An Evening Walk When Spring is Already Old : : By Jason Allen – Paisant : : : :
On the third of June
I re-enter the woods
The trees’ souls
have bloomed into canopies
There is volume
not just skeletons
Breeze passes into the placenta
of this womb
There is hiding place
in the trees
and the birds sing differently
the leaves
have become a sea
in my body
• From Thinking With Trees by Jason Allen-Paisant (Carcanet, £10.99)
“An Evening Walk When Spring is Already Old “By Jason Allen – Paisant
In The Evening ( Russian Poem ) : : By Anna Akhmatova : Translation By Late Richard McKane : : : :
In the Evening
There was such inexpressible sorrow
in the music in the garden.
The dish of oysters on ice
smelt fresh and sharp of the sea.
He said to me ‘I am a true friend!’
He touched my dress.
There is no passion
in the touch of his hands.
This is how one strokes a cat or a bird,
this is how one looks at a shapely horsewoman.
There is only laughter in his eyes
under the light gold of his eyelashes.
The violins’ mourning voices
sing above the spreading smoke:
‘Give thanks to heaven:
you are alone with your love for the first time.’
“In The Evening”, A Russian Love Poem By Anna Akhmatova : Translated By English Poet and translator, Late Richard McKane is About love deprivation with emphasis on personal experience. : : : :
Notes for each of the lines Pending visit this post again later on to enjoy the appreciation of the poem V Jayaraj Pune India August 10, 2023 : : : :
Grey Evening : : By D H Lawrence ; : : :
When you went, how was it you carried with you
My missal book of fine, flamboyant Hours?
My book of turrets and of red-thorn bowers,
And skies of gold, and ladies in bright tissue?
Now underneath a blue-grey twilight, heaped
Beyond the withering snow of the shorn fields
Stands rubble of stunted houses; all is reaped
And trodden that the happy summer yields.
Now lamps like yellow echoes glimmer among
The shadowy stubble of the under-dusk;
As farther off the scythe of night is swung
Ripe little stars come rolling from their husk.
And all the earth is gone into a dust
Of greyness mingled with a fume of gold,
Timeless as branching lichens, pale as must,
Since all the sky has withered and gone cold.
And so I sit and scan the book of grey,
Feeling the shadows like a blind man reading,
All fearful lest I find the last words bleeding:
Nay, take this weary Book of Hours away.
“Grey Evening” First appeared in the 1916 collection, Amores By David Herbert ( D H ) Lawrence is About Pictorial “blue-grey twilight”of An Automnal “Evening” in fancy and showy “flamboyant Hours” , the “earth under gleaming shadowy dusk”of “lamp like yellow” colour as well as the natural melancholy in the nighttime of departure of love : : : :
Stanza 1 : : “When you went, how was it you carried with you 1
My missal book of fine, flamboyant Hours? 2
My book of turrets and of red-thorn bowers, 3
And skies of gold, and ladies in bright tissue?” 4 : : lines 1 To 4 : : : :
About A Christian Man or Woman attending a Mass Of Roman Catholic Church who celebrates with the gathering of devotee’s responsive reading or singing different prayers which are contained in a book 📖 called ” missal book” 📚 : A gothic old fashioned reflection of the Middle Ages referred here ( in lines 1 & 2 ) as ” missal book of ( “fine , flamboyant” , that is ‘showy’ ) Hours” ( line 2 ) which draws a picture of “turrets” , “red -thorn bowers” and “ladies in bright tissue ” and skies of gold” 🪙 ( lines 3 & 4 ) : The “turrets” are small 🗼 towers extending above a building ( of a Church ? ) whereas ” bowers ” are pergola of the arbour – like Trees , here “red thorn” trees that provide a shady ‘resting place’. These pictorial images represent a Christian man’s or woman’s incomprehensible allusions and a puzzling 🤔 terseness depicted by the Speaker in this exoteric expression of a common man of public in a modernist poem. That is why the speaker asks a Christian devotee or worshippers , ” how was it when you carried my “missal book of Hours” with you when you went to a mass /prayers ( understood by enlightened inner circle only ) of the Church ! ? ( lines 1 & 2 ) : : The howdy , here is cryptic. However, the “book of Hours” signify the fine showy hours of Church – Going ‘Day’ of a fine “flamboyant” season in late Autumn time. 🍂 🍁 ( line 8 ) : : : :
