tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5010170380967519230.post8055888210502773940..comments2024-03-23T20:37:37.891-07:00Comments on First Known When Lost: A LeafStephen Pentzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14882220887712092005noreply@blogger.comBlogger12125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5010170380967519230.post-10851535694503995942015-06-14T15:52:01.603-07:002015-06-14T15:52:01.603-07:00Susan: "Towering leafiness" is a wonder...Susan: "Towering leafiness" is a wonderful description of this time of year. But, as you know, that's how poetry works: you never know where it may take you, so you follow.<br /><br />I'm happy to hear from you again. I hope that you have been able to enjoy the "towering leafiness" in some of your favorite parks and gardens, especially in light of the winter you had back there. As ever, thank you very much for visiting.Stephen Pentzhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14882220887712092005noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5010170380967519230.post-77820974000846265852015-06-12T18:31:38.758-07:002015-06-12T18:31:38.758-07:00How interesting, in this season of towering leafin...How interesting, in this season of towering leafiness, to be reminded of the beauty of bare trees. SusanAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5010170380967519230.post-83103036889684819662015-06-08T14:57:39.692-07:002015-06-08T14:57:39.692-07:00R. T.: Thank you very much: that's very nice o...R. T.: Thank you very much: that's very nice of you to say. I'm always gratified (and humbled) to discover that poems and paintings that strike a chord for me may resonate with others as well. So I greatly appreciate your kind words.<br /><br />Returning to Shakespeare sounds like a fine idea! You have reminded me that it has been way too long since I did the same thing.<br /><br />I hope that your travels are going well. Thank you again.Stephen Pentzhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14882220887712092005noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5010170380967519230.post-22920876027445624072015-06-07T07:53:51.296-07:002015-06-07T07:53:51.296-07:00I may have said this before -- but I reserve the r...I may have said this before -- but I reserve the right to repeat myself as I become an increasingly senile curmudgeon -- so here it is: I am blown away by your elegant combinations of poems and paintings in each of your postings. Your feasts for my soul nourish me in ways you will never know. Thank you.<br /><br />BTW, you have also inspired me. I have this morning picked up my tattered copy of Shakespeare's sonnets and poems, and I plan on beginning with Venus and Adonis; no, there is no direct connection to your posting, but you focus on poetry and images sends me back to some of my favorite words by my favorite writer.<br /><br />Have a beautiful day!R.T.https://www.blogger.com/profile/13220814349193561823noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5010170380967519230.post-64216738131759654472015-06-05T21:10:34.957-07:002015-06-05T21:10:34.957-07:00Anonymous: Thank you for the verse from Isaiah, wh...Anonymous: Thank you for the verse from Isaiah, which provides another perspective on the topic at hand. I agree with you that the jeremiads in the Old Testament can be harsh. But here's a thought: those jeremiads are delivered within the context of an overarching view of Existence: i.e., they are intended to convey a message from Someone out there. On the other hand, the message delivered by Leopardi and Schopenhauer is that we come from Nothing and will end in Nothing, and that our brief stay here is a series of misfortunes and self-deceptions. I'm not in a position (nor will I ever be) to confirm the truth or falsity of either view; but that of Leopardi and Schopenhauer seems a great deal more harrowing.<br /><br />Thanks again.Stephen Pentzhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14882220887712092005noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5010170380967519230.post-39705761742378463052015-06-05T20:52:34.685-07:002015-06-05T20:52:34.685-07:00Fred: Thank you very much for your kind words. It...Fred: Thank you very much for your kind words. It's my pleasure to share the poems and paintings. I am always gratified and humbled when they turn out to be of interest to others as well. <br /><br />Thank you for the quote from Ecclesiastes: it is very apt here. I agree with you on translations of The Bible: it is definitely the original King James Version for me. In addition, I also recommend the translations by William Tyndale: the Tyndale Bible. As you probably know, although Tyndale was executed for heresy, his translations make up a significant percentage of the KJV. His Old and New Testaments were edited by David Daniell and published by Yale University Press in the early 1990s. Daniell has also written a biography of Tyndale.