Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with poetry

Help me find yet another obscure volume from childhood...

handful of rain — Sun, 19 May 2013 09:34:02 -0800

I'm looking for a collection of children's poetry that contains "Lord Bateman ." Complicating factor: I am not convinced the one I'm looking for is "One Thousand Poems for Children." I discovered my 2.5 year old son loves poems after I read him "Disobedience" by A. A. Milne during a particularly vexing afternoon. This is a good thing! I'm keen to get more volumes for us to explore together. In particular, I'd like to get a book I recall from my childhood (read during the 1980s). I recall it being:

- hardcover
- blue
- a collection of poems for children
- containing the ballad "Lord Bateman"
- containing illustrations to some degree (not necessarily full color, but some pen and ink drawings around the margins and between the verses)

This last point makes me less than convinced it's the above-linked One Thousand Poems for Children. I've also scanned through that volume online and can't see any other poems I remember reading as a child - and in particular some I really don't recall, like the Star Spangled Banner.

Okay, AskMe, you're good at this...any ideas?

Who wrote this poem?

ar0n — Sun, 12 May 2013 11:46:39 -0800

Who wrote the following (religious?) poem? The poem mentioned here does not show the author, or the full source. Does anyone know who wrote it, and where I can find out more? Somebody said thought "Shafto Stevens", but he doesn't seem Google-fahig.

“Life is a burden; bear it;

Life is a duty; dare it;

Life is a thorn crown; wear it.

Though it break your heart in twain,

Though the burden crush you down;

Close your lips and hide your pain;

First the cross, and then the crown.”



“Every rose of life, and every thorn,

Is consecrated by remembrance sweet– 

Because once long ago Love did not scorn

To tread the wilderness with bleeding feet.”

Poem about an older man sailing away for one final adventure?

StephenF — Thu, 09 May 2013 04:59:50 -0800

My father used to quote a few lines from a poem that was about an older man (a king maybe?) sailing away for one final adventure. I thought I remembered a line about 'once more across the sundering seas', but when I search on that phrase all I find is stuff related to Tolkien. The poem would be the kind of thing a classically educated person would know, and I think it's pretty famous. Any of this ringing any bells for anyone?

Poetry in Song

an opinicus — Fri, 26 Apr 2013 12:09:50 -0800

A song request: occasionally when listening to (new to me) music I notice that I recognise a song and not because it's a cover but a poem! For example Yeat's 'Song of Wandering Aengus' seems to have been set to music by various artists (Waterboys, Donovan) or more recently I heard King Charles' album and suddenly realised I was listening to 'The Ballad of Reading Gaol'. I rather like it when this happens but I've found it a hard thing to search for, so what else is there? Interested in pretty much any genre or age - and mainly curious about more 'literary' poetry, although good versions of traditional ballads are definitely welcome!

Short poem about dreams for children

mermily — Wed, 10 Apr 2013 13:40:55 -0800

Can you help me find a <30 second poem about dreams that is appropriate for first graders? I am a teacher and my school is doing a school-wide "dreams" project where kids are creating a flag that shows their future dreams (it is part of an initiative about equity and race but essentially they are thinking about what they want to be when they grow up.) Every class needs to do a video under thirty seconds of our class doing something to represent the dreams project and I figured the easiest thing to do would be a choral reading of a children's poem about dreams. It needs to 1. be quite short, 2. be understandable to first graders, 3. be about dreams. Can anyone recommend a poem that might be suitable? I thought of the "What happens to a dream/ Does it explode?" one by Langston Hughes but I think it might be a touch too long and a touch over their heads.

Poems similar to "Death Be Not Proud"?

Sangermaine — Thu, 04 Apr 2013 16:15:11 -0800

I'm looking for poems with themes similar to John Donne's "Death Be Not Proud". I'm especially interested in similar poems from non-English/non-European poets. Thanks to anyone who can help!

Identify this poem by W.H. Auden please

zresearch — Tue, 02 Apr 2013 10:42:03 -0800

Can you name (and ideally link to) this poem by Auden - the only thing I remember is that the theme is that he is imagining a civilization (or a city?) built out of water (there's a line which goes something like "If I could create a civilization, I'd make it out of water...).

Auden uses water metaphors a lot in his poems so my google-fu is failing me.

Thanks very much for any tips!

Kickstart Poetry book or Submit manuscirpt?

letstrythis — Sat, 30 Mar 2013 22:35:01 -0800

I'm a poet. A pretty good one, occasionally. I've always been a coward when it comes to going for publication, and with April being National Poetry Month it seems an appropriate time to take submitting seriously. What makes more sense these days--trying to get a manuscript published by a publisher, or trying to make a book for a specific audience with a kickstarter/indigogo?