Stanza 2 : : ” Now underneath a blue-grey twilight, heaped 5
Beyond the withering snow of the shorn fields 6
Stands rubble of stunted houses; all is reaped 7
And trodden that the happy summer yields.” 8 : : lines 5 To 8 : : : :
About a rural ‘ Countryside’ Evening appearing in as a “blue – grey twilight” heaped of the “shorn fields” ( lines 5 & 6 ) , Meaning, the crops in the “fields” have been already “shorn” or reaped, as if cut ( or ‘clipped off’ like , in the hair curls of the babies , or in the wool of the sheeps. ) , and large quantities have been arranged in the “heaps”or in stacks. : : “all is reaped” ( line 7 ) : all natural products of crops have been ‘harvested’and ‘gathered’ : : “stands rubble of stunted houses; ( line 7 ) Meaning, the rubble ( the remains ) of houses are still standing ( holding firm upright ) as if destroyed , or say they are like in a condition ‘in need of repairs’. And this repairing condition indicates a marking that something has happened which has made to seem belittled of their worth. : : The “weathering snow” of the fields ( line 6 ) indicates the snowy Day of the event of snow ❄️ falling 🌨️ or influence of the weather in late Autumn time that must have impaired in vigour. : : : :
Stanza 3 : : ” Now lamps like yellow echoes glimmer among 9
The shadowy stubble of the under-dusk; 10
As farther off the scythe of night is swung 11
Ripe little stars come rolling from their husk.” 12 : : lines 9 To 12 : : : :
About an Urban Scene where ” lamps like yellow echoes glimmer” ( line 9 ) which shines brightly among twilight. In “The shadowy stubble of the under – dusk ; ” ( line 10 ) , The Poet Speaker draws a colourful picture of the ‘brighter Sunshine’, here in its last gleam of the yellow colour lights resembling the lamp light. Husks are The plants materials ( pieces of coverings , stems and small leaves separated from the grain- seeds ) not gathered and remained in the “shorn fields” which have been in – mixed and are echoic or mirrored in 🌇 gloaming of the nightfall that appears soon as The “shadowy stubble of the under – dusk.” ( line 10 ) : : ” the scythe of night 🌃 is swung” ( line 11 ) : Meaning , the green grass of the grain plants cut with the scythe( sidh ) , actually an edge tool with a curved blade and long handles for both hands , but the Poet Speaker calls it “scythe of night” which is “swung”that is, the night has moved in a curve or arc , parallel to the field(s) to spread the thickness of shadow on the earth through its shears. : : The outcome is thankfully and hopefully brilliant ; As “Ripe little ⭐✨ stars come rolling from their husk.” ( line 12 ) : The word , “rolling” narrates the grains , fruits , etc. Produced and harvested in the fields are very much like Stars ( emitting shining light ) seemingly rolled down from their husks similar to the shadows of the darkness of the sky spread across the landscape at the end of the day. : : “Ripe(ness)” suggests the ‘ready to eat’ state of the grains. ; as well as ripe time suitable for some changes in the life at social and personal levels of the changing mindsets with man’s advanced growth and expected development in the changing seasons ahead. : That is how an onset of ( late ) “Automnal Night” happens from its earlier “Grey Evening” time of the Day which has been metaphorically endured in a way– artfully cut and engraved in to a precious gem of poem. : : : :
Stanza 4 : : ” And all the earth is gone into a dust 13
Of greyness mingled with a fume of gold, 14
Timeless as branching lichens, pale as must, 15
Since all the sky has withered and gone cold.” 16 : : lines 13 To 16 : : : :
