Poetry from William Blake

[adventurer]

Two of my favorites:


"Men are admitted into Heaven not because they have curbed & govern'd

their Passions or have No Passions, but because they have Cultivated their

Understandings. The Treasures of Heaven are not Negations of Passion, but

Realities of Intellect, from which all the Passions Emanate Uncurbed in their

Eternal Glory."




"To see a world in a grain of sand,

And a heaven in a wild flower,

Hold infinity in the palm of your hand,

And eternity in an hour.



A robin redbreast in a cage

Puts all heaven in a rage.



A dove-house fill'd with doves and pigeons

Shudders hell thro' all its regions.

A dog starv'd at his master's gate

Predicts the ruin of the state.


A horse misused upon the road

Calls to heaven for human blood.

Each outcry of the hunted hare

A fibre from the brain does tear.


A skylark wounded in the wing,

A cherubim does cease to sing.

The game-cock clipt and arm'd for fight

Does the rising sun affright.

Every wolf's and lion's howl

Raises from hell a human soul.

[Spookie Monster]

Well, I for one like Blake's stuff, adventurer.  The Marriage of Heaven and Hell is something else.  I'm pleased to hear that you like his stuff, too! :)

Spel

[adventurer]

Yes.really, really great too!

Its a pity (or do they exist?) that n contemporary poets of this power, passion and radiance are expresing their voice in this way.

Even Camille Paglia in BREAK, BLOW, BURB could only introduce classics.

Gen X and Y may have to find its passion poetry.

Anyway...this poetry is a great treasure.....

Rob

[Spookie Monster]

Agreed -- indeed it is!  When I get the opportunity to listen to great music, to watch great comedy, to admire great paintings, to read great stories, to read great poetry, I can't help but feel fortunate.  How lucky I am to be able to listen to the music of Beethoven and The Beatles!  How lucky I am to be able to watch the comedy of the Marx Brothers and Monty Python!  How lucky I am to be able to admire the paintings of van Gogh and Pollock!  How lucky I am to be able to read the stories of Borges and Joyce!  How lucky I am to be able to read the poetry of Donne and Frost!  How lucky I am to be able to read the poetry of Blake!

With regard to whether any contemporary poets are capable of matching Blake's talent for converting his passion into words... well, that's a good question.  Personally, I sense that inspired poets roam through every age, including this one.  Where are they?  That I don't know, but that's probably because I'm not really looking -- I'm mostly reading the classics and waiting for history to separate this generation's Blakes from this generation's McGonagalls.  The only poets that I "regularly" read who are still writing -- I think that they're still writing, anyhow -- are Seamus Heaney, Derek Walcott, and Yves Bonnefoy.  And I don't really read them regularly at all.  And I still prefer Blake to each.

Actually, does Bob Dylan count as a poet?  I do like a lot of Bob Dylan's stuff...

By the way, it's interesting to me that you should mention Camille Paglia!  I haven't seen her brought up here too often, which surprises me, considering the nature of Elliquiy...

Spel

[adventurer]

Regarding Camille Paglia....she isnt so much in favor of Web 2.0

As she is a warrior for the word -see her essay on salon.com -mere role play isnt perhaps deep and significant enough for her.

Anyway, adult sexual roleplay has far more potential in ALL directions as assumed up to now.

And it can inspire, empower and evoke change in life itself. This the real challenge for me. Not simply building a parallel universe. But designing, modeling and shaping new realities. No, utopia isnt meant.

But perspectives, gateways, new horizones, new forms of communication, new frontiers of flirting, of manifesting our deepest dreams. Entering deep conversations in the we space and creating what William Blake writes about.

No wonder that a genius like Howard Bloom is quoting Blake. Aldous Huxley did it and LOTS of contemporary artists, businessmen and people from all walks of life, no matter what their gender is.

[Storiwyr]

If you have the patience, I do recommend:

http://pseudofemme.com/

This is a friend of mine whose poetry I fell in love with in my teen years. She was 14 and still inspired me more than many published poets ever have. The site is--I believe--her thesis project for college. It takes a billion years to load, but I think it's well worth it once it does.

[adventurer]

Storiwyr,

thanks for the link. Could not open it up to now. Try later again..

Everybody has of course own heroes, poetry, experieces and preferences.

Thats why life is great, isnt it?

Rob

[Spookie Monster]

But perspectives, gateways, new horizones, new forms of communication, new frontiers of flirting, of manifesting our deepest dreams. Entering deep conversations in the we space and creating what William Blake writes about.

Everybody has of course own heroes, poetry, experieces and preferences.

Thats why life is great, isnt it?

Mmm, indeed.  If we're really to connect as individuals, then first we must be individuals.  Once we've accepted our individuality we can endeavor to express ourselves with sincerity.  Some people will probably like what we have to say; some people probably won't.  Some people will probably like the way that we express ourselves; some people probably won't.  It must begin, though, with being who we are.

