Askance aware of existence, suspicious of its dance
Denying Chronos, my trance consigning him to the fictitious
The roil of men as they toil, till the soil, ‘til awakens the soul
To the stark essence of the dark, the simple incense of light
Both rapture in flight, beyond tempo’s capture its height
To strong emotions treason to reason, that know no season
If, improbable impossibility, pendulum experienced passion,
Belatedly it would bypass the burden of its beat
Lay waste to the lies, 'til they lie unmoving at their feet
And laugh for though timeless, emotions change
And laugh for though timeless, their recipients are not
No measure, whether hither little or thither much,
Infinite for to live, to hate, to love.
2000
"Waterfall" (1961) Maurits Cornelis Escher
This might sound a little weird, but I can almost hear this as a rap. It has some interesting rhythm and a driving anger at absurdity.
ReplyDeleteHeya Kass, you're my most regular commenter (in the short timescale of this blog's public existence). It's always a pleasure to see you, thanks for coming by. I responded to your comment on the Umisei Yamasei post, you might be interested in reading that too.
ReplyDeleteI've been told that before... And I've tried reading it to many different rap rhythms since, but I just don't hear it. I don't think I'm an instinctive rapper, but that would make sense, it's not a skill one improvises, and I hardly listen to rap.
I've also been told that this piece is too much of a private joke to inflict on readers. I still do though, secretly hoping to find a person who sees it the way I do. We'd then make and eat jam (provided they weren't an evil double from a parallel universe).
RAP = "réapprendre à parler", according to MC Solaar (who himself got it from someone else).
ReplyDeleteAs for time: always have thought it didn't exist. We only made it up because we needed to measure continuity.
Your poem sometimes reminds me (though it's different) of "Meeting point" (Louis MacNeice) and "Fern Hill" (Dylan Thomas).
The rhythm and density compels to read again...
Hello S.! Thanks for commenting! Sorry if it felt like I dragooned you into it.
ReplyDeleteYeah, while I'm not especially fond of his music, MC Solaar does occasionally have some excellent wordplay going on.
(for those who don't speak french: Réapprendre à parler => relearning how to speak)
Agreed, about time. But as figments of our imaginations go, it a rather useful one.
Since you've told me about them, I read both of those poems (maybe reread the D. Thomas one, not sure)... I really enjoyed Meeting point, especially the way it can be taken to mean completely different things. Thanks for the recommendation.
I was also reminded of Rap and Louis MacNeice, and also Gerard Manley Hopkins (especially The Wreck of the Deutschland), by the rhythm of this. It's fantastic and really pulls you in and along.
ReplyDeleteHey there Eryl, thanks for dropping by armed with praise and poetry for me to look up!
ReplyDeleteIt's out, it's official, I'm poeilliterate... (unless we're talking about beat poets, in which case I'm only semi-illiterate)
S. however is not, and when I said I wasn't seeing the similarities after having read The wreck of the Deutschland a couple of times, she recommended that I take a look at another of Hopkins' poems, "God's grandeur". Content set aside, I now see why the rhythm would bring Hopkins to mind.
Which of course raises the very important question, was Gerard Manley Hopkins ever told, back in the eighteen-hundreds, that his poetry was reminiscent of rap?
I've always loved these tricks on the eye by MC Escher. Poem fits the picture. It may be a private joke, but I'm impressed by the piece.
ReplyDeleteEscher is an old crush of mine! I'm going to post the following in part gilt part gold (sooner or later) but since you like Escher you might have fun looking at the following links now:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.andrewlipson.com/escher/relativity.html
http://www.andrewlipson.com/escher/balcony.html
http://www.andrewlipson.com/escher/belvedere.html
http://www.andrewlipson.com/escher/ascending.html
http://www.andrewlipson.com/escher/waterfall.html
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Thanks Theresa, perhaps it's not that private a joke after all? : j