<br /><br />Your comment on life is perfect. That does indeed seem to be how it works. Which we eventually come to realize.<br /><br />As ever, it's good to hear from you.Stephen Pentzhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14882220887712092005noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5010170380967519230.post-7747763040527851292015-06-05T20:32:28.029-07:002015-06-05T20:32:28.029-07:00Brian: Thank you very much for the poem by cumming...Brian: Thank you very much for the poem by cummings. It captures the essence of the season well, doesn't it? It does provide an interesting introduction to a course on poetry -- poetry pared down to its essentials, as you suggest. Haiku-like, I think.<br /><br />I appreciate your sharing it. Thank you for visiting again.Stephen Pentzhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14882220887712092005noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5010170380967519230.post-27774628229139209892015-06-05T20:24:03.068-07:002015-06-05T20:24:03.068-07:00Ms Aykroyd: Thank you very much for visiting, and ...Ms Aykroyd: Thank you very much for visiting, and for your thoughts. It's a pleasure to hear from you again.<br /><br />"Leaves" was one of the first poems that I read when I discovered Mahon's poetry, and I was amazed. Its evocation of both the particulars and the general feeling of autumn is wonderful.<br /><br />Your comment on autumn is interesting. It has always been my favorite time of year. As you suggest, there is a bittersweetness, even sadness, that accompanies it, and memories (both good and bad) seem to be part of those feelings. The swiftly passing beauty adds the final twist, doesn't it?<br /><br />As always, thank you for stopping by.Stephen Pentzhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14882220887712092005noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5010170380967519230.post-59906015437980885882015-06-05T09:33:17.664-07:002015-06-05T09:33:17.664-07:00But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our ri...But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags; and we all do fade as a leaf; and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away.<br /> --Isaiah 64:6<br /><br />Leopardi and Schopenhauer have nothing on those jeremiads one finds in the Old Testament.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5010170380967519230.post-12863738565641684352015-06-05T09:24:09.854-07:002015-06-05T09:24:09.854-07:00Stephen,
"One generation passeth away, and ...Stephen, <br /><br />"One generation passeth away, and another generation cometh: but the earth abideth for ever."<br /><br />Ecclesiastes 1:4<br />KJR<br /><br />I've seen the modern KJR translations, but they lack something. Perhaps it's as Frost once said: poetry is what gets lost in the translation. <br /><br />One thing leads to another and another and another, and then you look back and find yourself far from where you began. I think it's called life. <br /><br />Again, thanks for introducing me to poets and poems, paintings and painters I had never heard of and probably would never have, aside from you. Fredhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10233846613173866140noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5010170380967519230.post-38082914393339239552015-06-05T07:11:14.397-07:002015-06-05T07:11:14.397-07:00Thanks for the leafy tour. It reminded me of a poe...Thanks for the leafy tour. It reminded me of a poem I liked to open my poetry section with - cummings' l(a . In four words it revealed much of poetry's method, or what I like to call the criss in poetry - compression, rhythm, image, shape, sound - although as this poem is fundamentally unspeakable, sound wouldn't much count. <br /><br />e.e. cummings - [l(a]<br /><br />l(a<br />le<br />af<br />fa<br />ll<br />s)<br />one<br />l<br />inessBrianhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12068470029393614652noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5010170380967519230.post-48436797063399325102015-06-05T02:23:55.687-07:002015-06-05T02:23:55.687-07:00I love that Derek Mahon poem too. Personally, the ...I love that Derek Mahon poem too. Personally, the turn to autumn is the one I find particularly difficult these days. It can be beautiful, but it also means that the dark winter is on its way - and even setting that aspect aside, it just seems that the start of autumn reminds me of an overwhelming number of things. Clarissa Aykroydhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08571136118573329263noreply@blogger.com