nmoira Posted June 25, 2012 Share Posted June 25, 2012 I initially misread helena's post, X-Post: What's your latest favorite poem?, but caught my error before I posted the following: My least favourite poem is "Low Tide on Grand Pré" by Bliss Carman I've loathed this since I was forced to analyze it in high school, a loathing only reinforced every time I decide to give it "just one more chance." First stanza: The sun goes down, and over all These barren reaches by the tide Such unelusive glories fall, I almost dream they yet will bide Until the coming of the tide. And yet I know that not for us, By any ecstasy of dream, He lingers to keep luminous A little while the grievous stream, Which frets, uncomforted of dream-- No matter how I read it, in my head, aloud, with funny voices, with serious voices... it just sounds awful. If only he'd thrown in an "effulgent." :tongue_smilie: So, what's your least favourite poem? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Belacqua Posted June 25, 2012 Share Posted June 25, 2012 Now, I love some Robert Service poetry. Strange things done in the midnight sun and all. But this poem just sets my teeth on edge. Obligato of delight? Really? And now nmoira has me testing it out with various voices (oddly, Sam the Eagle from the Muppets does the best job with it). Why Do Birds Sing? Robert Service Let poets piece prismatic words, Give me the jewelled joy of birds! What ecstasy moves them to sing? Is it the lyric glee of Spring, The dewy rapture of the rose? Is it the worship born in those Who are of Nature's self a part, The adoration of the heart? Is it the mating mood in them That makes each crystal note a gem? Oh mocking bird and nightingale, Oh mavis, lark and robin - hail! Tell me what perfect passion glows In your inspired arpeggios? A thrush is thrilling as I write Its obligato of delight; And in its fervour, as in mine, I fathom tenderness divine, And pity those of earthy ear Who cannot hear . . . who cannot hear. Let poets pattern pretty words: For lovely largesse - bless you, Birds! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Farrar Posted June 25, 2012 Share Posted June 25, 2012 I think that I shall never see a poem as lovely as a... Blech. But he has a lovely National Forest named after him. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
helena Posted June 25, 2012 Share Posted June 25, 2012 MY MIND IS SPINNING WITH POSSIBILITIES!! I'll be back!:auto: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dealea86 Posted June 25, 2012 Share Posted June 25, 2012 Hahaha, that's exactly what I thought when I first read the other thread's title. :D I have no idea what my least favorite poem is, but it's probably one of those contrived children's poems that aren't classics for a reason. I try to forget them as soon as I've heard them. :tongue_smilie: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
helena Posted June 25, 2012 Share Posted June 25, 2012 My kids would both say Witches Chant. The blaspheming Jew and strangled baby is too much. :001_huh: Something Told the Wild Geese by Rachel Field rubs me the wrong way (and I like RF). I'm Nobody! Who Are You? by Emily Dickinson. :leaving: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Violet Crown Posted June 25, 2012 Share Posted June 25, 2012 Longfellow's Excelsior. Even Bullwinkle Moose had to parody it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LostSurprise Posted June 25, 2012 Share Posted June 25, 2012 Rupert Brooke (actually most of the WWI poets seem dull). I'm sure he was a very handsome man (most descriptions of him go on and on about that...I think half of England, male and female, was in love with him) but he was a snorer of a poet. William McGonagall is often cited as the English language's worst poet. Oh! ill-fated Bridge of the Silv’ry Tay, I must now conclude my lay By telling the world fearlessly without the least dismay, That your central girders would not have given way, At least many sensible men do say, Had they been supported on each side with buttresses, At least many sensible men confesses, For the stronger we our houses do build, The less chance we have of being killed. It makes me sad that I once in ignorance bought a book by Rod McKuen. Very, very sad. I still don't like Walt Whitman. Now let Harold Bloom throw rocks at me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Belacqua Posted June 25, 2012 Share Posted June 25, 2012 It makes me sad that I once in ignorance bought a book by Rod McKuen. Very, very sad. My pal and I sort donated books for the Friends of the Library, and we have a game; first one to find a Rod McKuen book wins lunch from the other (and if it is Listen to the Warm, winner also gets to choose the restaurant). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mergath Posted June 25, 2012 Share Posted June 25, 2012 Pretty much any poem written by Edgar Allen Poe. The man really should have stuck to prose. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Corraleno Posted June 25, 2012 Share Posted June 25, 2012 My pal and I sort donated books for the Friends of the Library, and we have a game; first one to find a Rod McKuen book wins lunch from the other (and if it is Listen to the Warm, winner also gets to choose the restaurant). Then what do you win if you find a book of Leonard Nimoy poetry — a trip to Hawaii? :lol: Here's a gem: You Fill Me With Your Love by Leonard Nimoy You fill me With your love You fill me With your caring You fill me With your thoughts You fill me With your sharing Genius, I tell you! :smilielol5: Jackie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OrganicAnn Posted June 25, 2012 Share Posted June 25, 2012 I think it is all the "thee"s but I always disliked this poem. I remember a prof say it express how a child would talk. I've never known a child to talk like this. The Lamb By William Blake Little Lamb, who made thee? Dost thou know who made thee? Gave thee life, and bid thee feed By the stream and o'er the mead; Gave thee clothing of delight, Softest clothing, woolly, bright; Gave thee such a tender voice, Making all the vales rejoice? Little Lamb, who made thee? Dost thou know who made thee? Little Lamb, I'll tell thee, Little Lamb, I'll tell thee: He is called by thy name, For he calls himself a Lamb. He is meek, and he is mild; He became a little child. I a child, and thou a lamb. We are called by his name. Little Lamb, God bless thee! Little Lamb, God bless thee! