Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with poem

Beyond Good and Evil...of feet

duckierose — Thu, 17 Dec 2009 14:12:17 -0800

Did Nietzsche write a poem about feet? In one of my philosophy classes in college we read some of Nietzsche's poems. I have a distinct memory of giggling with one of my college chums about a specific poem, the subject of which was feet.

I remember nothing about the actual poem. The memory is completely about laughing at the fact that Nietzsche would have a poem about feet.

Now, this was 7 or 8 years ago, so the details are even more fuzzy. Recently, the memory was brought to the forefront of my mind again, and I tried to find Nietzsche's foot poem. I tried a variety of web searches, but nothing brought up anything that rung a bell.

So, I pose to you: Is there a Nietzsche poem about feet? Is it perhaps some other philosopher, and I just confused the two? Or is the man who runs the filing cabinets in my brain just totally screwing with me via fabricating this memory?

Upon read-through I realized, it might have been about shoes, and not feet. It was definitely the sub-ankle area, though.

Help me find a poem!

nataliecay — Wed, 16 Dec 2009 12:34:49 -0800

Help me find a good inspirational poem to frame as a Christmas gift for someone going through a hard time. With the economy in the tank, my dad is going through a hard time with his company and I wanted to find a classic uplifting poem to frame for a Christmas gift. Something inspirational that makes you think. Googling fails me as it only seems to bring up the cheesy poems that don't have any deep thought behind them.

Not being one who studies poetry, I am kind of at a loss. Does anyone have any favorites that they feel might fit the bill?

Thanks in advance!

What is this poem about servants to the rich and drunk?

Dojie — Sat, 05 Dec 2009 08:19:25 -0800

Poemfilter: Trying to remember a poem I memorized at the last second and almost instantly forgot for an assignment in 10th grade. In my fuzzy recollection, it was about some servants going about their morning routine while their Gatsbyesque employers slept it off. I remember thinking at the time that the hangover theme made it a rather odd choice for a high school English textbook. The opening lines were something along the lines of:

Having come in late and crashed the car door on the front gate,
Their young masters would not, they supposed, be coming down.

I thought for ages that it was Robert Lowell, but it doesn't appear to be one of his. I'm fairly certain the author's name was similar though - maybe Robert or Richard something.

Now We Aren't Quite Six

easy_being_green — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 19:03:47 -0800

I'm going to a birthday party for a five-year-old tomorrow, one of my students. His mom said not to bring a present, but I was hoping to put something fun in the card. I love A.A. Milne's poem Now We are Six and I'm wondering if anyone knows of a similar poem about turning five.

Caged beast poem

fearfulsymmetry — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 12:55:17 -0800

Trying to track down a poem I remember reading at school. It was set in a zoo and contrasted the majority of the animals who had given into their fate and just lazed in the sun with one creature (some sort of big cat, I think) that, to the writer of the poem, still seemed to be wild, pacing its cage, not surrendering to its situation. Google is failing me. (It's not the Panther by Rilke)

Abraham Lincoln is tired in this poem.

Slap Factory — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 20:03:18 -0800

PoemFilter: They exhumed the bones of Lincoln in order to re-inter him elsewhere, and the former president spoke of being tired, tired of the packing and unpacking and packing again. Do you know the poem? I recall reading many years ago a poem that was written by a witness to the final exhumation of Lincoln's body, which occurred during the process of moving his grave. The author recounts a soliloquy by Lincoln, during which he says that he is tired. It has been thirty years since I read the poem, but I would love to share it with my own children if I can find it.

Does it ring a bell for anyone?

Poem about/by/to a namesake

aeschenkarnos — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 19:55:05 -0800

Seeking a poem that relies on the concept of namesaking (ie being named after another person). Maybe in its subject matter, or is by the poet to his/her namesake. It's for my sister, whose daughter is named after our grandmother, to use in a present for our grandmother, so Willa Cather's "The Namesake" is entirely inappropriate (being about a boy soldier!). Could also be a song, or short prose. Ideally a classic poem, ie out of copyright or if not, by someone relatively famous for their poetry. Any ideas?

Help me identify a poem in a specific introduction to a specific copy of Kate Chopin's The Awakening.

