TODAY

 

          TODAY

“TODAY” is the title of the poem which is given below and is written by the British historian, essayist and philosopher (1795-1881). Among his half a dozen famous books, one is Heroes and Hero-worship. According to him,  all history is the making of great persons , gifted with supreme power of vision, divine inspiration, and memorable action.

In the poem “Today” he wants the readers to make every day a day of some useful achievement.

The following is the full text:

 “So here hath been dawning

Another blue day:

Think, wilt thou let it

Slip useless away?

 

Out of Eternity

This new day was born;

Into Eternity,

At night, will return.

 

Behold it aforetime

No eye ever did;

So soon it forever

From all eyes is hid.

 

Here hath been dawning

Another blue day:

Think, wilt thou let it

Slip useless away?

                                                                                                                                                                                                            ********

G.R.Kanwal

10^th November 2023

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

 

 

ALL THINGS BRIGHT AND BEAUTIFUL

 

ALL THINGS BRIGHT AND BEAUTIFUL

          ‘ALL Things Bright And Beautifu” is a hymn or a psalm written by Cecil Francis Alexander.  She was an Irish poetess (1818-1895) .  She began writing hymns  for children when she herself was a child. According to some biographers she wrote about 400 hymns in which she praised    God as a beautiful creator of every bright and beautiful thing. According to her belief and faith:

“All things bright and beautiful,

All creatures great and small,

All things wise and wonderful,

The Lord God made them all.              

 

            Each little flower that opens,

            Each little bird that sings,

            He made their glowing colours

He made their tiny wings.

 

The purple-headed mountain,

The river running by,

The sunset, and the morning

That brightens up the sky,

 

The cold wind in the winter,

The pleasant summer sun,

The ripe fruits in the garden,

He made them every one.

 

The tall trees in the greenwood,

The meadows where we play.

The rushes by the water,

We gather every day.

 

He gave us eyes to see them,

And lips that we might tell

How great is God Almighty,

Who has made all things well.

 

            Though it is a hymn to be recited by children in any kind of gathering, It is equally appropriate for adults’ recitation.

            They, too, can sing: “All things bright and beautiful,/All creatures great and small,/All things wise and wonderful/The Lord God made them all.”                                              *******

G.R.Kanwal

7th November 2023   

SUCCESS IS COUNTED SWEETEST

 

SUCCESS IS COUNTED SWEETEST

“Success Is Counted Sweetest” is a short poem by the American poet Emily Dickinson (1830-1886).  She was the daughter of Edward Dickinson and was not so famous during her life time as she became so after her death. Today she is considered as a great poet. Though she had several love affairs, she remained un-married.

“Success is Counted Sweetest” is based on the philosophy of opposites. What you have is less enjoyable than what you wanted to have but could not get. Success is counted sweetest by those who have faced many failures. Sweetness cannot be appreciated without experiencing bitterness.  Easy success is joyless.  Joyful success comes after many failures. “Success is counted sweetest /By those who never succeed.”

The complete poem reads as follows:

Success is counted sweetest

By those who ne’er succeed.

To comprehend a nectar

Requires sorest need.       

 

Not one of all the people host

Who took the flag today

Can tell the definition

So clear of victory.

 

As he, defeated, dying,

On whose forbidden ear

The distant strains of triumph

Break, agonized and clear.

                                                            *********

G.R.Kanwal

4^th November 2023          

GOD IS OMNIPRESENT

 

GOD IS OMNIPRESENT

What follows is a short extract from the American poet Walt Whitman’s long poem “Song of Myself”. Whitman was a people’s poet, essayist and journalist. He was born on 31 May 1819 and died on 26 March 1892. As a poet he was very popular, especially through his collection of poems “Leaves of Grass.”  He was both a realist and transcendentalist.

Going by the theme and the language of the extract, the title given by me is both suitable and appropriate.  The text of the extract reads as given below:

 “And I say to mankind, Be not curious about God,

For I who am curious about each am not curious about God,

(No array of terms can say how much I am at peace about God and about death.)    

I hear and behold God in every object, yet understand God not in the least,

Nor do I understand who there can be more wonderful than myself.

Why should I wish to see God better than this day?

I see something of God each hour of the twenty- four, and each moment then,

In the faces of men and women I see God, and in my own face in the glass,

I find letters from God dropt in the street, and every one is sign’d by God’s name.

And I leave them where they are, for I know  wheresoe’er I go

Others will punctually come for ever and ever.

                                    *******

G.R.Kanwal

3^rd October 2023

WALT WHITMAN

 

WALT WHITMAN

          If you ask me who was Walt Whitman, you will find me short of words.  I will say that he was an American poet and essayist (1819 – 1892).  But I won’t be able to tell you the type of poet he was.  Was he a classical or romantic poet , or was he a realist or transcendentalist. His poetry does not accept a standard title.  It is something unique. We should be thankful to him that he has described himself as a poet in the following words.

            “I am the poet of the Body and I am the poet of the Soul,

            The pleasures of heaven are with me and the pains of hell are with me.

            The first I graft and increase upon myself, the latter I translate into a new    tongue.       

             I am the poet of the woman the same as the man,

And I say it is great to be a woman as to be a man,

And I say there is nothing greater than the mother of men.”

 

            How to classify a poet of this self-description? Impossible! Enough to say he is a great poet, a poet of the whole world and of all mankind.  He is not a poet who writes simple poems. He is one who writes the soul of everything that is poetic.

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                    *********

G.R.Kanwal

2^nd November 2023

 

A CREED

 

A  CREED

There is a destiny that makes us brothers;

None goes his way alone:

All that we send into the lives of others

Comes back into our own.

 

I care not what his temples or his creeds,

One thing holds firm and fast----

That into his fateful heap of days and deeds

The soul of ma is cast.

 

This short poem is by the American poet Edwin Markham (1852-1940). “He was elected country superintendent of schools in 1879 and received the principalship of the Tompkins Observation School in Oakland in 1890.”His real name was Charles Edward Anson Markham. He was also a poet and lecturer. Some of his best quotes are (1) For all our days be prepared and meet them ever alike. (2) When you are the anvil, bear –  when you are the hammer, strike. (3) It is better to rust out than wear out.

 

“A Creed” is a system of Markham’s Christian beliefs and opinions. Of the two stanzas, the first one clicks more forcefully with the words : “There is a destiny that makes us brothers;/None goes his way alone/All that we send into the lives of others/Comes back into our own.”

                                                                        *********

G.R.Kanwal

1^st November 2023