tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5010170380967519230.post3222690319280758093..comments2024-03-23T20:37:37.891-07:00Comments on First Known When Lost: Two AutumnsStephen Pentzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14882220887712092005noreply@blogger.comBlogger14125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5010170380967519230.post-30258865941382346412013-08-18T20:30:46.280-07:002013-08-18T20:30:46.280-07:00Archy Carroll: I am delighted that you found your ...Archy Carroll: I am delighted that you found your way here, and I hope that you will return. Thank you very much for your kind words. <br /><br />And thank you as well for the lines from Alcuin, which I had not seen before. Lovely and apt.<br /><br />Thanks again.Stephen Pentzhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14882220887712092005noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5010170380967519230.post-35371671375884957742013-08-17T14:21:50.195-07:002013-08-17T14:21:50.195-07:00I am reminded of a line from Alcuin's poem ...I am reminded of a line from Alcuin's poem 'Farewell To His Cell' (I don't know who translated it): 'Wretched that we are, why do we love thee O world, as thou fleest from us? Thou fleest from us, falling all the time and on every side. Keep on fleeing if thou wishest...' <br />(I have only today discovered your blog and am much enjoying what I see.)Archy Carrollnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5010170380967519230.post-43149125946564865332012-09-28T17:21:19.381-07:002012-09-28T17:21:19.381-07:00Chris: good point. The overhead garden reflects R...Chris: good point. The overhead garden reflects Rilke's tendency to take things to a cosmic level at the drop of a hat (to mangle a metaphor). Here's a pop culture way of saying it: like Nigel Tufnel, he seems to turn the volume up to 11 quite a bit.<br /><br />But, still, he has his moments. What's more, I shouldn't pontificate on these matters. <br /><br />As always, I appreciate hearing from you. Thanks for stopping by.Stephen Pentzhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14882220887712092005noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5010170380967519230.post-67501237323522352652012-09-28T10:08:17.148-07:002012-09-28T10:08:17.148-07:00I like this poem, Stephen, but I do see what you m...I like this poem, Stephen, but I do see what you mean about his work being "overwrought," in the most literal sense, perhaps. The overhead garden is sort of hard to take -- a sort of unwelcome stretch. Feels like something I would have worked hard to find a better of saying. Chris Matarazzohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17885109959459471509noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5010170380967519230.post-61481732659120480282012-09-28T09:19:35.381-07:002012-09-28T09:19:35.381-07:00Julie: thanks for dropping by. Yes, autumn is a t...Julie: thanks for dropping by. Yes, autumn is a thought- and emotion-provoking time of year for many of us, isn't it? I'm glad that you like the works by Palmer: many of his works capture the essence of autumn (and/or evening twilight), don't they?<br /><br />Thanks again.Stephen Pentzhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14882220887712092005noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5010170380967519230.post-17848082824042883342012-09-28T09:16:54.692-07:002012-09-28T09:16:54.692-07:00Mr. Floyd: as always, thank you for the thoughts. ...Mr. Floyd: as always, thank you for the thoughts. And thank you as well for the MacLeish poem (which I wasn't aware of) and the apt reference to the scene from Lear. I think that your comments on autumn are right on the mark.<br /><br />Thanks again.Stephen Pentzhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14882220887712092005noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5010170380967519230.post-14421323496454607072012-09-27T18:52:18.246-07:002012-09-27T18:52:18.246-07:00What thought provoking comments you have received....What thought provoking comments you have received. It seems fall makes us realize the glory of life, its ripeness. And then there is Samuel Palmer, what a perfect choice for the verse.Julie Whitmore Potteryhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12283540996942265818noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5010170380967519230.post-15060723138458025602012-09-27T12:27:44.858-07:002012-09-27T12:27:44.858-07:00Judi: thank you very much for stopping by. I wasn...Judi: thank you very much for stopping by. I wasn't aware of Ms Akroyd's work -- I visited her website, and her work is lovely. As you might expect, it is the sort of thing that I like. I'm also delighted that she has illustrated Clare's poems -- I see that she has done two books relating to his work. I will have to track them down.<br /><br />Thank you again for visiting, and for the recommendation.Stephen Pentzhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14882220887712092005noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5010170380967519230.post-42597869955500514742012-09-27T12:20:08.869-07:002012-09-27T12:20:08.869-07:00littlemancat: thank you very much for visiting, an...littlemancat: thank you very much for visiting, and for the lovely poem by Shiki. I hadn't seen it before: it is very nice, and I appreciate your sharing it.<br /><br />Happy autumn to you as well.Stephen Pentzhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14882220887712092005noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5010170380967519230.post-27332633217131493752012-09-27T12:17:43.791-07:002012-09-27T12:17:43.791-07:00Ms. Aykroyd: thank you for visiting again.
