tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5010170380967519230.post3581190392760124132..comments2024-03-23T20:37:37.891-07:00Comments on First Known When Lost: "Desire For Something None Can Say"Stephen Pentzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14882220887712092005noreply@blogger.comBlogger9125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5010170380967519230.post-355649033043077782012-10-16T20:30:30.153-07:002012-10-16T20:30:30.153-07:00Mr McEwan: thank you for stopping by again, and fo...Mr McEwan: thank you for stopping by again, and for your thoughts.<br /><br />Yes, you are right. I should have taken into more account Tessimond's cynical and comic sides (which can at times be quite pronounced). I agree that one needs to read the poem with those sides in mind: he is probably poking fun both at himself and his fellow Englishmen/women. I appreciate your insight into that.<br /><br />Thanks again.Stephen Pentzhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14882220887712092005noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5010170380967519230.post-52918227469349135212012-10-16T13:20:35.874-07:002012-10-16T13:20:35.874-07:00Interesting poem, Mr Pentz, and one I was hitherto...Interesting poem, Mr Pentz, and one I was hitherto unaware of. I don't know that Tessimond would have expected the reader to take his autumnal observations too seriously. He ends with mention of "our annual decay" which, to my mind, suggests it's just a cyclical malaise we go through each autumn and, after all, we Brits like a good moan from time to time, particularly about inclement weather. It's not all "season of mists and mellow fruitfulness, you know".<br />Keep up the good work! Andy McEwannoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5010170380967519230.post-1235828020818815482012-10-16T11:04:26.390-07:002012-10-16T11:04:26.390-07:00Shelley: P.S.: that should be "orts", no...Shelley: P.S.: that should be "orts", not "rots". Spell-check strikes.Stephen Pentzhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14882220887712092005noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5010170380967519230.post-62713624043651923472012-10-16T11:02:06.311-07:002012-10-16T11:02:06.311-07:00Shelley: thank you for visiting again, and for you...Shelley: thank you for visiting again, and for your thoughts.<br /><br />However, I'm afraid I don't see how "frowsy" "carries a pretty heavy patronizing load." "Patronizing" to the fish-shops? To the owners of the fish-shops? To the patrons of the fish-shops? To the cats sniffing the rots of the fish-shops? I don't get it. <br /><br />The OED defines "frowzy/frowsy" as (sense 1) "ill-smelling, fusty, musty" and (sense 2) "having a dirty, untidy, soiled, neglected appearance." Thus, for instance (I'm sure you are aware of this example), Philip Larkin refers to "the fusty bed" in Mr Bleaney's rented room. With all due respect to fish-shops in London, I can well imagine that these descriptions might fit at least some of them.<br /><br />In sum, I cannot see how "frowsy" can possibly "carr[y] a pretty heavy patronizing load."<br /><br />Signed, <br />Perplexed.Stephen Pentzhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14882220887712092005noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5010170380967519230.post-57596175297335304092012-10-16T08:42:35.381-07:002012-10-16T08:42:35.381-07:00Thanks for the poem. As a writer, I think it's...Thanks for the poem. As a writer, I think it's hard to use a word like "frowsy"--carries a pretty heavy patronizing load.Shelleyhttp://dustbowlpoetry.wordpress.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5010170380967519230.post-82339925106780448842012-10-15T15:59:02.020-07:002012-10-15T15:59:02.020-07:00Mr. Floyd: thank you for "Tears, idle tears.&...Mr. Floyd: thank you for "Tears, idle tears." It provides a nice complement to Tessimond's poem.<br /><br />As always, thanks for visiting.Stephen Pentzhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14882220887712092005noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5010170380967519230.post-631011455455856512012-10-15T15:56:14.070-07:002012-10-15T15:56:14.070-07:00Mr. Sigler: thank you for the kind words -- I'...Mr. Sigler: thank you for the kind words -- I'm intent on doing my small part to spread the word about Tessimond's poetry. As for "erudite": nah, not me! But I appreciate the thought.<br /><br />Yes, the ending is a bit too pat, isn't it?<br /><br />Thanks for dropping by again.Stephen Pentzhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14882220887712092005noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5010170380967519230.post-14050569520224313892012-10-15T08:25:22.962-07:002012-10-15T08:25:22.962-07:00Perhaps, perhaps not, Tennyson captures better tha...Perhaps, perhaps not, Tennyson captures better than Tessimond that mysterious chord autumn sounds in the human heart:<br /><br />Tears, idle tears, I know not what they mean,<br />Tears from the depth of some divine despair<br />Rise in the heart, and gather to the eyes,<br />In looking on the happy Autumn-fields,<br />And thinking of the days that are no more.<br /><br />Fresh as the first beam glittering on a sail,<br />That brings our friends up from the underworld,<br />Sad as the last which reddens over one<br />That sinks with all we love below the verge;<br />So sad, so fresh, the days that are no more.<br /><br />Ah, sad and strange as in dark summer dawns<br />The earliest pipe of half-awakened birds<br />To dying ears, when unto dying eyes<br />The casement slowly grows a glimmering square;<br />So sad, so strange, the days that are no more.<br /><br />Dear as remembered kisses after death,<br />And sweet as those by hopeless fancy feigned<br />On lips that are for others; deep as love,<br />Deep as first love, and wild with all regret;<br />O Death in Life, the days that are no more.<br /><br />bruce floydnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5010170380967519230.post-28597989976853978502012-10-15T06:59:48.775-07:002012-10-15T06:59:48.775-07:00You always make me feel so un-erudite (I mean this...You always make me feel so un-erudite (I mean this in the best possible way!), Mr. Pentz. That Tessimond poem is absolutely stunning, perfect except for the paint-by-numbers ending that you are dead-on in challenging. <br /><br />Thanks for increasing my poetic vocabulariy in such pleasurable increments.WAShttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10403669322174979974noreply@blogger.com