About “earth gone in to a dust” ( line 13 ) that is broken or fallen apart in to the dusty fragments “Of greyness mingled”, that is mixed up to combine together ” with a fumes of gold.” ( line 14 ) : : “timeless as branching lichens” ( nice simile ), “pale as must”( line 15 ) : branching “litchens ” are thallophytic plants with crusty patches or bushy growths found on tree trunks or rocks or ground. The Poet Speaker compares their paleness with “must” named to a grape juice before or during fermentation processed in winery. The colour occuring alongside the grey Evening is thus inmixed also with purplish red colour essentially of the alcoholic Wine 🍷 🍷 🍷 🍷 “All the sky has withered”, that is , all the freshness , vigour or vitality have been lost and has “gone cold” ( line 16 ) since the grey Evening too has withered and nightfall is being turned out to an Automnal Night with the end of an Day. : : : :
Stanza 5 : : ” And so I sit and scan the book of grey, 17
Feeling the shadows like a blind man reading, 18
All fearful lest I find the last words bleeding: 19
Nay, take this weary Book of Hours away.” 20 : : lines 17 To 20 : : : :
About seeing what would happen to a blind man, reading “the book of grey” with his fingers, fearing he may find “the last words bleeding” and about the same shadowy feeling and fearfulness of the Poet Speaker as he says ,” I sit and scan the book of grey” lines 17 to 19 📖 : : The reset of the scene of Jesus Christ’s last moments in His bleeding — of the redness which has to be inmixed with the 🌧️ Rain that has to occur at the Nightlong Hours of His taking all pains from the lives on Earth . : The thrust of This “life in death” and The aforesaid feeling and fearfulness , together with the finding of the “last words of bleeding” by the Poet Speaker brings for himself , A ‘Melancholy‘ of the overwhelmingly bleak , and desolate atmosphere of the Death in the Shadowy nightfall and Night of Darkness on “His Departure”: : The poet Speaker himself has plundered this finding of His “last Words” from the ” book of Hours“which he reads with unbearable pain. Hence The last line 20 , “Nay, take this weary Book of Hours away.” 20 : :
Carol Rumen writes in Guardian about the last line 20 : “.. . quaintly poetic on account of the “Nay”’, but the word may have other connotations for Lawrence, who had earlier experimented with poems in the Nottinghamshire dialect. It may simply emphasise how plainly and passionately the new, lover-less Book of Hours is rejected. : The Poem ‘ Grey Evening’ will rarely find its way into the popular anthologies. All the same it expresses the force of Lawrence’s personality : it has original organic life. It may partly imitate “a missal book” but it’s alive with “fine, flamboyant Hours” and the raw melancholy of their loss. ” : : : : ( “Quaintly” poetic manner is a strange old fashioned yet not unpleasant manner. ) : : : :
” Grey Evening “, By D H Lawrence Information Appreciation and poem Analysis Presented by V Jayaraj Pune India August 9 , 2023 : : : : : : : :
The Fury Of Sunsets : : By Anne Sexton ( 1928 – 1974 ) , Newton, Massachusetts : : : : : : : :
Something
cold is in the air,
an aura of ice
and phlegm. 1
All day I’ve built
a lifetime and now
the sun sinks to
undo it. 2
The horizon bleeds
and sucks its thumb. 3
The little red thumb
goes out of sight. 4
And I wonder about
this lifetime with myself,
this dream I’m living. 5
I could eat the sky
like an apple
but I’d rather
ask the first star:
why am I here?
why do I live in this house?
who’s responsible?
eh? 6
— Anne Sexton
“The Fury Of Sunsets”, 6 Stanzas ‘Evening Poem’ By an American Confessional Poet Anne Sexton is About persisting musing on the unavoidable death, the impermanence of life and dying , the momentary Natural World. Anne Sexton ( contemporary of Sylvia Plath; she also, like Plath, took her own life. However her personal Style of poetry was different from Sylvia.) has employed fantastic surreal imageries which beat through cleverness and wit.
