AP english throwback
So i'm in a modern british poetry class, and we read this poem the other day:
Lay your sleeping head, my love,
Human on my faithless arm;
Time and fevers burn away
Individual beauty from
Thoughtful children, and the grave
Proves the child ephemeral:
But in my arms till break of day
Let the living creature lie,
Mortal, guilty, but to me
The entirely beautiful.
Soul and body have no bounds:
To lovers as they lie upon
Her tolerant enchanted slope
In their ordinary swoon,
Grave the vision Venus sends
Of supernatural sympathy,
Universal love and hope;
While an abstract insight wakes
Among the glaciers and the rocks
The hermit's sensual ecstasy.
Certainty, fidelity
On the stroke of midnight pass
Like vibrations of a bell,
And fashionable madmen raise
Their pedantic boring cry:
Every farthing of the cost,
All the dreaded cards foretell,
Shall be paid, but from this night
Not a whisper, not a thought,
Not a kiss nor look be lost.
Beauty, midnight, vision dies:
Let the winds of dawn that blow
Softly round your dreaming head
Such a day of sweetness show
Eye and knocking heart may bless,
Find the mortal world enough;
Noons of dryness see you fed
By the involuntary powers,
Nights of insult let you pass
Watched by every human love.
And it seemed SO FAMILIAR and i couldn't figure out why, but then the line about the hermit's ecstacy jogged my memory, cause i KNEW i'd commented on that before, and sure enough, i went back in eljay and found this conversation, which happened at two in the morning before an english paper was due...
skidderider158: i'm on bowl of ice cream #2
shesaidshesaid02: oh man I want some.
skidderider158: let's roll
shesaidshesaid02: alright.
shesaidshesaid02: I'm not going to be much help.
skidderider158: well i made a little more sense this time
shesaidshesaid02: by the by.
shesaidshesaid02: yeah. I get the kid thing.
shesaidshesaid02: but not much else.
skidderider158: well let's just give our interpretations
skidderider158: his lover is dying
skidderider158: even children are ephemeral
skidderider158: because they're mortal
shesaidshesaid02: right. I get that.
shesaidshesaid02: I get the first paragraph, basically.
skidderider158: but till morning, though she is mortal, she is stil perfect to him?
skidderider158: did you get anything else out of that?
shesaidshesaid02: the first paragraph?
skidderider158: yes
shesaidshesaid02: no, that's just it. And now I have nothing to input.
skidderider158: good good
skidderider158: that was the point
skidderider158: so i did the first one
skidderider158: now YOU do the next one
shesaidshesaid02: no. see. This is what I'm saying.
skidderider158: lol
shesaidshesaid02: I only had something to say about the first one. That was all I had to write about. That was my only point...
shesaidshesaid02: That was the harshness I was going to talk about.
shesaidshesaid02: but I had nothing else to say.
skidderider158: lol
skidderider158: that's cause the second stanza makes NO SENSE
shesaidshesaid02: hahah
shesaidshesaid02: does the third one talk about the mundan...ity...of life? And then he goes back to say that...
skidderider158: what the hell is the hermit's sensual ecstasy??
shesaidshesaid02: I don't care.
skidderider158: that's what i want to know
skidderider158: it's obviously about masturbation
shesaidshesaid02: Amyyyyyyy!
skidderider158: that's what we should write about
shesaidshesaid02: Tell me if my interpretation is silly!
skidderider158: ok ok
shesaidshesaid02: you can write about that. you'll get an A.
shesaidshesaid02: maybe not mundane...but regulated life? And that tonight...I don't know, Amy!!
skidderider158: ok
skidderider158: life is mundane
skidderider158: these are everyday occurrences
shesaidshesaid02: right.
shesaidshesaid02: right?
skidderider158: the cost shall be paid
skidderider158: like she'll have to die
skidderider158: but for tonight
skidderider158: they won't think about that
shesaidshesaid02: yeah, they'll just make out.
skidderider158: while the hermit looks on in sensual ecstasy
skidderider158: so the whole thing is one extended metaphor about night and how dawn is coming
shesaidshesaid02: what's "noons of dryness see you fed by the involuntary powers"?
