The BlueIris Semi-Nightly Poetry Break, 11/29/07

[BlueIris]

"Intention to Escape from Him"

I think I will learn some beautiful language, useless for commercial
Purposes, work hard at that.
I think I will learn the Latin name of every songbird, not only in
America but wherever they sing.
(Shun meditation, though; invite the controversial:
Is the world flat? Do bats eat cats?) By digging hard I might
deflect that river, my mind, that uncontrollable thing,
Turgid and yellow, srong to overflow its banks in spring,
carrying away bridges
A bed of pebbles now, through which there trickles one clear
narrow stream, following a course henceforth nefast—
Dig, dig; and if I come to ledges, blast.

—Edna St. Vincent Millay

[Tuesday Afternoon]

1. does "srong" = "song" or "strong" in this phrase --

"...Turgid and yellow, srong to overflow its banks in spring,..."


nefast...Good Word!!

thanks for this one, a classic.

:hi:

[BlueIris]

2. 'Kay, those actually aren't typos. :-)

You'd have to Google if you wanted to know what those antiquated word forms mean, though. BlueIris is tired.

[Tuesday Afternoon]

12. I know nefast means evil...I did not get anything on srong.

I will try some more. Thanks for doing this. It can't be easy to do on a daily basis. :hug:

[BlueIris]

3. Kick.

[mzteris]

4. I'm not finding "srong"

anywhere.

Hint?

[BlueIris]

5. Well, actually, it's possible that is "supposed to" be "strong"...

My tattered old copy of Millay's poetry prints it as "srong," though.

Whatever.

I will repost just for those who find this irritating.

Not my fault!

[mzteris]

8. I wasn't complaining - - -

I just wanted to know what the word meant! :D

:hi:

[BlueIris]

6. Repost, without arguable typo:

"Intention to Escape from Him"

I think I will learn some beautiful language, useless for commercial
Purposes, work hard at that.
I think I will learn the Latin name of every songbird, not only in
America but wherever they sing.
(Shun meditation, though; invite the controversial:
Is the world flat? Do bats eat cats?) By digging hard I might
deflect that river, my mind, that uncontrollable thing,
Turgid and yellow, strong to overflow its banks in spring,
carrying away bridges
A bed of pebbles now, through which there trickles one clear
narrow stream, following a course henceforth nefast—
Dig, dig; and if I come to ledges, blast.

—Edna St. Vincent Millay

[ThomCat]

7. I won't

bust on you for typos. Others are already doing that. :P

This is one of the poems I like best so far. I like the intent behind it. "Anything is worth more of my attention than dwelling on the memory of that bastard."
:)

[BlueIris]

9. Okay, you? Need to start saving for a poetry class. Even if it's just pennies a day.

Just sayin'.

[ThomCat]

10. If I go back to grad school I promise to take a couple of

undergrad poetry courses for fun. :)

[BlueIris]

11. Undergrad???

Dude, you need to find a way to weasel into a workshop for M.F.A. candidates. You could function in one just fine. They would love you there.

[Tuesday Afternoon]

14. .

.

[BlueIris]

13. Kick.