Tuesday 22 January 2013

“Poetry of the Past, Poetry of Today”

Today…..remembrance of George Gordon’s birth….Lord Byron, born on this January day, in 1788.

Here is a passage from Childe Harold’s Pilgrimage……
Like the Chaldean, he could watch the stars,
Till he had peopled them with beings bright
As their own beams; and earth, and earth-born jars,
And human frailties, were forgotten quite:
Could he have kept his spirit to that flight,
He had been happy; but this clay will sink
Its spark immortal, envying it the light
To which it mounts, as if to break the link
That keeps us from yon heaven which woos us to its brink.

~~~~~Lord Byron


Lord Byron reached those beams at age 36….one wonders at all the poems that might have achieved immortality as well, had he lived more tomorrows on earth.
I especially enjoyed Richard Blanco’s poem, “One Today”……..read at the inauguration.
This poet is the personification of what he chose to convey through his poetic words. I love poetry; to me, the depth of feelings in a short passage can rival chapters of literary prose.
If you missed Richard’s reading…..visit this link. Richard is the youngest poet to achieve the honor of inaugural recognition, at age 44. His poem, as well, has attained immortality in the pages of history.
Let’s hope this nation can succeed at coming together as one, for all our tomorrows.


http://movies.yahoo.com/news/richard-blanco-first-latino-gay-poet-delivers-inaugural-192155505.html

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