More poetry that isn’t pretentious and a waste of time…
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Differences of Opinion
By Wendy Cope
Wendy Cope (B. 1945)
1. HE TELLS HER
He tells her that the earth is flat —
He knows the facts and that is that.
In altercations fierce and long
She tries her best to prove him wrong.
But he has learned to argue well.
He calls her arguments unsound
And often asks her not to yell.
She cannot win. He stands his ground.
The planet goes on being round.
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The Garden
By Ezra Pound
Ezra Weston Loomis Pound (1885-1972)
En robe de parade — Samain*
Like a skein of loose silk blown against a wall
She walks by the railing of a path in Kensington Gardens,
And she is dying piece-meal
Of a sort of emotional anemia.
And round about there is a rabble
Of the filthy, sturdy, unkillable infants of the very poor.
They shall inherit the earth.
In her is the end of breeding.
Her boredom is exquisite and excessive.
She would like some one to speak to her,
And is almost afraid that I
Will commit that indiscretion.
* A quote from French poet Albert Samain. Rough translation: dressing to show off.
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A Quoi Bon Dire**
By Charlotte Mew
Charlotte Mary Mew (1869-1928)
Seventeen years ago you said
Something that sounded like Good-bye;
And everybody thinks that you are dead,
But I.
So I, as I grow stiff and cold
To this and that say Good-bye too;
And everybody sees that I am old
But you.
And one fine morning in a sunny lane
Some boy and girl will meet and kiss and swear
That nobody can love their way again
While over there
You will have smiled, I shall have tossed your hair.
** What good is there to say.
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Acquainted with the Night
By Robert Frost
Robert Lee Frost (1874-1963)
I have been one acquainted with the night.
I have walked out in rain — and back in rain.
I have outwalked the furthest city light.
I have looked down the saddest city lane.
I have passed by the watchman on his beat
And dropped my eyes, unwilling to explain.
I have stood still and stopped the sound of feet
When far away an interrupted cry
Came over houses from another street,
But not to call me back or say good-bye;
And further still at an unearthly height,
One luminary clock against the sky
Proclaimed the time was neither wrong nor right.
I have been one acquainted with the night.
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A Summary of Lord Lyttleton’s ‘Advice to a Lady’
By Lady Mary Wortley Montagu
Mary Pierrepont Montagu (1689-1762)
Be plain in Dress and sober in your Diet;
In short my Dearee, kiss me, and be quiet.
I remember reading a poem by Ezra Pound in school. Sadly, I cannot recall the exact poem, but I never forgot his name. Later in life I searched for information about him (because the name Ezra Pound haunted my subconscious for years). Through what I found on him, a discovered a great appreciation for imagism in writing.
Indeed so. Both “Ezra” and “Pound” are interesting names, but together, they are spectacular.