DeltaForce — Sat, 31 Oct 2009 10:46:12 -0800

Help me identify a poem in a specific introduction to a specific copy of Kate Chopin's The Awakening. A couple of years ago I read The Awakening and remember being particularly struck by a poem in the introduction. I do not remember who wrote the poem, nor the introduction (two different people), but I do remember that the poem had to do with the sentiment of no matter how close we can get to another human being, we are fundamentally alone and separate. The person who wrote the introduction, I remember, was discussing another author, I can't remember the gender, who had influenced Chopin, or perhaps not Chopin, but the movement of women in writing at that time.

I realize that this is all very vague, but I know someone must have read the same copy that I did. It was a fairly recent copy as well, perhaps just a few years old.

Thank you!

Find a poem I read years ago?

chuke — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 14:19:47 -0800

poemfilter: looking for a poem I read 15 years ago in an anthology borrowed from a friend. Thought it was Atwood, but haven't found it. I remember it was something about libraries/books and involved an animalistic response on the part of the speaker, maybe something about the gnashing of teeth and the tearing of pages as a metaphor for the hungry consumption of knowledge? Pretty sure the anthology was female poets only. For some reason it is back in my head and I want to re-read it to know why.

Slowly the west reaches for clothes of new colors ...

jammy — Sun, 20 Sep 2009 07:25:07 -0800

Tell me of your favorite poem to welcome the autumn. This Tuesday, September 22nd, is the Autumn Equinox. I like to read & learn of new poems whenever a new season turns, and then share them with my family & friends.

So! Tell me of your favorite poem to welcome the autumn. As with a similar question previously, it doesn't have to be about autumn directly - themes of harvest & feasting, of balance, of memory & remembrance, etc., are all welcome. For example, Rainer Maria Rilke's Sunset is a poem that powerfully evokes autumn for me.

Depressing bedtime story?

Arbac — Tue, 15 Sep 2009 19:47:46 -0800

Looking for a poem or story about a desperate mother, her many children and a visit from the angel of death? (Asking for a friend who's trying to find a poem from her childhood. She's Irish and in her late 50s but I think the story or poem is much older. Her mother used to tell this as a bedtime story.)

Possibly Irish or traditional poem or story about a woman with several children, either freezing or starving and praying. An angel (the angel of death?) comes and says that he'll take one of her children away, presumably to heaven, but she has to choose which child. She goes through all of the children, first suggesting a child but then finds reasons why she couldn't lose him/her. Maybe they're in a cellar and it might be winter? In the end, she can't choose a child and the angel goes away?

This sounds strangely familiar but I can't turn up any specific references and a google search with the words "angel of death poem winter mother children" isn't helpful. I'm convinced there are many variations on this theme so anything would be great - thanks!

Help me remember a poem about character and leadership.

BirdD0g — Fri, 11 Sep 2009 08:09:07 -0800

I'm trying to remember a poem I read about a man's character. Or was it about leadership? This is super annoying because I can't remember anything specific about the poem. Here's what I think I remember:

- I believe it was by someone relatively well-known, but I don't think the poet was still alive
- The language used was pretty close to modern day English language, upfront, and easy to understand
- I'd guess it was about 250 words, more than a couple stanzas but not really long

As for content (and take this as a very loose description), it was about doing what you believe is right even when you have doubters and skeptics and people attacking you. Trying your best, fighting your fight, and resting confident that your tried your best.

I can try to answer any questions you have, but seeing as I can't remember a single specific line, I've got very little to offer.

Poems of direct address?

Ambrosia Voyeur — Wed, 12 Aug 2009 13:16:06 -0800

What are some good poems to read aloud, that take the form of direct address? Something about the specific nature of address comes easily to me in performance, and I am looking for poems to read which thus allow me to inhabit the speaker in that particular way. "Daddy" by Sylvia Plath, and "To a Mouse" by Robert Burns were really fun for me to perform, for example.

Qu'est-ce que sais?

twirlypen — Sat, 25 Jul 2009 21:33:50 -0800

Can someone help translate a poem from French to English? Years back in some little library in some little town in France, I met a man demonstrating how a printing press worked, and he printed off this poem. At the time he gave me a vague translation, but I just found it again and would love to know it properly.

'En Train de Lire'

Des livres, on en avait á profusion, les murs en étaient tapissés, dans le coloir, la cuisine, l'entrée, sur les rebords des fenêtres, que sais-je encore?
Il y en avait des milliers, dans tous les coins de la maison.
On aurait dit que les gens allaient et venaient, naissaient, et mouraient, mais que les livres étaient éternals.
Enfant, j'espérais devenir un livre quand je serais grand.
Pas un écrivain, un livre.

