So the old tunes float in my mind,
And go from me leaving no trace behind,
Like fragrance borne on the hush of the wind.

But in the instant the airs remain
I know the laughter and the pain
Of times that will not come again.

I try to catch at many a tune
Like petals of light fallen from the moon,
Broken and bright on a dark lagoon,

But they float away — for who can hold
Youth, or perfume or the moon’s gold?

“Old Tunes” by Sara Teasdale. Public domain.

On a daily basis, or very close to it anyways, I find myself humming songs I loved when I was growing up, and I find myself taken back to specific feelings or even moments that I’ve associated the songs with. I’m fairly sure this is a very common plague. It can be, however, damning because of how hard it is to get a song out of your head. In “Old Tunes”, Teasdale does a wonderful job of explaining this occurrence to the reader. My favorite lines of the sonnet are the second and third stanzas. They seem to speak exactly to what I find myself doing from time to time. A vague song comes to mind, and it’s a lot like opening a book and looking back on your life. The hardest part is realizing that, good or bad, those times have already passed – everything’s changed, and it won’t be the same. I really like the simile she uses at the end of the sonnet to explain the phenomenon in a different way. The idea of ever pervasive petals drifting away from one another on a lagoon fits wonderfully – so hard to catch and hold, but so beautiful to watch.

Not only does Teasdale touch on the idea of songs bringing people back in their memories, she also uses the poem to show the power of music. I’ve always thought about it, as I’m sure others have, but Teasdale writes in a way that really makes sense of it. Music has the ability for us to almost look back through a looking glass on our pasts, good or bad. It’s interesting that we, as humans, attach memories to our senses. Smells and tastes often bring people back to certain times in their life, just as music does in Teasdale’s sonnet. However, music, being both lyric and musical, has a very clear way of defining the mood of the song, which often times matches exactly the way a person is feeling at any given time. This being true, it seems as though music is much more meaningful than most other senses, as it not only attaches to memories, but often times defines those memories. It truly is amazing the power of a musician. It truly is transcending time.

Here’s a bottle and an honest friend!
What wad ye wish for mair, man?
Wha kens, before his life may end,
What his share may be o’ care, man?

Then catch the moments as they fly,
And use them as ye ought, man:
Believe me, happiness is shy,
And comes not aye when sought, man.

“A Bottle And Friend” by Robert Burns. Public Domain.

I had a hard time finding a poem to write about this week. As I sifted through collections of classic poets, nothing really jumped out. Nothing really grabbed my attention. It was actually really disheartening. I began thinking that asking if poetry mattered was a better question than I had thought simply because, at that moment, I was questioning if it did matter at all. What I thought it meant just wasn’t coming through. Then I came across Burn’s poem “A Bottle And Friend” Burns uses this poem to address happiness. Not looking for happiness in another person or in nature. The speaker acknowledges that happiness cannot be found. If you look, it won’t come. Instead, the speaker insists that “happiness is shy”, and furthers this sentiment by saying it doesn’t come when you look for it. Ultimately, the message of the poem is that happiness is in everything that’s familiar, and there is no reason to go looking for happiness when its already in front of you. You just have to relax and let it come.

The third stanza is the most effective, I believe. It states the main point, but it does so in a way that any person could read and completely agree with. Burns seems to address the ever-changing and constantly moving world, but he says to find the moments of happiness in that movement. Moreover, he suggests you do what you will with them. Those first two lines of the last stanza, “Then catch the moments as they fly, / And use them as ye ought, man:” are my favorites out of the poem. They really capture the idea that happiness is different for every person, and when a person finds their happiness, they need to act upon it however they choose too. The whole poem, as short as it is, is very uplifting in that way. It gives a very individualistic and optimistic view of life, which can’t really hurt anyone’s mood. Having read this poem, it has really made me try to relax and let what’s good come to me. I’ve realized that to go out searching for it will only get me into deeper holes and further me from where I’d like to be. Honestly, that’s one of my favorite things about poetry – that very rare, and all too uncommon moment when a poem changes something inside of you in an instant. It’s amazing that something like that can happen, especially coming from a man that knows nothing about me personally. Sticking very literally to the words benevolent meaning, it is an awful ability of men like Robert Burns.

You may forget but
let me tell you
this: someone in
some future time
will think of us.

Sappho. Public Domain.

 
Though this poem is short, it’s meaning, in my eyes, holds unimaginable weight. To me, this poem serves as one of the most incredible examples of the timelessness of poetry. Sappho existed before Frost and Wordsworth. Before Tennyson and Shakespeare. Sappho was an Ancient Greek poet who’s influence was found throughout the Mediterranean. Sappho’s work was, upon the Roman’s conquering the Greeks, destroyed for the most part. Of the nine volumes of writing she had composed, one single poem exists, as well as a few fragments of some other works. Today, we know of Sappho’s esteemed presence in the world through her literature by alternative sources that seem to praise Sappho’s usage of language. Her pieces have resonated through centuries, and still effect some people today.