If you have the patience, I do recommend:

http://pseudofemme.com/

Thanks very much for passing that link along, Storiwyr!  Fortunately for me, I do have the patience.  Your friend is a talented poet!  I'm pleased that she's found ways to put her feelings into words; I'm pleased, too, that those words have touched you so profoundly.  Much good luck to her in her further work! :)

Spel

[adventurer]

This talk with David Whyte , poet and consultant -reveals great insights about the nature of poetry.

Check out his homepage too:

http://www.davidwhyte.com/

Preserving the Soul of Medicine and Physicians

I like especially this part of the talk:


"Q: You mentioned that some of the great people, like Winston Churchill and Madame Curie, had a deep sense of soul and from that they plotted their destiny. Why is knowing your personal destiny an important part of creativity and innovation?

David: As long as we do not understand destiny as fate, then it can be a useful concept. Our destiny isn't something that we figure out, that is laid out ahead of us. It has more of the quality of a gravitational field. It is our own particular pull into the world. We are acted upon by the rest of the world according to the nature of our own individual patterns. This frontier interaction, this conversation, is the conversation of destiny. Strong people, like Churchill or Madame Curie, had a remarkable courage that emerged from knowing when they were in this field, this conversation, and when they were simply going through the motions. They knew when they were living their own lives and not being pulled by the great tide of other people's expectations.

There comes a time in every life when we must hold onto something quite difficult, something at times we cannot even articulate. It may be that medicine is at this point right now and the main task of doctors is to extricate themselves from their buried complexity and the societal silence of their profession and stand up for the essence of their tradition.

Q: Can a poet or someone attuned to their soul make his or her way in this materialistic world?

David: Ovid said that innocence is no earthly weapon, but Blake, Keats, and Wordsworth would have disagreed. The poet historically is no simpering wallflower writing about flowers and joyful lambs, but a robust figure speaking out at crucial moments in society's evolution and often suffering the consequences of his or her speech. Good poetry is not only about courage, it is courageous speech.

If you look in the life sciences fields, the Nobel prizes are being won by people who switch disciplines, they move from microbiology to physiology, or from zoology to botany. They have all of the discipline of their training and then suddenly they are able to look at something in a completely different way. That is beginning to happen between the arts and sciences. People who have their faces right up against a problem can't see. The strategic approach to life is ultimately bankrupt; it lacks the courage of the participative imagination. The business world has intuited this already; it is looking for different voices to help it articulate a new world. We are in desperate need of good artists who can bridge both worlds."

[Spookie Monster]

That's some interesting stuff there, Rob!  I feel that the point which Mr. Whyte makes at the end -- "We are in desperate need of good artists who can bridge both worlds" -- is especially important.  Poetry is vital to connection.  It's a superb tool -- perhaps the best one that we have -- perhaps the only one that we have -- for joining what we perceive to be separate, even opposed, entities and phenomena.  Blake crafted Songs of Innocence and Songs of Experience and The Marriage of Heaven and Hell in pursuit of that very end.  Poetry can allow us to create unity from duality, to interpret the subjective, to meld hearts.

I liked this, too, from Mr. Whyte's site:

In a sense all poems are good; all poems are an emblem of courage and the attempt to say the unsayable...

Some poems touch me; some poems don't.  Some styles of poetry touch me; some styles don't.  And that's fine.  Poems aren't good or bad because they touch me or fail to touch me; they're good or bad because they're true or false.  McGonagall might have written poems which give me headaches; and?  If they meant something to him -- if by composing them he was truly expressing himself -- then they're O.K. with me.

Spel

[adventurer]

Absolutely!

Thanks Spel for your thougts. its rewarding to met like.minded spirits here. Philosopy, spirituality are topics I am interested in too.

Always embedded in dwon to earth and flesh and blood. Th roughness of life is appreciated by me. The full passion to go beyond certain tabos too.

And no matter if it about reality, poetry or whatelse:

The thrill of diving deep, deep beyond the social surfaces is decisive for me.

Rob

[Spookie Monster]

Thank you very much for your own thoughts, Rob.  I'm pleased that you found mine worthwhile.  It is indeed rewarding to meet like-minded individuals here (or, heck, anywhere!).  Fortunately, many spiritual, philosophical, and downright interesting people hang out at Elliquiy!

Spel

Munchin' good with Weird and Gilly...

[adventurer]

Spel,

my pleasure to meet you here!

There is a growing feeling in me that the potential of E is far beyond Sex and Erotics. However explicitly and fully appreciative of any form of play connected with it.


This is exciting and a living demonstration how poltical, sexual and spiritual correctness can be overcome. In mutual respect, politeness, imagination, opnness and honest communication.

Have a great time,


A.