What to do when "influenced by" looks a lot like "written by"?

karminai — Tue, 26 Mar 2013 13:28:03 -0800

I'm part of a tight-knit community of spoken word poets. A few months ago, a new poet started showing up and reading truly breathtaking poetry. Yay! Recently, a lot of it is sounding suspiciously familiar. Yikes. What to do? This poet is very young and a wonderful performer, and seems to have gained quite a large internet fanbase. Each time I hear her read, at least one or two lines sets off an alarm bell in my head, making me think "I've heard that before." Now, obviously poetry has common themes, everyone talks about their love being like an ocean and soulmates like a boat, blah blah blah. But I'm talking about exact lines pulled from other poems, books I've read before, etc. A lot of them are coming from Dear Sugar's advice column.

She regularly competes in poetry slams and has told me that she intends to put out (and sell) a book in the near future. Is this something I need to confront her about? What's the best way to do so?

Help me identify a piece of writing about cow's milk, urine, and hell

bq — Wed, 20 Mar 2013 13:30:58 -0800

I have a hazy memory of a piece of writing that I would like to identify. It might have been poetry or prose. It might have been modern or not. It might have been in Italian, French, or English. It's an exchange between the protagonist, a man, and an antagonist - possibly a devil? The antagonist is comparing cow's milk to urine, saying that they are both liquids that come out of cows and are essentially the same. The protagonist says that they are essentially difference and if the antagonist can't articulate why, that simply means the lack is in his understanding. Then he is whisked away somehow. It's been a long, long, time since I read this, but it made a big impression on me, and I'd like to find up where it is from. If anyone recognizes this exchange please let me know. Obviously google searches are problematic given the subject matter.

Poetry for Life

pleasebekind — Wed, 13 Mar 2013 01:31:05 -0800

I am turning 27 in two days. Inspired by this, I want to ask for your help in compiling a list of poems that celebrate turning older each year. For example:

38 - In the Winter of My Thirty-Eighth Year by W.S. Merwin
44 - 44th Birthday Evening, at Harris’s by Ted Berrigan
60 - Halleluiah by Mary Oliver

It doesn't have to be a 'birthday' poem. I just want something to read and reflect on for that certain year—to think about what matters, or what are our (or most people's) concerns once we/they reach that age.

I realise that it may be quite a hard reach, so I would also appreciate suggestions that generally talk about one's late twenties, early thirties, midlife, growing old, etc. Thanks.

positive ugly art

leibniz — Mon, 04 Mar 2013 14:53:56 -0800

Is there any art that you find ugly, but still admire or value? I am interested in seeing if there is a distinct category of aesthetic or artistic value that could be called the positive ugly. So the criteria is that you find the thing or artwork to be ugly (and maybe actually feel some revulsion) but you still value it. In addition, the value should be distinct from the value of the comic, the horrific, the tragic or the sublime (so ugliest dog in the world doesn't count for instance).

This category seems very popular in modern art, but there's a lot of modern art that I don't value- since it seems to express a nihilist attitude to me. So can you give me an example of a work of art (in any art form) that you find ugly, but still admire or value? And can you explain why you value it?

Need To Find A Freelance Editor

nowhere man — Sun, 03 Mar 2013 13:51:47 -0800

I need an editor (copy and content) for an edgy, non-traditional chapbook of poems. Word count is light -- around 4,000. Budget is nearly non-existent (this is an art project) but there would be some kind of honorarium attached. Can someone help me find a good, trusty editor?

CompSci/CompLit: Anyone have links to interesting "poetry" generators?

Broccoli Bear — Sun, 03 Mar 2013 07:38:10 -0800

I've found this (see more here), which seems to be defunct (links to the "generator" are 404), and this, which is less than satisfying. Here in the age of alleged "robot authors" I'm hoping to do better. Any leads, anyone? And if you're thinking, "Hey, how about a little something more, maybe tangentially related, just for amusement's sake?" then I'm thinking "Okay, here."

What are some life-affirming poems?

Viola — Fri, 01 Mar 2013 10:01:15 -0800

What are other life-affirming poems like Derek Walcott's "Love After Love"? I don't like really New Age-y or nature-oriented poetry, but poetry about food, wine, children, celebrations, etc are all welcome. More examples and context inside. I'm in a group for social workers in which we discuss self-care in the face of handling clients who have dealt with deeply upsetting issues. Thus far our discussions have centered on yoga, meditation and breathing exercises, which is great, but I'm trying to think outside the box.

My personal favorite, after "Love After Love," is Siduri's advice from The Epic of Gilgamesh:

For when the gods created man, they let death be his lot
Eternal life they withheld
Humans are born, they live, and then they die
But until the end comes
Let your every day be full of joy
Let music and dancing fill your household
Savor your food, wear bright clothes
Love the child that holds your hand
Let your wife delight in your embrace
For these alone are the concerns of humanity

To a lesser extent, I also like Mary Oliver's Wild Geese and The Journey. Given the extremely Buddhist/New Age-y vibe of previous discussions, I'd like to stay away from poetry heavily influenced by those factors.

Please recommend poems about the beach / the sea / the ocean.

drea — Mon, 11 Feb 2013 17:58:56 -0800

I'm looking for poems about the beach that have some nostalgia to them. I'll be pairing them with some photographs of a woman on the beach looking mostly wistfully (think prenup photos!). Quotes are also appreciated. thanks!