Notes for each of the 6 Stanzas Pending visit this post again later on to enjoy the appreciation of the poem V Jayaraj Pune India August 8 , 2023 : : : :
A City Sunset : : By T E Hulme Alluring, Earth seducing, with high conceits1
is the sunset that reigns 2
at the end of westward streets. … 3
A sudden flaring sky 4
troubling strangely the passer by 5
with visions, alien to long streets, of 6 Cytharea 7
or the smooth flesh of Lady Castlemaine. … 8
A frolic of crimson 9
is the spreading glory of the sky, 10
heaven’s jocund maid 11
flaunting a trailed red robe 12
along the fretted city roofs 13
about the time of homeward going crowds14
— a vain maid, lingering, loth to go … 15
“A City Sunset”An illustrative Modern Poem following the French Vers libre ( Or Free Verse ) model , By T E Hulme is About Red / Crimson Sunset comparable to the naked “smooth flesh” of “Lady Castlemaine”, mistress of King Charles II as well as about An Evening Sunset – as seen by a London-dweller – intuitive yet pictorial , that is colourful but non rational or illogical.
Notes for each of the 15 lines Pending visit this post again later on to enjoy the appreciation of the poem V Jayaraj Pune India August 7 , 2023 : : : :
F 669 : : An Ignorance a Sunset : By Emily Dickinson : : : ;
An ignorance a Sunset 1
Confer upon the Eye 2
Of Territory — Color 3
Circumference — Decay 4
Its Amber Revelation 5
Exhilarate — Debase 6
Omnipotence’ inspection 7
Of Our inferior face 8
And when the solemn features 9
Confirm — in Victory 10
We start — as if detected 11
In Immortality. 12
“An Ignorance a Sunset “By Emily Dickinson is About ‘in-mixing of Sun’ with the ‘Divine.’ She diffuses The “inspection by “Omnipotence” , that is the state of being everywhere at once , Or Seeming to be everywhere at 🔂 once which is an overwhelming feeling of veneration and admiration inspiring religiosity. The Sun gains in the status of divine for its “solemn features” like it’s ” Amber Revelation”( line 5 ) that “Exhilarates”, Meaning, it is filled with reverence , glory , and an inspiring awe. The sunset 🌇 debase(s) too ( line 6 ) , Meaning it lowers in quality. The Poet Speaker’s deep thoughts 💬 put together, struggle to find meaning in such contrast to exhilarating & debasing which is a state of uncertainty with religious doubts. That is why the opening wordings take a start with, ” An ignorance a sunset 🌆 : Its colourful views are watched by Man through his / her “eyes”which maps up the “territory– Color”and “Circumference”( Size at distance “) and “— Decay” ( gradual decrease ) as discussed in lines 2 , 3 & 4 requiring a consulted / expanding knowledge in area of one’s religiosity. : : : : The Poem confronts “In Immortality” in its final Stanza. The sunset “Confirms solemn ( earnest and dignified ) features” — in “Victory”( lines 9 & 10 ) : : The final lines 11 & 12 , ” We start — as if detected 11
In Immortality.” 12 : : Man’s perpetual life after death , that is, being “In immortality” is “detected”, Meaning , first noticed or heard , then sensed and perceived, and finally , determined in the existence , presence or facts of immortality as confirmed by God , although the Poet Speaker has not directly mentioned His Name. : : : :
“An Ignorance a Sunset”, A Evening Poem By Emily Dickinson Information Appreciation and poem Analysis Presented by V Jayaraj Pune India August 6, 2023 : : : : : : : :
The Sunset Of Romanticism : : By Charles Baudelaire , Paris – France ( 1821 – 1867 ) : :
How beautiful a new sun is when it rises, 1
flashing out its greeting, like an explosion! 2
– Happy, whoever hails with sweet emotion 3
its descent, nobler than a dream, to our eyes! 4
I remember! I’ve seen all, flower, furrow, fountain, 5
swoon beneath its look, like a throbbing heart… 6
– Let’s run quickly, it’s late, towards the horizon, 7
to catch at least one slanting ray as it departs! 8
But I pursue the vanishing God in vain: 9
irresistible Night establishes its sway, 10
full of shudders, black, dismal, cold: 11
an odour of the tomb floats in the shadow,12
at the swamp’s edge, feet faltering I go, 13
