02-04-2016, 12:20 PM
This is one of the problems I have with this kind of poetry, not this "style". The ambiguity level is so high there can be many interpretations. It is the lack of anything definite that keeps it a mystery and that fascinates people, causing them to mistake fascination with good poetry (I can hear milo screaming already). It is the same with Shakespeare's sonnets. They are basically run of the mill sonnets (his genius was in his plays), but many hundreds if not thousands of people have dedicated their lives to these things for the simple fact that they are intrigued by them. Who is the speaker, who is the speaker speaking to? Was Shakespeare gay, was it a young boy or an older woman? Does this make them good poems? No, it simply makes them fascinating.
Many people mistake this for poetry that is multi-leveled, or Blake's fourfold vision if you will. A poem having depth is different than a poem that simply engenders fascination. Of course 99.99999% of the public is untaught when it comes to poetry, or for that matter most of the other arts. One must be educated in order to appreciate what is being shown. Of course these days the same type of ignorance is endemic throughout our society, not just in the arts. The is a lack of appreciation for for people who have spent years learning a skill. "Oh I can do that, no need to pay that guy $$$, I saw how to do it on you tube." So it should come as no surprise that people cannot tell the difference between merely fascination and what is truly good poetry, and in fact prefer the first to the latter. Which is why the introduction to Blake's "Vala" or "The Four Zoas" (see below) will not be chosen as the UK national anthem so that something other than "God Save the Queen" can be played at football matches(If anyone has heard of the outcome please let me know, the chance is slim, but I can always hope).
Jerusalem
" And did those feet in ancient time
Walk upon England's mountains green?
And was the holy Lamb of God
On England's pleasant pastures seen?
And did the Countenance Divine
Shine forth upon our clouded hills?
And was Jerusalem builded here
Among these dark Satanic mills?
Bring me my bow of burning gold:
Bring me my arrows of desire:
Bring me my spear: O clouds unfold!
Bring me my chariot of fire.
I will not cease from mental fight,
Nor shall my sword sleep in my hand
Till we have built Jerusalem
In England's green and pleasant land."
Just in case anyone has ever wondered about these lines in "Tyger"
"When the stars threw down their spears,
And water'd heaven with their tears,
Did he smile his work to see?
Did he who made the Lamb make thee? "
It means that humankind had matured enough that the spirits of the stars no longer needed to goad humans into doing the right thing, for now they (humanity) had awakened and saw they should do what is right, simply because it is right. They wept because it was such an odious thing to have to punish them, just as it is painful when a loving parent must punish his/her child. So they weep with joy and throw "down their spears" because they will not have to use them ever again.
Or so that's what Catherine told me one night in a dream, as it's meaning had bother me for many years.
dale
Many people mistake this for poetry that is multi-leveled, or Blake's fourfold vision if you will. A poem having depth is different than a poem that simply engenders fascination. Of course 99.99999% of the public is untaught when it comes to poetry, or for that matter most of the other arts. One must be educated in order to appreciate what is being shown. Of course these days the same type of ignorance is endemic throughout our society, not just in the arts. The is a lack of appreciation for for people who have spent years learning a skill. "Oh I can do that, no need to pay that guy $$$, I saw how to do it on you tube." So it should come as no surprise that people cannot tell the difference between merely fascination and what is truly good poetry, and in fact prefer the first to the latter. Which is why the introduction to Blake's "Vala" or "The Four Zoas" (see below) will not be chosen as the UK national anthem so that something other than "God Save the Queen" can be played at football matches(If anyone has heard of the outcome please let me know, the chance is slim, but I can always hope).
Jerusalem
" And did those feet in ancient time
Walk upon England's mountains green?
And was the holy Lamb of God
On England's pleasant pastures seen?
And did the Countenance Divine
Shine forth upon our clouded hills?
And was Jerusalem builded here
Among these dark Satanic mills?
Bring me my bow of burning gold:
Bring me my arrows of desire:
Bring me my spear: O clouds unfold!
Bring me my chariot of fire.
I will not cease from mental fight,
Nor shall my sword sleep in my hand
Till we have built Jerusalem
In England's green and pleasant land."
Just in case anyone has ever wondered about these lines in "Tyger"
"When the stars threw down their spears,
And water'd heaven with their tears,
Did he smile his work to see?
Did he who made the Lamb make thee? "
It means that humankind had matured enough that the spirits of the stars no longer needed to goad humans into doing the right thing, for now they (humanity) had awakened and saw they should do what is right, simply because it is right. They wept because it was such an odious thing to have to punish them, just as it is painful when a loving parent must punish his/her child. So they weep with joy and throw "down their spears" because they will not have to use them ever again.
Or so that's what Catherine told me one night in a dream, as it's meaning had bother me for many years.
dale
How long after picking up the brush, the first masterpiece?
The goal is not to obfuscate that which is clear, but make clear that which isn't.
The goal is not to obfuscate that which is clear, but make clear that which isn't.