Have been inspired by Megz's posts to write about my favourite poems! Unlike my vast and varied taste in music, my taste in poetry is rather narrow, some might even call it conservative. My all time favourite poems are three in number. IF by Rudyard Kipling, Tiger and Auguries of Innocence by William Blake. These masterpieces of language and rhyme need no synopsis. Each is an epic in itself and explains the concept as beautifully as it embodies the brilliance of the poet. Never have I read so graceful a description of a perfect life nor one so powerful to describe the tiger, the juxtaposition of good and evil presented in Auguries is exemplary. These poems are not only perfect in technical execution but also represent the simplicity of poetry.
I like poems that rhyme and am not a strong believer or supporter of the 'new-age' techno poetry which usually reads
'a chair, I sat
and looked
black, black, black
and a bird
flew'
While some people can pretend to find the deeper philosophy of life in such writing, personally I do not concur. To me this is not much different from trying to find 'art' in a painting of a soup can (deepest sympathies to all Warhol fans!).
There are other pieces of writing that have struck a chord - Shakespeare's sonnets 18 and 91, 'Charge of the light brigade' by Tennyson, 'The solitary reaper' by Wordsworth, 'La Belle Dame Sans Merci' by Keats, Gitanjali by Tagore and 'Highwayman' by Noyes.
Do read if and when you find time.
3 comments:
Apart from the three you have mentioned, I have always remembered this one by Ben Johnson that I first read way back in my second grade:
Proportion
It is not growing like a tree
In bulk, doth make man better be;
Or standing long an oak, three hundred year,
To fall a log at last, dry, bald, and sere:
A lily of a day
Is fairer far in May,
Although it fall and die that night;
It was the plant and flower of light.
In small proportions we just beauties see;
And in short measures, life may perfect be.
I have also found David Gilmour's (Pink Floyd band) Sorrow (Momentary Lapse of Reason album) and High Hopes (The Division Bell album) very spiritual and was somehow able to deeply relate to it in my undergrad days.
The highwayman and If have always been two of my favourite poems of all time. For very different reasons. But they are both beautifully written, and convey their meaning so effectively
check out my latest post and let me know what you think. I need a woman's perspective :)
Post a Comment