The Kintyre Forum

I think that the "Kintyre Forum Poem" thread has attracted much interest. To me , it would follow that a thread on poetry discussion may also attract interest.

I am not a great fan of reading prose fiction, apart from that, I don't have the time for it, so i have to give that thread a miss. I would however be interested in a less time consuming thread on poetry.

Might it be an idea to start a poetry discussion thread as a parallel to the book thread?

Sounds good to me.

A poetry forum is not my idea of fun but a poetry forum with Ionnsaigh in it has to be about as bad as it gets....

Great idea, Emdee! As soon as I get back, I'll be contributing as I do read poetry every single day.

Govangirl wrote:Great idea, Emdee! As soon as I get back, I'll be contributing as I do read poetry every single day.

I think you're back now.

Would you like to make any suggestions as to a way forward? Or can you make a suggestion as to the first poem that we might look at.

Could we look at Thomas Gray's Elegy, or is that too depressing?

It's been a long time since I've read that Emdee but I reckon it's a good place to start as we all surely contemplate our own mortality at times. I think there is a link to Burns as Gray in this poem elevates the common man. If I recall correctly, the point that impressed me most was when he wondered if there were any of the dead who could have been great poets or politicians or great leaders. I often contemplate that myself, what someone might have become if they had lived. I'll have to get it out today and have another read and then get back. Maybe we should start with your question on whether it is a 'too depressing' poem?

I don't think there will be a lot of interest though but I hope I'm proved wrong.

On reading it again, it really is a very powerful poem. I didn’t find it depressing at all, rather I felt it was consoling and comforting. The idea of someone dying in poverty, uneducated, remembered for nothing and their talents never recognised yet in the graveyard their life has as much meaning as their neighbour there who may be the most noblest and educated of them all is quite a strong one. Even ‘The paths of glory lead but to the grave’ and it makes you think of all those who were never given the chance to reveal their talents:
‘Full many a flow'r is born to blush unseen,
And waste its sweetness on the desert air.’

Or maybe that is why we need The X Factor?

The reason I suggested this poem is that I remember it well from the school, as we studied it for Higher English. I must say that at the time I did not appreciate the full significance of all that Gray was conveying, but as the years go by we begin to see our own life in context of the society in which we live, and the message of writings such as this become more clear. I don't think it is so much purely pastoral, or even spiritual, but has political undertones as well. Like Burns, as you say it highlights unrealised potential and stifled ambition in the population through the economic environment in which these people lived.

'Can storied urn or animated bust
Back to its mansion call the fleeting breath?
Can Honour's voice provoke the silent dust,
Or Flatt'ry soothe the dull cold ear of Death?'

These lines stood out for me this time simply because of my recent visit to Washington and the many memorials I visited.Is it possible that these can give life to a person? Can honour give them immortality? Can flattery make death easier to bear? (This made me think of the day when Thatcher leaves this Earth, for example). Do we build these memorials to make death easier to bear? I have contrasting thoughts - I was in awe of memorials like Lincoln's and believed the above words were true but at the Vietnam Wall, honouring all those youngsters and in the presence of their weeping parents, I couldn't equate the two. I just thought about the waste.
These lines also made me think about Shelley's poem, Ozymandias.

It would be great to hear from others like Hugh and Horse but also from younger posters still at school and who want to discuss a poem they're studying. Does the Higher English syllabus still include this poem?

I don't know if you will have a huge amount of posters on here guys but already it makes for interesting "reading" so keep it up! I keep trying to persuade my mother on here, maybe this thread will tempt her

Ags wrote:I don't know if you will have a huge amount of posters on here guys but already it makes for interesting "reading" so keep it up! I keep trying to persuade my mother on here, maybe this thread will tempt her

I think your mother would be able to make an excellent contribution to this thread.

Come on Emdee, let's have your views on the poem!

EMDEE wrote:

Ags wrote:I don't know if you will have a huge amount of posters on here guys but already it makes for interesting "reading" so keep it up! I keep trying to persuade my mother on here, maybe this thread will tempt her

I think your mother would be able to make an excellent contribution to this thread.

Thank you Emdee - and I agree!! You her and Govangirl could teach us all a lot!! I'm on the case!!

Govangirl wrote:Come on Emdee, let's have your views on the poem!

From the sublime to the ridiculous,I haven't been able to get on tonight because I've been inside the washing machine trying to unblock the drain. Various problems. kitchen floor swimming with soapy water, absence of specialist tools, trying to keep a ten-week old pup out of the way, the absence of a forklift to turn the bloody thing on its back and side. I finally managed to remove about four inches of tightly packed solidified fluff from one of the tubes, and 85p in small coinage from the other. I think it's OK now.

Better not speak too soon. I've put a washing on to try it out. Famous last words etc.

You will see why Gray's Elegy has not been on my mind tonight. I was going to go through it again before putting any more on the thread. Maybe I will be able to get a look at it later.

EMDEE wrote: trying to keep a ten-week old pup out of the way, the absence of a forklift to turn the bloody thing on its back and side.

OMG the poor wee dug! Anyone got the number for the RSPCA?