LET IT BE FORGOTTEN

 

LET IT BE FORGOTTEN

“Let It Be Forgotten” is a short poem by American poet Sar Teasdale . She was born on August 8, 1884 at St. Louis Missouri and died on January 29, 1933 in  New York.  She was a lyrics writer, especially personal, in classical simplicity and modest sharpness.

 

Her first lyric was published in1907. She shifted to New York in 1916, won Pulitzer Prize for poetry. Another prize won by her was of the Poetry Society of America for her anthology Love Songs(1917.)

 

Her style became increasingly subtle and terse.

Unfortunately, her marriage broke down in 1929. Thereafter, she became a chronic invalid  and died in 1933.

  “Let it be forgotten” which is given below is the result of her personal unhappy experiences , particularly the death of her lover.

The text of the poem reads as  follows:  

“Let it be forgotten,, as a flower is forgotten,

Forgotten as a fire that once was singing gold,

Let it be forgotten for ever and ever,

Time is a kind friend, and will make us old.

 

If anyone asks, say it was forgotten

Long and long ago,

As a flower, as a fire, as a hushed footfall

In a long-forgotten snow.”

 

The theme of the poem is about remembering or forgetting  past events. Sara is in favour of forgetting them, for many of them are sad, bitter, painful and reminiscent of unhappy events. Even otherwise the only dependable time is the present time. This, too, becomes past in the twinkling of an eye.  Future is totally uncertain. It comes, if it does come at all, as present and immediately becomes past.

                                      ******

G.R.Kanwal

9^th November 2023