-Amos Oz.

I think it's about a child admiring books in a library, and saying that when they grow up, they want to be a book (not an author). Any help's much appreciated!

Poems and quotes about wildflowers

Anonymous — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 18:28:19 -0800

Unique and beautiful poems/quotes/lyrics regarding seeds and or wildflowers. I'm getting married shortly. For our wedding favors, we are giving out packets of local wildflower seeds to our guests. I am putting a label on the seeds, and I would like to maybe have a quote/sonnet/poem/or lyric on the label about wildflowers and seeds along with our names and the date of our marriage.

I've spent hours googling for quotes, but nothing I've found makes me really happy. I'm thinking the best quotes are out there in poetry books many mefites will have on their shelves.

We are atheists, enviromentalists, and left leaning politically. So no bible verses.

Thanks so much for the help!

"Comes the familiar dust of summer, dust we eat..."

jammy — Fri, 19 Jun 2009 15:18:12 -0800

Tell me of your favorite poem to welcome the summer. This Sunday, June 21st, is the Summer Solstice. I generally like to celebrate this by watching the sunrise with my sweetie. Then we send a picture of that morning rising sun, a bit of music, and a nice poem to our friends and family.

So! Tell me your favorite poems to welcome the summer. They don't have to be about summer per se - themes of growing and growth, ripeness, warmth and light, and, indeed, the recurring proposition of all poetry which is to stop & be present right now to fullness of all things - are all possible and encouraged.

Li Young Lee's From Blossoms is a pretty damn perfect example of what I'm looking for. But then, also, William Stafford's You Reading This, Be Ready ... and also, Saint Francis and the Sow (warning: autoplay sound) by Galway Kinnell.

With what gratitude, what joy!

collectallfour — Tue, 09 Jun 2009 16:53:45 -0800

TranslationFilter: Can you help me track down a particular translation of Cavafy's poem 'Ithaka'? This post on the front page got me thinking about a Cavafy translation I've been trying to track down for about ten years now. A high school English teacher--who has since retired, and for whom I have no contact information--passed out a copy of Cavafy's Ithaka. The poem was in translation, and the version I saw began, "When you set out for Ithaka / ask that the way be long." In the intervening years, I've tried to track down the poem again, but I've only been able to find translations I'm quite sure are different. Valassopoulo comes closest to my recollection, but his version isn't it. It's not Keeley/Sherrard, John Cavafy, Mendelsohn, or Haviaras, either. A defunct 1998 travel website quotes the version I remember at the bottom of the page, but only briefly, and with no translator attribution. So, MeFites--any Cavafy experts out there who can help--with a translator's name and/or the full version I'm looking for? I may otherwise be doomed to look forever fruitlessly and forlornly through the poetry shelves of used bookstores, which is probably some kind of existential rite of passage for the wannabe intellectual, but all the same I'd really like to find an answer to this particular question.

Many many thanks!

Comforting words for close friends.

malibustacey9999 — Wed, 20 May 2009 17:12:41 -0800

Searching for short poetry (or prose?) appropriate to send 2 close friends who have had sudden family deaths shake their foundations. Both on-line interstate friends (one I've met frequently, the other I've never met but plan to soon) have had sudden deaths in their families. I want something short'n'sweet I can email to give a little cyber-comfort.

The one I haven't met in person was there when her grandmother passed away after a fall. Ideally I would like to send her something that... um, I can't think how to express it... gently praises her for being there, accompanying someone she loves through such an experience.

The other friend has lost her aunt who was severly disabled for 12 years following a brain aneurysm. Apparently she was quite the party girl beforehand, & her family have already grieved for her loss, for over a decade. My friend is greatly relieved that her aunt is no longer trapped in a totally useless body, but seems to be stunned that it has finally happened. Something about leaving behind imperfect physical bodies to soar free... Any ideas?

I googled, & metafiltered too, but could find nothing just-quite-right. I'm a fan of John Donne & Shakespeare type stuff, but my friends tastes are a little more modern, I think. Thanx in advance.