bruising damp slugs, and unexpected toads.14
— Charles Baudelaire
“The Sunset of Romanticism ” An Evening Poem in 14 lines , By the 19 Th Century French Poet Charles Baudelaire ( 1821 – 1867 ) , is About Sunset as “like a throbbing heart” and describing the Evening Scene A Darker Edge. : : Baudelaire gained notoriety for his 1857 volume of poems, Les Fleurs du mal (The Flowers of Evil). His themes of sex, death, lesbianism, metamorphosis, depression, urban corruption, lost innocence and alcohol not only gained him loyal followers, but also garnered controversy. His poems were well rounded in the Symbolist sense. He retains a commitment to the primacy of the aesthetic experience. : : Romanticism is a Literary Movement of late 18 Th & Early 19 Th Centuries ; that is , Started 1780 , Ended 1830 / ( Some believes Until 1850 ) It can be characterized by a celebration of nature and the common man, a focus on individual experience, an idealization of women, and an embrace of isolation and melancholy.. Romanticism quickly spread throughout Europe and the United States to challenge the rational ideal held so tightly during the Enlightenment. First is Jean-Jacques Rousseau, who is often considered the father of Romanticism. And the last is Friedrich Nietzsche, who is sometimes considered the greatest Romantic. Romanticist practitioners found their voices across all genres, including literature, music, art, and architecture: : The artists emphasized that sense and emotions – not simply reason and order – were equally important means of understanding and experiencing the world. Romanticism celebrated the individual imagination and intuition in the enduring search for individual rights and liberty. Its ideals of the creative, subjective powers of the artist fueled avant-garde movements well into the 20th century. Reacting against the sober style of Neoclassicism preferred by most countries’ academies, the far reaching international movement valued originality, inspiration, and imagination, thus promoting a variety of styles within the movement. Upon the Increasing industrialization, many of the Romanticists emphasized the individual’s connection to Nature and an Idealized Past. Imagination, emotion, and freedom are certainly the focal points of romanticism. : : Baudelaire ( 1821 – 1867 ) wrote in 1846, “Romanticism is precisely situated neither in choice of subject nor in exact truth, but in a way of feeling.” : : “The depth of life reveals itself in all its profundity in whatever one is looking at, however ordinary that spectacle might be. That vision becomes the symbol of life’s depth ” ( Baudelaire From his Notebook. )
With An “odour of the tomb’ is in the air” , ( line 12 ) and we move far away from the ‘beauteous evening’ of William Wordsworth.
Notes for each of the 14 lines Pending visit this post again later on to enjoy the appreciation of the poem V Jayaraj Pune India August 5 , 2023 : : : :
I know not how it falls on me : : By Emily Brontë : : : :
I know not how it falls on me, 1
This summer evening, hushed and lone; 2
Yet the faint wind comes soothingly 3
With something of an olden tone. 4
Forgive me if I’ve shunned so long 5
Your gentle greeting, earth and air! 6
But sorrow withers even the strong, 7
And who can fight against despair? 8
“I know not how it falls on me”, A Short 8 lines ( Evening ) Poem Written in 1831 , By Emily Brontë ( July 30 in 1818 in Thornton, Yorkshire — 1848 , died in T B , Aged 30 Only ) is About a familiarly sorrowful note From the Sun to a Summer’s 🌆 Evening. that falls upon The Poet Speaker who makes peace for her with Nature and the Natural Elements. : : : :
For The Speaker “Summer Evening” although 🥵 warm , has been “hushed” , that is in soft or subdued tone and “lone” Meaning , isolating one. Yet the “faint wind” comes soothingly With something of an olden tone.” ( lines 3 & 4 ) : The olden tone here suggests the old familiar tone of the fervor , that is feeling of warmth and intensity ( not harsh ) in the atmosphere of a place and the effect that it has on the Speaker.