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Heather in Neverland Posted June 25, 2012 Share Posted June 25, 2012 Anything by e. e. cummings. Yuck. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LostSurprise Posted June 25, 2012 Share Posted June 25, 2012 My pal and I sort donated books for the Friends of the Library, and we have a game; first one to find a Rod McKuen book wins lunch from the other (and if it is Listen to the Warm, winner also gets to choose the restaurant). :lol: Awesome. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rivka Posted June 25, 2012 Share Posted June 25, 2012 Longfellow's Excelsior. Even Bullwinkle Moose had to parody it. A.E. Houseman wrote a masterful parody of that one. Every odd-numbered line comes from the original. The shades of night were falling fast And the rain was falling faster When through an Alpine village passed An Alpine village pastor A youth who bore mid snow and ice A bird that wouldn't chirrup, A banner with the strange device - "Mrs. Winslow's soothing syrup." "Beward the pass," the old man said, "My bold, my desperate fellah; Dark lowers the tempest overhead And you'll want your umbrella; And the roaring torrent is deep and wide - You may hear how loud it washes." But still that clarion voice replied: "I've got my old goloshes." "Oh stay," the maiden said, "and rest (For the wind blows from the nor'ward) Thy weary head upon my breast - And please don't think I'm forward." A tear stood in his bright blue eye And he gladly would have tarried, But still he answered with a sigh: "Unhappily, I'm married." Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Another Lynn Posted June 25, 2012 Share Posted June 25, 2012 I hate several of Shel Silverstein's. I can't remember exactly which ones and I can't look them up because I purged the house of the one S.S. book we had. Gag! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Farrar Posted June 25, 2012 Share Posted June 25, 2012 The Lamb By William Blake Oh, how could I have forgotten that one. It's made all the worse by the fact that many of his others are so good. Anything by e. e. cummings. Yuck. NOOOOO!!!!! I adore cummings! I think Maggie and Milly and Molly and May is one of my favorites of all time. "For whatever we lose (like a you or a me) it's always ourselves we find in the sea." But maybe he's an acquired taste. Like Leonard Nimoy? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Farrar Posted June 25, 2012 Share Posted June 25, 2012 A.E. Houseman wrote a masterful parody of that one. Every odd-numbered line comes from the original. :lol: Houseman. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rivka Posted June 25, 2012 Share Posted June 25, 2012 A.E. Houseman wrote a masterful parody of that one. Every odd-numbered line comes from the original. :lol: Houseman. Oops. What an error to make on a classical education board.:leaving: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Violet Crown Posted June 26, 2012 Share Posted June 26, 2012 A.E. Housman wrote a masterful parody of that one. Every odd-numbered line comes from the original. The shades of night were falling fast And the rain was falling faster When through an Alpine village passed An Alpine village pastor A youth who bore mid snow and ice A bird that wouldn't chirrup, A banner with the strange device - "Mrs. Winslow's soothing syrup." "Beward the pass," the old man said, "My bold, my desperate fellah; Dark lowers the tempest overhead And you'll want your umbrella; And the roaring torrent is deep and wide - You may hear how loud it washes." But still that clarion voice replied: "I've got my old goloshes." "Oh stay," the maiden said, "and rest (For the wind blows from the nor'ward) Thy weary head upon my breast - And please don't think I'm forward." A tear stood in his bright blue eye And he gladly would have tarried, But still he answered with a sigh: "Unhappily, I'm married." :lol: Gotta love Housman. Malt does more than Milton can.... Here's Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caitilin Posted June 26, 2012 Share Posted June 26, 2012 A.E. Houseman wrote a masterful parody of that one. Every odd-numbered line comes from the original. The shades of night were falling fast And the rain was falling faster When through an Alpine village passed An Alpine village pastor A youth who bore mid snow and ice A bird that wouldn't chirrup, A banner with the strange device - "Mrs. Winslow's soothing syrup." "Beward the pass," the old man said, "My bold, my desperate fellah; Dark lowers the tempest overhead And you'll want your umbrella; And the roaring torrent is deep and wide - You may hear how loud it washes." But still that clarion voice replied: "I've got my old goloshes." "Oh stay," the maiden said, "and rest (For the wind blows from the nor'ward) Thy weary head upon my breast - And please don't think I'm forward." A tear stood in his bright blue eye And he gladly would have tarried, But still he answered with a sigh: "Unhappily, I'm married." Love, LOVE this one!:lol::lol: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris in VA Posted June 26, 2012 Share Posted June 26, 2012 If you pair Blake's The Lamb with his Tiger Tiger Burning Bright (don't know the official title...;)) it makes a lot more sense. Just saying...:D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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