Most of us have favourable memories of certain songs from the past. Recalling these can brighten a day and lift our spirits.
Perhaps less appreciated though equally relevant in their own way, are certain poems that can be readily recalled. These continue to impact across a life time.
My interest in poetry was sparked early on at secondary school by our English teacher who introduced us to the work of Welsh poet W H Davies. In his younger years as a tramp, Davies had travelled extensively across the United Kingdom and the United States.
This was arduous and very challenging at times, but the experience and knowledge gained was a considerable aid for his future literary ambitions. In 1908 he published The Autobiography of a Super Tramp which turned out to be hugely popular. Following that he enjoyed an extremely successful career as a poet in England with his poem called Leisure the one I most recall from school days. This is a portion of that poem;
"What is this life if, full of care
We have no time to stand and stare ... ..
A poor life this if, full of care
We have no time to stand and stare."
In my opinion the very best poems capture the universal and give pause to reflect. The impact of these resonates down the generations. Memorising lines from certain passages can be an invaluable source of inspiration. I have chosen the following poets by way of example.
T. S. Eliot was an American who became a British subject in 1927. His work stands out for its impressive imagery and symbolism.
The melancholy and general disillusionment of the post-World War 1 era is well captured in his poem The Hollow Men, where the human condition is portrayed as "Shape without form, shade without cover, Paralysed force, gesture without motion" and the world ending "Not with a bang, but a whimper."
Irish poet W. B. Yates was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1923. He captures the conflict and turmoil of early 20th century Ireland as the country heads towards a brutal and divisive civil war.
His poem Easter 1916 expresses his sentiments at what was the start of an armed rebellion in Dublin against the British authorities and how he saw this and other events impacting on the country’s future. A notable few lines being;
"Now and in time to be,
Wherever green is worn,
Are changed, changed utterly:
A terrible beauty is born."
In another poem entitled The Lake Isle of Innisfree, Yates in a few well-constructed words, beautifully captures the changes occurring during a day.
"There midnight’s all a glimmer, and noon a purple glow,
And evening full of linnet’s wings."
The Green Fields of France is a powerful anti-war song written by Eric Bogle. It is in lyric form and has all the ingredients too of a great poem.
Its message is timeless. The brutal, destructive and often futile nature of war. These are a few lines;
"But here in this graveyard is still no Man’s land,
The countless white crosses stand mute in the sand
To Man’s blind indifference to his fellow man
To a whole generation that were butchered and damned."
English poet Percy Bysshe Shelley in his poem Ozymandias well captures the temporary nature and illusion of power, when he viewed the crumbling remnants in the desert of what had been an immense statue to this King of ancient Egypt who thought he was omnipotent and would rule forever.
The poem ends with these words;
"Nothing beside remains round the decay
of that colossal wreck, boundless and bare
The lone and level sands stretch far away."
James K. Baxter, one of New Zealand’s more notable poets, rejected societal values in the 1960s, leaving behind his family to establish a commune at Jerusalem on the Wanganui River. This project proved to be relatively unsuccessful though, with Baxter’s itinerant and unsettled lifestyle in later years undoubtedly impacting on his health.
Some words from a poem entitled High Country Weather, early in his career indicated a genuine talent.
"yet see the red-gold cirrus over snow-mountain shine.
Upon the upland road ride easy, stranger."
Poetry with words and thoughts carefully crafted is a wonderful resource to be treasured.
As suggested by W. H. Davies even amidst the busyness of our lives, it is worth finding time to stand and stare.
— Joss Miller is a retired Dunedin lawyer.