I was ...Ms. Aykroyd: thank you for visiting again.<br /><br />I was aware of the date of composition of the poem: Gass mentions it in his book. He also notes that "Herbsttag" was written in September 1902. That was a productive month! <br /><br />As ever, thanks for your thoughts.Stephen Pentzhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14882220887712092005noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5010170380967519230.post-20158729303192640902012-09-27T08:44:10.064-07:002012-09-27T08:44:10.064-07:00It's been enjoyable, I am sure, for all your f...It's been enjoyable, I am sure, for all your faithful readers to explore the deep mysteries of autumn with you, to speculate on why the season stirs such deep thoughts and emotions in us. Most of us never tire of the subject.<br /><br />Years ago when I was a junior in college I took a course titled "Modern American Poetry." One of the poets we read, one now rarely read I suppose, was Archibald McLeish. He wrote a poem about autumn. I have never forgotten one line in the poem, and though McLeish is no Keats or Rilke, his poem is worth reading.<br /><br /> Immortal Autumn<br />By Archibald MacLeish 1892–1982 <br /><br />I speak this poem now with grave and level voice <br />In praise of autumn, of the far-horn-winding fall. <br /><br /><br />I praise the flower-barren fields, the clouds, the tall <br />Unanswering branches where the wind makes sullen noise. <br /><br /><br />I praise the fall: it is the human season. <br /> Now <br />No more the foreign sun does meddle at our earth, <br />Enforce the green and bring the fallow land to birth, <br />Nor winter yet weigh all with silence the pine bough, <br /><br /><br />But now in autumn with the black and outcast crows <br />Share we the spacious world: the whispering year is gone: <br />There is more room to live now: the once secret dawn <br />Comes late by daylight and the dark unguarded goes. <br /><br /><br />Between the mutinous brave burning of the leaves <br />And winter’s covering of our hearts with his deep snow <br />We are alone: there are no evening birds: we know <br />The naked moon: the tame stars circle at our eaves. <br /><br /><br />It is the human season. On this sterile air <br />Do words outcarry breath: the sound goes on and on. <br />I hear a dead man’s cry from autumn long since gone. <br /><br /><br />I cry to you beyond upon this bitter air.<br /><br />The line that has stuck with me for scores of years is, "I praise the fall: it is the human season."<br /><br />Autumn must indeed be the human season, for your postings on autumn and the comments on them confirm our persistent interest in the season. Why does autumn settle so deeply into our hearts? Why do our imagination yearn to know not so much was autumn is but rather what does it mean?<br /><br />I was wondering too, in connection with fall being a culmination of some kind, a moment of ripeness and fecundity, of richness and fullness, that moment of a breath held in suspension, that serene moment of acceptance before the fall away into the inevitable shadow, the process done now, beauty and life fulfilling the fate of all ephemeral things, including us.<br /><br />I have often wondered whether Edgar's comment to his father, Gloucester, in "King Lear" does not cut to the quick of the matter, sum up, perhaps, what you and I and other have been circling around for some time now. When Gloucester, blind and ruined, tells his son that he, Gloucester, who has given up, is prepared to sit where he is and rot,Edgar replies ;<br /><br />What, in ill thoughts again? Men must endure <br />Their going hence, even as their comng hither:<br />Ripeness is all . . .<br /><br />The words are too precious and perfect for me to attempt any kind of vulgar paraphrase. I couldn't do it if I tried. Besides, if one needs a paraphrase to understand what Edgar is saying, one will never understand.<br /><br />Again, thanks for the superb postings, and thanks to your corps of dedicated readers for their insightful comments.<br /><br />BruceBruce Floydnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5010170380967519230.post-2479147927357457382012-09-27T08:26:25.089-07:002012-09-27T08:26:25.089-07:00I love your choice of paintings. I wonder if you ...I love your choice of paintings. I wonder if you know the work of Carry Ackroyd, who has illustrated a lot of John Clare's poems?<br />http://www.carryakroyd.co.uk/Judihttp://www.judisutherland.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5010170380967519230.post-25801590740716165892012-09-27T07:48:29.531-07:002012-09-27T07:48:29.531-07:00Thanks for the Rilke poems and the thoughtful idea...Thanks for the Rilke poems and the thoughtful ideas about them. When I saw the Post noted as Two Autumns, it brought to mind Shiki's haiku with that title-<br />For me who goes<br />And you who stays -<br />Two autumns<br /><br />Happy autumn to you,<br />Marylittlemancathttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17042609230502564280noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5010170380967519230.post-63661439119235318772012-09-27T02:41:48.649-07:002012-09-27T02:41:48.649-07:00This may be my favourite Rilke poem. I really like...This may be my favourite Rilke poem. I really like the Robin Robertson translation, although it may be looser. Robin Robertson has said that although his version appeared before 9/11, it retrospectively acquired some associations with that day; Rilke apparently wrote the poem on September 11, 1902, and the imagery has resonance.Clarissa Aykroydhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08571136118573329263noreply@blogger.com