsprince at googlemail.com>
>
>> OK, here goes my paraphrase and then my evaluation of AEHousman's
>> Loveliest of Trees:
>> PARAPHRASE:
>>
>> The cherry, most beautiful of all trees,
>> is covered with white blossoms now as if celebrating Easter.
>>
>> Twenty of my [Biblically-promised] seventy years are spent,
>> so I'll only see fifty more springs---
>> not enough time to enjoy blooming things;
>>
>> hence I'll walk these woods in the winters, as well,
>> to see the cherry boughs hung with snow.
>>
>> EVALUATION according to Bob's WEPD checklist:
>>
>> 1)  Importance:  Agreeing with Linda Sue Grimes, I feel it's not exactly
>> a carpe diem poem.  I think it tells us to expect and to look for beauty
>> even in the starkest times.  Not an insignificant observation.
>>
>> 2)  Clear, uncliched devices/forms:  I'd give it a ZERO for rockinghorse
>> cliches, rhythms, rhymes.
>>
>> 3)  Word economy:  Pore H, he flails around, esp in the 2nd stanza,
>> trying to squish and wiggle his slender meanings into a rhyming.  Was this
>> the first poem he ever wrote?
>>
>> 4)  Impressive, uncommon diction or imagery:  ZERO.
>>
>> Not an Excellent poem.  Not a Good poem.  Maybe a sweet practice poem that
>> has a significant message put in impoverishedly poetic form [like this
>> sentence].
>>
>> Judy considering Barry's forthput banana poem next
>>
>> 2009/1/31 Robin Hamilton <robin.hamilton2 at btinternet.com>
>>
>>  Oops -- my bad.  There's no indentation of any lines in the original, as
>>> my previous transcription seemed to imply.
>>>
>>> R.
>>>
>>>               II
>>>
>>> Loveliest of trees, the cherry now
>>> Is hung with bloom along the bough,
>>> And stands about the woodland ride
>>> Wearing white for Eastertide.
>>>
>>> Now, of my threescore years and ten,
>>> Twenty will not come again,
>>> And take from seventy springs a score,
>>> It only leaves me fifty more.
>>>
>>> And since to look at things in bloom
>>> Fifty springs are little room,
>>> About the woodlands I will go
>>> To see the cherry hung with snow.
>>>
>>> A. E. Housman
>>>
>>> _______________________________________________
>>> New-Poetry mailing list
>>> New-Poetry at wiz.cath.vt.edu
>>> http://wiz.cath.vt.edu/mailman/listinfo/new-poetry
>>>
>>
>>
>
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