Poems… sigh!
The woods the lovely dark and deep
But I have promises to keep…
I have never really been a fan of poems. For some reason I could never understand poems and how poets went about finding rhyming words. When I tried it, I could never get something to write. It was so pathetic. This made me feel that poems are more calculations and mechanical than spontaneous – which for me failed the entire concept of a poem. Wasn’t it supposed to just flow out. Well, looking at it from a more sane angle, I am just dumb witted and cant judge poems because I am too mechanical. I do however admire prose… simple and straight forward one… the ones that are found in short stories in school books. Loved reading them!
I still can’t deny that I am fascinated how poems are able to influence people and worse they remember lines from poems they have read through their lives. I don’t think I remember any. Except of course the two lines I have jotted right above. Probably the reason for this is that these two lines are somehow found in every blog page, book, article or essay. Or probably because these two lines takes me back to some places I have loved… the woods, the trees, the thrill of dark…
I think for a change I would not mind saluting Robert Frost. I don’t know what he meant when he wrote those lines. There were tremendous meaning added to them by critics later. For me it just reminded me of lovely places I have seen… plain and simple. Funny things poems are… I have never really been a fan of poems as you see!
If you are still trying to figure out what I meant to convey…don’t bother. I never try doing that either. Just enjoy the moment… like the poet did while writing it.
Hmmm... your blog just made me realise how much I love Poems... yes I'm one of those who can remember lines from poems. I don't care about the critics, all I know is that a poem is what I make of it. Because any particular poem is written in a frame of time and emotions that can't be re-lived by anyone else other than the poet, ever! Hence, it's very subjective... "The woods are lovely, dark, and deep,
ReplyDeleteBut I have promises to keep" means something to me, which may not be what was meant by Frost, and it may not be what you think of it.
Your blog reminds me of John Keats' quote that 'if poetry comes not as naturally as the leaves to a tree, it had better not come at all.'
ReplyDeleteYou may not be a fan of poetry, but have you noticed you've been writing a lot of poems in your posts...free verse :) neon
paro... i know you love poems..
ReplyDeletein fact when i was writing this you were one of the people who came to my mind
and saamya... free verse.. means you have been reading my blog :D thank you
to me the lines "The woods are lovely, dark, and deep,
ReplyDeleteBut I have promises to keep" means not getting distracted by tempting things however lovely they may seem, because i have my own responsibilities to fulfill. and yet the desire to give everything up and venture into those deep dark woods remains alive in some corner of my heart. i think everyone has a poem in them.
I also thought like you, a few years back. I don't remember lines as such. But, I read a lot of poetry nowadays and sometimes I feel it just eases out the stress inside us. But, I agree with the point that poems should be written as an instant action.
ReplyDeleteyeah.. true
ReplyDelete