The above experience of the Speaker makes her realise that she has “shunned so long” ( line 5 ) , that is , she has stayed away in her self imposed isolation from the Natural Elements : ” earth and air” ! ( line 6 ) of the Nature which didn’t miss sending her “gentle greetings” ( line 6 ) a tenderly kind and soothing ( faint wind : line 3 ) : : This ‘howdy’ and ‘ watcha’ expect her to do ? Yet she has failed to 🚭 notice these greetings to which she asks the Nature to grant her forgiveness. Having realised her mistake and for shunning from her side, the remedial power of the Nature she is ready to make peace for her with Nature and Natural Elements. : :
“But sorrow withers even the strong, 7
And who can fight against despair? ” 8
Her mindset is in a state in which all hope is lost. And she believes that no one can fight against despair. Emily Brontë once 🔂 wrote another 8 lines more famous Poem , : : : : : : : : ” Long neglect has worn away
Half the sweet enchanting smile;
Time has turned the bloom to grey;
Mould and damp the face defile.” ( Only First 4 of 8 lines ) : : : :
One can see Emily Bronte ‘s constant Struggle between her Faith in Nature : With Healing Power of Natural Elements And Her Melancholy of remaining in sad Pensive 😔🤔 Moods across her astonishingly Brilliant Novel , ” Wuthering Hights ” and Her Poems including this short Evening Poem. She has passionately searched for harmony between Natural Energy and much needed Calm. In the Poem , “I know not how it falls on me” she profoundly presents her familiarly sorrowful ( olden ) Notes and Tones From the Sun to a Summer’s 🌆 Evening and reveals that she really doesn’t know how the Summertime Sun up to its Evening time falls on her from its harshness to softening tenderness.: : Sorrow(fulness) weathers even the strong. She couldn’t fully overcome from Her loneliness and self imposed isolation and live more to feel the healing Power of Nature and Natural Elements and their Beauty. : : : :
“I know not how it falls on me” By Emily Brontë , One Of The Best Evening Poem , Information ℹ️ Appreciation and poem Analysis Presented by V Jayaraj Pune India August 4 , 2023 : : : : : : : :
It is a Beauteous Evening, Calm and Free : :
BY William Wordsworth ( 1770 – 1850 ) : : : :
It is a beauteous evening, calm and free,
The holy time is quiet as a Nun
Breathless with adoration; the broad sun
Is sinking down in its tranquility;
The gentleness of heaven broods o’er the Sea;
Listen! the mighty Being is awake,
And doth with his eternal motion make
A sound like thunder—everlastingly.
Dear child! dear Girl! that walkest with me here,
If thou appear untouched by solemn thought,
Thy nature is not therefore less divine:
Thou liest in Abraham’s bosom all the year;
And worshipp’st at the Temple’s inner shrine,
God being with thee when we know it not.
“It is a Beauteous Evening, Calm and Free” , Most tranquilizing , conditioner elevator 🛗 Words in the Opening line of A Sterling quality that leads one’s Outing in a Beauteous Evening 🌆 and A Sonnet Written at Calais in August 1802 ,By Poet Laureate of England ( 1843 ) William Wordsworth ( 1770 – 1850 ) is About an Evening Walk on the beach with his 9 year-old daughter Caroline Vallon and describes the tranquility of the quiet 🤐 🤫 holy time when the broad sun is sinking down. Wordsworth reflects that if his young daughter is seemingly unaffected by the majesty of the scene it is because, being young, she is naturally at one with nature. : It was first published in the collection Poems, in Two Volumes in 1807, appearing as the 19 Th poem in a section entitled ‘Miscellaneous sonnets‘. : : Until that Friday 21 May 1802, Wordsworth had shunned the sonnet form, but his sister Dorothy’s recital of Milton’s sonnets had “fired him” and he went on to write some 415 in all. : : : : : : : : : : : The following information is as per Wikipedia’s Article. : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : “It is a beauteous evening” is the only “personal” sonnet he wrote at this time; others written in 1802 were political in nature and “Dedicated to Liberty” in the 1807 collection. : : The simile “quiet as a nun / Breathless with adoration” is often