What I find most interesting about this poem is that it is very much a part of human nature to desire a legacy – to want to live on forever, in a sense. Often, I find myself pondering the notion of my memory and whether or not my time spent here will be remembered years after I am gone. Sometimes I think that I certainly will be. Maybe not directly, but I’ll live forever in history books as the generation that looked terror in the eyes, dealt with national tragedy, and made it to the twenty-first century. In this way, I’ll absolutely live forever. Individually, though, it is entirely up to me how I impact this world. I believe these quandaries to be fairly commonplace among all people. A legacy is one of the most desirable things a person can attain. In this short verse, Sappho assures her reader that people, in the future, will certainly think of her society. The fact that she says “us” is very consistent with my idea of being a part of a generation’s legacy, or the legacy of a culture. What this poem truly shows to me is that there are parts of human nature that cannot and will not change no matter how much man evolves and “improves.” Man will always be man, no matter his temporal and spatial context.

AMONG the men and women, the multitude,
I perceive one picking me out by secret and divine signs,
Acknowledging none else–not parent, wife, husband, brother, child,
any nearer than I am;
Some are baffled–But that one is not–that one knows me.

Ah, lover and perfect equal!
I meant that you should discover me so, by my faint indirections;
And I, when I meet you, mean to discover you by the like in you

Walt Whitman. Public Domain.

Who doesn’t really want to believe in the idea of a soul mate? A person in a sea of people that fits perfectly into your life. Who could deny that feeling of perfection and completeness when, or if, it does happen to them? Whitman seems to be writing of this desire in his poem “Among The Multitude”. Essentially, the speaker is addressing his potential lover, whom he has not encountered yet, that is somewhere out there among the multitude of people. The speaker wants badly for a person to come from this multitude and claim him as their everything. He wants clarity and understanding in his fated desires. The last three lines of the poem seem to run true for most people that consider themselves in love with another. So often do we hear that its the dissimilar oddities that draw two people together, and Whitman includes it in his poem here. Just as often, people speak of their soul mate being out there, somewhere, and waiting for the day to meet that person face to face. These ideas of romance and fate are frequently the centerpiece for countless works of literature, as well as other forms of entertainment. This makes complete sense, as desiring perfection when looking for love is a universal want when it comes to the topic. To fall in love with a miserable or mismatched person is entirely contradictory. Ultimately, what Whitman portrays here is a very real human desire – a belief in both love and fate, and the hope that the latter will supply the former with perfection and good fortune. What more could anyone really ask for?

See, the mountains kiss high heaven,
And the waves clasp one another;
No sister flower could be forgiven
If it disdained its brother;
And the sunlight clasps the earth,
And the moonbeams kiss the sea;–
What are all these kissings worth,
If thou kiss not me?

“Love’s Philosophy” by Percy Bysshe Shelley. Public Domain.

In my opinion, Shelley has created a wonderful depiction of the harder side to falling in love with this poem. Within the poem, the speaker seems to be pleading his love for another person in an attempt to win their heart in return. The speaker’s plead is a beautifully arranged series of comparisons between natural relationships and the love between the two people. Subtly, the speaker declares the love he feels he deserves and the embrace he desires are comparable to streams mixing with rivers and the ocean, or the way moonbeams seem to kiss an ocean. The speaker also clearly states the necessity for this type of loving togetherness when he says, “All things by a law divine / In another’s being mingle–” Here, the speaker argues that love, in one way or another, is given to all things by order of the divine; therefore, love is a natural necessity for all things in the world. At two points, the speaker directly asks his subject if love exists in nature everywhere, then why can he not have the same?

This poem seems altogether too familiar for me, and I can only assume the same of other people as well. At some point in life, everyone finds love in something that may not return that love in the same way. Shelley does a great job of conveying how that feels with this poem. Though some people may not look to nature to justify why they should have that love, all people in the situation begin to question why they cannot have the type of love they see all around them. Shelley also seems to be pointing out love’s importance in nature, as all things seem to have a love-like relationship with things around them. To me, the also brings to light not only the importance of love for people, but the importance of people’s love to the world. Again, the basic emotion this poem seems to drive home is one that all persons, at some point in their life, can relate to or understand. It is this universality that exists in the poem, and influential poems like it, that could create a certain feeling of humility in it’s reader, as it provides a reminder of the reader’s humanity and their being a part of nature that is just as equal to rivers and oceans.

A violet by a mossy stone
Half hidden from the eye!
–Fair as a star, when only one
Is shining in the sky.

She lived unknown, and few could know
When Lucy ceased to be;
But she is in her grave, and, oh,
The difference to me!

“She Dwelt Among the Untrodden Ways” William Wordsworth. Public Domain.