I forgot...

monospace — Thu, 07 May 2009 12:05:09 -0800

Back in high school, my German language teacher recited this little poem that I never forgot... ... but I can't remember who wrote it. The Google is no help. Anybody know?

Wer liebt kann nicht vergessen
Wer vergißt hat nie geliebt
Wer geliebt un doch vergessen
Hat vergessen wie man liebt

So kannst Du auch mich vergessen
Und vergessen kann auch ich
Kann vergessen dein Vergessen
Doch dich vergessen kann ich nicht

Text-Message-Sized Love Notes

chara — Sat, 18 Apr 2009 11:33:16 -0800

My SO and I have completely opposite work schedules, so often the only way we can communicate for days at a time is through notes and text messages. I'm looking for cute and unique little poems and phrases to send him throughout the day to send him. My favorite examples are inside: Por ejemplo, this Shel Silverstein poem:

I know you little, I love you lots,

my love for you could fill ten pots,

fifteen buckets, sixteen cans,

three teacups, and four dishpans.

I also enjoy sending him cute one-liner jokes and pick-up lines, anything beyond the usual "I love you! You're cute! I'm thinking of you!"

Thank you, Hive Mind!

Looking for a quote about bees, sex, and life

ascetic — Thu, 16 Apr 2009 14:59:02 -0800

I once read a poem, or possibly a quote, about a bee pollinating flowers and how it was so beautiful and I think they even maybe connected it to sex and/or the essence of life. Does anyone know the name or author of this?

Inspiring short readings (poems?) about freedom and hope

jeffmshaw — Wed, 08 Apr 2009 08:29:14 -0800

I'm looking for inspiring short readings (poems? selections from essays?) loosely organized around the themes of freedom from oppression. Bonus points if they're fun to read and hear, building to a nice crescendo. For Seder, some friends have asked each of us to prepare a short reading. It can be about anything related to freedom, or hope, and I'd like it if there were progressive political connotations.

I've been looking at poems by Rita Dove, June Jordan, and Martin Espada, all of which are amazing, but might not be perfect read-out-loud material. I'm looking for something that isn't just artful, but engages the listener. Perhaps something closer to the spoken word tradition might work?

Espada's poem "For the Jim Crow Mexican Restaurant in Cambridge, Massachusetts Where My Cousin Esteban Was Forbidden to Wait Tables Because He Wears Dreadlocks" is closest to what I'm looking for -- but I think a friend wants to steal it, so I'd like to consider something else.

Besides, can you really have enough inspiring reading material? I think not. Please hit me with any recommendations that you would appreciate hearing in this context. Thanks in advance!

Who fell from the floor up to the balcony and broke the front side of their back?

mbatch — Thu, 26 Mar 2009 14:06:17 -0800

Can anyone remember a silly "poem" that has the line: "and then they fell from the floor up to the balcony and broke the front side of their back" When I was young, my grandfather had a number of nonsense rhymes and silly tongue-twisters. For example:

One bright day in the middle of the night
two dead boys got up to fight

back to back they faced eachother
drew their swords and shot one another

two deaf policemen heard the noise
and came and killed those two dead boys.

The poem I am asking about is, obviously, in a similar vein.

Poem about the 5th Season?

Gucky — Mon, 23 Mar 2009 22:29:07 -0800

A poem in which the 5th season is mortality? The Fifth Season? Trying to find a poem for a friend who's putting together a program for a memorial service.

"We are looking for a favorite poem of hers named something like "The Fifth Season". We do not know the poet, nor if this title is accurate (it could be "The Five Seasons"?) but it has something to do with the seasons of life, and how the end of mortality is a fifth season.

I don't think it's this or this.

Looking for a poem I saw long ago

caphector — Sat, 21 Mar 2009 23:47:05 -0800

Looking for an anti-war poem I saw years ago; it started with two soldiers fighting and ended speculating that if they met in a pub they'd have a pint. I saw this poem in high school and can't remember who wrote it or anything else, but I liked the sentiment it expressed and would love to find it again.

The poem's overall message was anti-war; it was describing how these two folx were shooting at each other and ended by saying that if they met in a pub and a war wasn't on they'd have a companionable pint. I remember them using the word pub.

I think it was free verse, not rhymed. The only thing I'm certain about is that it ended by saying if they met in a pub they'd likely be friendly.

I don't think it's that esoteric, but trying to google for a poem with what I remember has gotten me nowhere on multiple attempts.