cited as an example of how a poet achieves effects. On the one hand “breathless” reinforces the placid evening scene Wordsworth is describing; on the other hand it suggests tremulous excitement, preparing the reader for the ensuing image of the eternal motion of the sea. : : The reference to Abraham’s bosom (cf. Luke 16:22) has also attracted critical attention as that is normally associated with Heaven (or at least Purgatory) in the Christian tradition, inviting comparison with the Lucy poems. : : However, a natural reading is that Wordsworth was simply stressing the closeness of the Child to the divine: Stephen Gill references Wordsworth’s ode: “Intimations of Immortality”. : : : : : : : : : : : : The ‘natural piety’ of children was a subject that preoccupied Wordsworth at the time and was developed by him in “Intimations”, the first 4 stanzas of which he had completed earlier in the year but had put aside because he could not decide the origin of the presumed natural affinity with the divine in children, nor why we lose it when we emerge from childhood. : : : : By 1804 he believed he had found the answer in the Platonic doctrine of the pre-existence of souls and was able to complete his ode. The 5 Th line in the sonnet, “The gentleness of heaven broods o’er the Sea”, references the creation story of Genesis 1:2 ( compare Milton’s Paradise Lost 7:235, a poem Wordsworth knew virtually by heart ), and a similar use of “broods” eventually appeared in “Intimations” in stanza VIII
“Thou, over whom thy Immortality
Broods like the Day, a Master o’er a Slave,
A Presence which is not to be put by … ” : : : :
The reference to the everlasting motion of the sea in the sonnet recalls the argument for immortality in Plato’s dialogue Phaedrus (which also treats erotic love). Directly across the water, these images ( and the direct imperative “Listen!”) were to be later echoed by Matthew Arnold, an early admirer ( with reservations ) of “Intimations”, in his poem “Dover Beach”, but in a more subdued and melancholy vein, lamenting the loss of faith, and in what amounts to free verse rather than the tightly disciplined sonnet form that so attracted Wordsworth. : : : :
Notes for each of the Stanzas / lines Pending visit this post again later on to enjoy the appreciation of the poem V Jayaraj Pune India August 3 , 2023 : : : : :
Schwarze Bohnen /Black Beans : : German Poem By Sarah Kirsch (1935 – 2013), : : Translated in to English, in the year 2014 By Prof. Anne Stokes , Ph. D. ( German Literature ) , Ohio State University. : : * ©️ Carcanet Press/From theguardian.com- Educational Purposes only. : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : In the afternoon I pick up a book 1
In the afternoon I put a book down 2
In the afternoon it enters my head there is war 3
In the afternoon I forget each and every war
In the afternoon I grind coffee 5
In the afternoon I put the ground coffee 6
Back together again gorgeous 7
Black beans 8
In the afternoon I take off my clothes put 9 them on 10
Apply make-up first then wash 11
Sing don’t say a thing 12
“Schwarze Bohnen”that is “Black Beans”, A Love Poem/ Afternoon Poem in German Literature By Sarah Kirsch , the acclaimed East German poet is About The long and dull , repetitive and uneasy 😰 afternoon 🫦 which is characterised by discourteous attention. : : : :
In the Afternoon, the pronoun “I” occurs 6 times , in lines 1 , 2 , 4 , 5 , 6 , 9 : : Which speeds up the Story and quickens the eventless activity. Whether the Woman in the Poem is waiting for her lover or what is a mystery . Perhaps his arrival as well as departing can be presumed in lines 9 , 10 & 11 , “In the afternoon I take off my clothes put 9 them on 10
Apply make-up first then wash” 11 : : And here, repetitive and persistently continual activities succeed in hiding the arrival and departing of a lover; and in line 11 , it appears in the hide out that keeps the duos and an event of love – making , in between them out of sight. : : : : : : : : : : : Last line 12 , “Sing don’t say a thing” 12 : : presents the final resolution as dénouement
