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

[Judy Prince]

I know one who'd heartily second your 'take' on AEH's Dark Side, John.
And I concur about H's 'pretty' and 'simple' wrapping around Deeper Stuff.
 He might be a right clivver dude; I'm not sure.  Might just be a nutcase.
Judy enjoying your humour as well as your logic, naturally.

2009/2/3 John Jeffrey <jjeffreymail at yahoo.com>

> Funny, I see it as the opposite: that it heightens the urgency.  Since 50
> springs is little room, you need *every* season, not just spring.  You
> need to go in both spring *and* winter.
>
> And that a young man is saying it, is understanding that 50 years may have
> little room, seems rather extraordinary, but that's where reading the rest
> of A Shropshire Lad gives s hint.  The "young men" in Housman's world are a
> dark bunch.  That middle stanza is proof that this is now simple youth.
>
> To me, reading this as a straight
> Oh-I'd-betta-go-look-at-da-pretty-twees-wite-now seems rather light, which
> is one of the major mistakes reading Housman's sing-song sounding poems.
>  They always roll of the tongue so pretty, always rhyme so nicely, but
> they're generally not "pretty" or "nice." And looking at a bare tree hung
> with snow--since that's all you've got in winter--because you know that you
> may not make it to next spring is right up Housman's alley, or should I say
> right up his woodland ride.
>
> Just more thoughts when I should be working.
>
> JohnJ
>
> --- On *Mon, 2/2/09, TheOldMole <Opus40-01 at opus40.org>* wrote:
>
> From: TheOldMole <Opus40-01 at opus40.org>
> Subject: Re: [New-Poetry] For the WEPD experiment: Houseman's Poem
> To: "NewPoetry: Contemporary Poetry News & Views" <
> new-poetry at wiz.cath.vt.edu>
> Date: Monday, February 2, 2009, 11:06 PM
>
>
> That knocks the underpinnings out of the whole sense of urgency, Don't
> worry, it's not just the 50 springs, you have winters too. And summers and
> falls too...what the heck. The whole point is that for most very young men,
> fifty years is an eternity -- and yet, only a very young man is capable of that
> special kind of wonder to say that 50 springs is little room.
>
> John Jeffrey wrote:
> > Right: he has little time to look at things in bloom; therefore he must go
> out even when they're not in bloom and see the beauty of them when they are
> hung with snow.  Just the way I've read it for my two score years and ten.
> >
> > JohnJ
> >
> >
> > ------------------------------------------------------------------------
> > *From:* Bob Grumman <bobgrumman at nut-n-but.net>
> > *To:* "NewPoetry: Contemporary Poetry News & Views"
> <new-poetry at wiz.cath.vt.edu>
> > *Sent:* Monday, February 2, 2009 10:18:15 PM
> > *Subject:* Re: [New-Poetry] For the WEPD experiment: Houseman's Poem
> >
> >
> >> You could argue that it's a stretch, perhaps, but I don't
> think it's blatantly wrong.
> > Agreed.
> >
> >> The poem doesn't have any hard evidence against it.
> > But it does: And since because the speaker has little time "to look
> at things in BLOOM," he is going into the woodlands to see the cherry hung
> with snow.  If they're literally hung with snow, they won't be in bloom.
>  To be reminded of blooms is not looking at them.
> > --Bob
> >
> > ------------------------------------------------------------------------
> >
> > _______________________________________________
> > New-Poetry mailing list
> > New-Poetry at wiz.cath.vt.edu
> > http://wiz.cath.vt.edu/mailman/listinfo/new-poetry
> >
>
> -- Tad Richardshttp://www.opus40.org/tadrichards/http://opusforty.blogspot.com/
>
> Don't forget to order your copy of FILM NOIR!http://stores.lulu.com/store.php?fAcctID=2712239
>
> _______________________________________________
> New-Poetry mailing listNew-Poetry at wiz.cath.vt.eduhttp://wiz.cath.vt.edu/mailman/listinfo/new-poetry
>
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> New-Poetry mailing list
> New-Poetry at wiz.cath.vt.edu
> http://wiz.cath.vt.edu/mailman/listinfo/new-poetry
>
>
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: http://wiz.cath.vt.edu/pipermail/new-poetry/attachments/20090203/33ca21a3/attachment.html