Historians' POV Requested

[WindChyme]

This poem below was written in 1927 by my great grandfather on the subject of the death of his mother-- my 2nd great grandmother-- 50 years earlier, when he was 19 years old. It's clear that he was badly shaken by her death. While it doesn't seem too good as a poem-- Come on, Senna Jawa, have a whack!-- it conveys deep feelings and reveals an intimate moment in his life. As I read it, I wondered if this style-- not one I like much-- is in any way reflective of the time in which it was written? Historians?


A Fond Memory of January 1877

A full moon filled my room with light
As sad I brooding lay one night
Viewing again a scene of death
Mother sighing her final breath.

Tho many weary months had flown
I still felt crushed and all alone
Ambition gone, no heart to strive
Nor even wish to stay alive.

When lo! she stood in that soft beam
Said, as I wondered, Do I dream?
Be strong, my son, I have not gone
I am still here and looking on.

Oh! what power those words have brought
Through all the years that I have sought
To be the man she bid me be
And live the truths she taught to me.

How oft from some temptation turned
How oft the lures of evil spurned
Said to the tempter, "No, be gone."
For she was there and looking on.

When in life's battle we are thrown
Remember we are not alone
Arise, fight on, they have not gone;
Our loved are here and looking on.

 

[WeirdGirl]

Quoth the raven nevermore...

Neither historian nor poet but I like it ! Where are all the critics? I guess no-one wants to slam a poem about your grandma.

 

[Maria2394]

Re: Quoth the raven nevermore...

Neither historian nor poet but I like it ! Where are all the critics? I guess no-one wants to slam a poem about your grandma.

Hi WG
I dont consider myself a critic, nor a historian, but I do like the poem. It is well crafted, in my opinion which means little and the rhyme is subtle and doesnt seem forced. I would enjoy reading more of his poems if you have any...and btw, does the talent run in the family?

 

[eagleyez]

very touching

i liked it.

understand...

 

[The_Fool]

Not being a formal student, take what I say with a grain of salt. To me it has a kind of Byron/Keats lilt to it. Which makes sense, as that would be a typical example of poetry read in that day. Rhyming isn't always bad. I enjoy a poem with a beat. I still like poetry that can be read aloud and not lose meaning when lifted from the page. With all due respect to Rybka, of course....

 

[WindChyme]

Re: Quoth the raven nevermore...

Neither historian nor poet but I like it ! Where are all the critics? I guess no-one wants to slam a poem about your grandma.

Thanks for your comment... and I must say that I'm glad they don't feel the need to slam grammy, 'cause along another thread a different post of mine got me a minor bruise or two.

 

[WindChyme]

Re: Re: Quoth the raven nevermore...

Hi WG
I dont consider myself a critic, nor a historian, but I do like the poem. It is well crafted, in my opinion which means little and the rhyme is subtle and doesnt seem forced. I would enjoy reading more of his poems if you have any...and btw, does the talent run in the family?

My great grandfather did write other poems, and, as a matter of fact, he seemed intent on re-interpreting scripture, too. No mean feat. I wish I knew him. I kept this poem with my genealogy papers, but I'll see what else he penned. Maybe give him his own little showcase!

Does it run in the family... To me? Hm... Not sure if it ran to me or not. I'll gather my courage by and by and ask you all to answer that question.

Meanwhile, I thank you for your kind attention.

 

[WindChyme]

very touching

i liked it.

understand...

You're a man of few words...
I admire and always fail to achieve this myself.

 

[WindChyme]

Promise to read

Not being a formal student, take what I say with a grain of salt. To me it has a kind of Byron/Keats lilt to it. Which makes sense, as that would be a typical example of poetry read in that day. Rhyming isn't always bad. I enjoy a poem with a beat. I still like poetry that can be read aloud and not lose meaning when lifted from the page. With all due respect to Rybka, of course....

Tomorrow I will read "Your Stuff" and return the favor of a comment. Now I relinquish the computer to another.

 

[eagleyez]

You're a man of few words...
I admire and always fail to achieve this myself.

it could be laziness...

but your right. "brevity is the soul of wit" and old Irishman told me that once.

and I'd love to read more of those dusty old poems. That is priceless.

(maybe you could toss off one or two, or am i missing something)

im so not in the loop around here.

 

[Angeline]

You're a man of few words...
I admire and always fail to achieve this myself.

Oh no he's not.

I really liked this--I think it's true value though is less as a "great poem," than as an historical document--and for you, a piece of family history.

And that's fine. It's certainly well written, but what is really fascinating about it to me is this-- Though it was written in 1927, the "Roaring 20s," it echos an earlier time. So although your grandfather was an old man at the time of the writing--the style of it is more consistent with poetry of the late 19th century, when he was a young man who lost his mother. In that sense that agues against your notion that poetry reflects era, but maybe he did that on purpose.

He could have done this as an hommage to his mother--or maybe he was too old to appreciate the jazz age, lol. I think your idea is really astute though--I think poetry in general reflects both the time and culture in which it is written. That whole idea really fascinates me.

(Ask Lauren, lol--I've yammered at her about it a lot.)