|dey’noo,moÑ| |,dey,noo’moÑ| , that is , the outcome of the complex , mysterious Activities in which The Woman 👠 The Poet Speaker has indulged in. : : Carol Rumen in ‘The Guardian’ argues in the following Words , : : : : : : : : “Perhaps the last line (“sing don’t say a thing”) alludes to political astuteness ( deep & shrewd intelligence ) In a repressive society , ( Of East Germany in 60s of the last century , when this Poem was written. ) the poet might favour the traditional “song of love“- or “nature poetry” in preference to political comments the censor could interpret as ( punishable ! ) subversion. Singing and not speaking might also imply madness / love-dementia, where song becomes the only kind of speech available. The simple, cheery musical chime of the sing/thing rhyme lightens the mood and raises the possibility of a happy outcome. What drives the poem is its inner narrative – the story of an “I” who perceives, thinks, knows, forgets, and apprehends the world.” ( Mon 10 Feb 2014 in theguardian.com ) : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : The Woman – Poet signifies her comprehensive perceptions with ‘Good Sense‘ although ‘tedium‘ prevails through inconsolable afternoon. : : However In a chance act of coming together of the two 💜 ❤️ hearts and minds with resultant insights out of her doing and undoing , Her “I” at last finds a voice, and sings.”: : : :
A book is picked up and put down ( lines 1 & 2 ) ; then The Poet Speaker invites us penetrate into her own head, “there is war” that enters into her head 🗣️( line 3 ) : The power of some unexpressed emotion or event makes this speaker – woman “forget each and every war”( line 4 ) , And that is the repressive Society or a State , a sensitive Poet has to live on with, Perhaps everyday ; by virtue of the events / that are named as eventless talking by the people as the authorities have been asked to disclose that way ( that it has never happened )
“In the afternoon I grind coffee 5
In the afternoon I put the ground coffee 6
Back together again gorgeous 7
Black beans” 8 : : lines 5 To 8 : : : :
About a futile exercise that involves the Poet Speaker , first in “grind(ing) coffee ( line 5 ) , and then “put(ting) the ground coffee ( line 6 ) , ” Back 🔙 together again” as “gorgeous” ( line 7 ) revealed as ” Black beans” ( line 8 ) : Jolly good teasing one – another. Is it a kid’s silly 😜 clever tongue 👅 in cheek 😛 to be asked to disclose it out !? Yet it should not be viewed as implying a bad wit or provoking a laughter. The task of putting “the ground coffee/ Back together again” is not deliberately wanted by the Poet. It’s seriousness can be viewed as The Poet Speaker’s inner desire to get everything around her in her total control while living in then, a repressive Society of East Germany. : : Used material 🔙 to Usable Form is a recycling process that has been continuously invented by the capitalists and also approved and accepted by communists / Socialists. The books and information, The Coffee, Clothes and Cosmetics mentioned in the poem are the Means and Materials required for Use & Reuse. By the way, Shouldn’t we forget The various items of Prasada offered to The Deities , and garlanded Flowers 🌺🌹 for Poojas that decorates the Religious Ambience as well as the Offerings to invited/ summoned Great Gods through The Family Priests/ Purohits are also brought to Reuse by its Market Associates !? We see our roadside chaiwala /Tea vendor using dusted Tea mixture , again and again , to sell it as a late afternoon Tea for relaxation from the boredom. Hence the seriousness of the Fantastic stories in “Black beans” Of The Coffee , Etc. Can be viewed as a HARD HITTING Criticism of Markets – Driven , Money Makers Capitalists as well as Communists / Socialists as well as the authoritarian dictatorship of the Prevailing World. In the meanwhile , Shall we forget the Wars going on around Us / be it Actual OR Civil in the midst of Our ” “LOVE STORY” !? In the “Afternoon ” !! ??
Black Beans ( Schwarze Bohnen ) : Sarah Kirsch ( German ) : Anne Stokes ( English Translation ) : : Afternoon Poems : : Information Appreciation and poem Analysis Presented by V Jayaraj Pune India August 2 , 2023 : : : : : : : :
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