In my opinion, Wordsworth is acknowledging the idea that it’s the little things in life that are truly most beautiful. In the poem, Wordsworth tells of woman he knows who lives far off from society, solitary and alone. She lived there as long as he’d known of her, and not many were aware of her being. When she died, many knew nothing of it, but it was very tragic for Wordsworth himself. Again, this poem is not simply a narrative. Instead, Wordsworth is bringing to light the subtle beauties of the world that are often overlooked. In example, Wordsworth compares this woman’s life to the faint glimmer of a solitary star in the sky. Undeniably, we can all relate to this feeling of finding something so beautiful that is just smothered by the rest of the world. For a moment, though, the glimpse of this hidden treasure is breathtakingly beautiful. In some occasions, this moment may feel like a lifetime condensed to a fleeting second. Yet, our lives are filled with these beauties. The issue truly is whether or not we can bring ourselves to spot the treasures.

Ultimately, Wordsworth’s advice, subtle just as the woman in the poem, is something that all people should slow down and recognize, especially in this day and age. With inventions and innovation increasing exponentially, the world is becoming more and more fast paced. That being so, it is understandably harder for people to take the time out of their schedules, take a big breath, and simply appreciate their existence. This poem, and poems with content alike, serve as a reminder to people to make time to find the subtleties that have the potential to change a life. They are reminders that our time is limited. Beauty is limited, in time. Therefore, we must learn to embrace the moments where our own time coincides with the time that another object is steeped in beauty.

“Nothing Gold Can Stay” by Robert Frost. Public Domain.

It’s always been said that poetry is open to interpretation. The reader’s subjective connection with the poem is what will define the poem. Thus, poetry is among the most subjective and intimate forms of literature. With his poem “Nothing Gold Can Stay”, Robert Frost, whether he knew it or not, created a work that was so easily relatable that its resonance became nearly universal. Upon reading the poem, its message is clear and debatable at best. In the first few stanzas, the poem has a very positive message. The poem glorifies the beauty of the natural world as it is in bloom, the beginning of spring being a very clear example. Frost then shows that this beauty is only temporary in the last five lines. The simplicity of the poem is what enables it to lodge itself in the hearts and mind of any reader.

Time gets the best of all of us. It is an inescapable facet of the human condition. That being true, Frost’s poem is a comment on the importance of appreciating those things that we recognize as “gold.” We must appreciate the new, fresh beauties that exist around us because they will gray and fray with time, much like ourselves. Frost even takes this tragic decay to something so perfect as Eden. Though the Garden was a perfect place, mankind’s grief and troubles overcame it to, in time, lead us to the world we are in today. Most importantly, the last line of the poem, which truly does sum up the message of the poem perfectly, has resonated in our society for decade. This is true because the statement is all too real. It is a universally applicable claim about the truth of existence. As things grow older, they lose their beauty and their vibrancy. As a new leaf bud soon grows to become a leaf, all things, in time, became “just” another of its kind.

le
af
fa

ll

s)
one
l

iness

“l(a” by E.E. Cummings

It’s hard to really find a good starting point when discussing E.E. Cummings’ poem “l(a”. There is so much about such a simple poem that makes it deserving of praise, let alone discussion. First of all, it needs to be stated that the structure makes this poem everything it is. When read completely through, the poem says “a leaf falls” within parenthesis, and “loneliness” outside of them. The placement of the words within the parenthesis in the midst of the word “loneliness” provides an image of those words falling on to “loneliness”. Thus, the poem is read, “A leaf falls on loneliness.” Upon reading the poem, some cast it aside as merely a sort of rebus puzzle, but the structure is deserving of much more.

In order to fully realize the greatness of this poem, one must do two things. First, keep in mind how the poem reads as a whole. Second, forget about reading the poem as words. Instead, one should pay close attention to the motion in the letters. Throughout the poem there are long letters, these being the l’s and f’s, paired with shorter letters, which makes the readers eyes stagger a slight bit, much like the movement of a falling leaf. The longer letters draw the reader’s eyes down the page to further emphasize that falling motion. Towards the bottom of it’s descent, the symbolized leaf seems to flip where the word “one” can be read. After this flipping motion, its as though the leaf rests on the ground, which is represented by the “iness” in the poem.

The interpretations of this poem are just as interesting as Cummings’ use of structure. The simplicity of the words, “a leaf falls on loneliness” is, initially, a tough idea to absorb. It could mean a multitude of things. For me, the image of a leaf gracefully falling from the branches of tree towards the ground, only to dry and die, is eerily comparable to our own lives. The leaf has no choice as to when it will fall, much like we naturally have no control over our own ends. Moreover, both us and the leaf leave the only place we’ve ever known, where we’re engulfed in a world of familiarity, for a place we know nothing about. We go to this place alone, with no choice in the matter, just as a leaf falling from a tree.