 

[eagleyez]

Oh no he's not.

I really liked this--I think it's true value though is less as a "great poem," than as an historical document--and for you, a piece of family history.

And that's fine. It's certainly well written, but what is really fascinating about it to me is this-- Though it was written in 1927, the "Roaring 20s," it echos an earlier time. So although your grandfather was an old man at the time of the writing--the style of it is more consistent with poetry of the late 19th century, when he was a young man who lost his mother. In that sense that agues against your notion that poetry reflects era, but maybe he did that on purpose.

He could have done this as an hommage to his mother--or maybe he was too old to appreciate the jazz age, lol. I think your idea is really astute though--I think poetry in general reflects both the time and culture in which it is written. That whole idea really fascinates me.

(Ask Lauren, lol--I've yammered at her about it a lot.)

well i get to blathering sometimes, true, (your fault angel)

 

[Angeline]

well i get to blathering sometimes, true, (your fault angel)

you blather, i dither--drives everyone else nuts, but works for us, lol.

just wait till we visit Eve--we'll curl her hair with all the yakking

 

[eagleyez]

she'll wanna shoot the apple off my head.

(an i"ll let her)

 

[Angeline]

One last point on this poem--it occured to me last night that it sounds very much like Edgar Allan Poe. The cadence is similar and certainly the subject, the way it's addressed has a Poe-like melancholy.

Now Poe died in 1849; he also wrote Annabel Lee, the famous elegy to his dead lbeoved, that year. So while Poe was not a contemporary of your great-grandfather, he would likely be well-known to a literate young man.

Was your family from the Baltimore area? I'm wondering if your great-grandfather was familiar with Poe's writing. His mother may have read Poe--there could be a connection there that would explain the why the poem is constructed the way it is.

Not to be silly about this, but it struck me that these are puzzle pieces that may fit.

Angeline,
Literary Sleuth

 

[WindChyme]

One last point on this poem--it occured to me last night that it sounds very much like Edgar Allan Poe. The cadence is similar and certainly the subject, the way it's addressed has a Poe-like melancholy.

Now Poe died in 1849; he also wrote Annabel Lee, the famous elegy to his dead lbeoved, that year. So while Poe was not a contemporary of your great-grandfather, he would likely be well-known to a literate young man.

Was your family from the Baltimore area? I'm wondering if your great-grandfather was familiar with Poe's writing. His mother may have read Poe--there could be a connection there that would explain the why the poem is constructed the way it is.

Not to be silly about this, but it struck me that these are puzzle pieces that may fit.

Angeline,
Literary Sleuth

My great grandfather was born in Canada and was graduated from some level of school in 1876 (a year before his mother died). He and 3 other students won prizes for their scores in some adademic testing. The school received money from the Canadian federal government, I think, and the students each received several books of their own choosing. At least one of his choices was a book of poetry. This starts to add up! Perhaps if I can discover what books great granddad was reading around the time when great great grandma died, I will understand him all the better. I am going to look up the newspaper article where I found this information. I remember it was very hard to read, but it's worth making another attempt.

Thanks for thinking this over. So much of my world these past few years has been discovering and getting to know little "human all too human" things about my forebearers. This has been very rewarding. Thanks to all of you who have put in your ideas.

 

[WindChyme]

"Your Stuff" perused...

Not being a formal student, take what I say with a grain of salt. To me it has a kind of Byron/Keats lilt to it. Which makes sense, as that would be a typical example of poetry read in that day. Rhyming isn't always bad. I enjoy a poem with a beat. I still like poetry that can be read aloud and not lose meaning when lifted from the page. With all due respect to Rybka, of course....

It took me an extra day, but I finally made it to "Your Stuff" and read a half a dozen selections. I thought they were random choices, but then I made a list and they included "Rain," "Snow," "Solstice," and "Smoke." Something about me is a weather junkie! The first thing I always ask about a place where someone visited is, "What was the weather like?" Looking at where to visit, I demand to know the climate. I am having a cousin visit in May, and I have chosen down to the day because of the likely weather my cousin will find. My own name here begins with "Wind," so I am not surprized that I gravitated to these works of yours. I enjoyed them all. The story, "Rain," was unrelentingly sensual, and I imagine you intended it that way-- mission accomplished!

My favorite line of the poetry was, "Hair on a rampage" Fortissimo! Debra Messing, Carol Kane come to mind... so does Carrot Top, but I think I can evict him.

I did not like the "Angry Time" poem much, but then it could have been a lack of weather! Seriously, I am not much for mixing sex and violence having been influenced deeply by Lenny Bruce as a kid. He spent a lot of energy on differentiating between "sex" and "violence" and trying to convince people that violence is, indeed, an evil where sex is not. Well, maybe I ought not to speak for Lenny, but that was how I took what he said. (Finally, I know that your poem was not really, really violent, but rather pushing the boundaries of enthusiasm some. Still, this type of thing doesn't appeal to me so much.)

I don't know if you all like the rating business, but I chose not to put a number to the quality of your work. I thought your prose was better than the poetry and that it was, in fact, poetic. But to score you seemed like giving myself undeserved airs.