What are the title and author of this awesome, sexy prose poem.

mostlymartha — Sat, 02 Feb 2013 19:01:32 -0800

In college, I read a really fabulously sexy, funny prose poem, that I think may have been called "This Condition". The first line may have even started "In this condition..." It was basically a collection of allusions and metaphors to sexual arousal that sort of built to a rhythmic climax at the end. I recall a reference to the shape of Florida. Oh, poetry lovers of AskMe, can you help me hunt this poem down? I'm desperate to read it again.

Where can I find Tim Seibles' poem "The Groom"?

invitapriore — Wed, 16 Jan 2013 08:18:35 -0800

This is a short question, but the internet sucks at poetry books so I've had no luck finding out what I need to know through other channels. Where can I find Tim Seibles' poem "The Groom"? Of his books that actually have a table of contents available online, that poem doesn't appear in any of them, and of course I haven't been able to find it among the other set. Help please! I love that poem and I want to have it again.

Contemporary Poem about Loss

Duffington — Sat, 12 Jan 2013 15:39:46 -0800

I am looking for a poem that was published in Granta magazine sometime between 1992-1995. It wasn't in a poetry-only issue. The poem was about loss and the numbness of being recovered from loss. It was nostalgic and sweet. It was written by a man, I am pretty sure.

Two images I remember from the poem are a little boy (the author) calling his friend from across the street to come see the biggest shit he had ever taken and the author being stunned that it didn't hurt any more to think about a phone breakup that made him drop the handset in pain.

I am pretty sure the word was "shit" not equivalent.

Half-remembered quote about poets

dersins — Fri, 11 Jan 2013 10:16:00 -0800

I read, somewhere, a quote about poets to the effect that even successful poets have day jobs, collect disability payments or come from money. I vaguely recall that this was said (or written) by a woman who was a successful [poet? writer? editor?] in her own right, and who would have had a reasonable sample size on which to base the statement. What quote am I thinking of? Who wrote or said it? My googles have been uncharacteristically ineffective in locating the quote or identifying the source.

Seaching for a specific poem on American culture

Atticus Swanson — Mon, 07 Jan 2013 05:22:01 -0800

I'm searching for a poem. I can hardly remember any of it. It begins with digging at a foundation or excavating a basement, and it becomes a well written criticism of American culture/politics. Something about slaves or slavery is discovered from the digging. Help?

How can I understand & delight this dylan thomas fan

soundproof — Sat, 29 Dec 2012 21:56:32 -0800

A fantastic gentleman tonight at the coffee shop where I work recited a supposedly 4 verse poem by Dylan Thomas having to do with autumn and I am convinced I heard the word "Tulip" in there somewhere. My question is -- does anyone know what poem he may have been reciting? And even more -- can you think of a great way to respond to him the next time I see him? He claimed something like Dylan Thomas's poem had something to do with seeing the world as a poet. He's not an English professor or anything, just a passionate older guy with a joy of poetry who treats waitstaff really well. Would love to delight him somehow with a few choice verses of poetry or insight into Dylan Thomas, who he adores but deeply regrets that Dylan's most famous work is what he thinks is some of Dylan's worst. Any ideas? He comes in to the coffee shop almost every day, but I'm not always scheduled when he comes in, so I may have 1 day - 1 week to prepare. Thanks in advance!

I wrote a poem once

perhapses — Sat, 29 Dec 2012 19:01:22 -0800

What is this poetic form called? There are six stanzas. The first five consist of three lines. The final stanza has four lines. The first and third lines of each stanza rhyme while the second line of all the other stanzas rhyme with each other. The first and third lines of the first stanza repeat as the last lines of the remaining stanzas alternating with each stanza until the final stanza where they are the last two lines.

I'm not sure if there are other rules, such as syllable count.

example:
go
be
no

flow
he
go

row
see
no

bow
pee
go

tow
bee
no

show
tea
go
no

What is the correct punctuation of the last stanza of Stopping By Woods on a Snowy Evening?

kitcat — Mon, 17 Dec 2012 12:42:05 -0800

I need the correct version (punctuation) of Robert Frost's Stopping By Woods on a Snowy Evening, please. The internet turns up variations, but I am looking for Frost's exact version of the last stanza. I have no volume to consult, so I am turning here. This is very important as it's for a tatoo, so I need to get it right. Can I trust this version here?

Too sad for a witty title

everydayanewday — Thu, 13 Dec 2012 16:47:49 -0800

My grandad passed away today. My family have asked me to find a poem he might like, to read at his funeral. He was an engineer who would only read 'factual' things, such as instructional/educational books and later in life, a lot of biographies. He didn't go in for poetry at all that I know of. Would like to avoid 'Do not stand at my grave and cry'. Any reccommendations? I'm not sure when the funeral is yet but I am panicking and blanking on this. Thank you in advance for any guidance.