skidderider158: i realized the problem with this poem
skidderider158: lack of verbs
skidderider158: let the winds of dawn that blow softly round your dreaming head
skidderider158: THAT'S NOT A COMPLETE THOUGHT
shesaidshesaid02: so metaphor...night...hoping for a good day?
shesaidshesaid02: hahah
skidderider158: umm i don't think hoping for a good day
shesaidshesaid02: it would be if he just got rid of "that"
skidderider158: i thought she dies when day came
skidderider158: ?
shesaidshesaid02: yeah...which would make a better day for her?
shesaidshesaid02: since the mortal world kinda sucks?
shesaidshesaid02: so he hopes that she's fed properly in heaven? at noon?
shesaidshesaid02: by involuntary powers...he's an effin' athiest. "faithless arm" yeah!
shesaidshesaid02: or does faithless arm refer to the hermit watching with ecstasy...
shesaidshesaid02: his ARM doesn't have to stay faithful to her!
shesaidshesaid02: IT SO IS ABOUT MASTURBATION!
skidderider158: faithless arm?
skidderider158: that's back in the first stanza!
shesaidshesaid02: it's in the first stanza.
shesaidshesaid02: I know
skidderider158: we've moved on!
shesaidshesaid02: but it ties back!
skidderider158: nights of insult let you pass? whaa?
skidderider158: watched by every human love. now THAT''S tying back to the hermit again
shesaidshesaid02: he called her a bitch in between the lines, Amy, you didn't catch it.
shesaidshesaid02: hahaha
skidderider158: ok so she's fed by the invlountary powers...
skidderider158: i've got nothing
shesaidshesaid02: I just have...that...the night will pass to day when she be dead and he hopes her day (when she be dead) will be...good.
shesaidshesaid02: eh/
skidderider158: i don't get why it's good
shesaidshesaid02: the day?
skidderider158: where does it says it's good?
shesaidshesaid02: he wants her to be shown a day of sweetness "such a day of sweetness show"
skidderider158: ooohhhh
skidderider158: gotcha
skidderider158: so is she dead or not?
shesaidshesaid02: she will be...ummm no, yeah, she is.
shesaidshesaid02: yeah.
shesaidshesaid02: yeah.
skidderider158: ok
skidderider158: dead
shesaidshesaid02: dead.
skidderider158: now we're getting somewhere!
and you know what? it turns out i was TOTALLY RIGHT ABOUT THE HERMIT!
Lay your sleeping head, my love,
Human on my faithless arm;
Time and fevers burn away
Individual beauty from
Thoughtful children, and the grave
Proves the child ephemeral:
But in my arms till break of day
Let the living creature lie,
Mortal, guilty, but to me
The entirely beautiful.
Soul and body have no bounds:
To lovers as they lie upon
Her tolerant enchanted slope
In their ordinary swoon,
Grave the vision Venus sends
Of supernatural sympathy,
Universal love and hope;
While an abstract insight wakes
Among the glaciers and the rocks
The hermit's sensual ecstasy.
Certainty, fidelity
On the stroke of midnight pass
Like vibrations of a bell,
And fashionable madmen raise
Their pedantic boring cry:
Every farthing of the cost,
All the dreaded cards foretell,
Shall be paid, but from this night
Not a whisper, not a thought,
Not a kiss nor look be lost.
Beauty, midnight, vision dies:
Let the winds of dawn that blow
Softly round your dreaming head
Such a day of sweetness show
Eye and knocking heart may bless,
Find the mortal world enough;
Noons of dryness see you fed
By the involuntary powers,
Nights of insult let you pass
Watched by every human love.
And it seemed SO FAMILIAR and i couldn't figure out why, but then the line about the hermit's ecstacy jogged my memory, cause i KNEW i'd commented on that before, and sure enough, i went back in eljay and found this conversation, which happened at two in the morning before an english paper was due...
skidderider158: i'm on bowl of ice cream #2
shesaidshesaid02: oh man I want some.
skidderider158: let's roll
shesaidshesaid02: alright.
shesaidshesaid02: I'm not going to be much help.
skidderider158: well i made a little more sense this time
shesaidshesaid02: by the by.
shesaidshesaid02: yeah. I get the kid thing.
shesaidshesaid02: but not much else.
skidderider158: well let's just give our interpretations
skidderider158: his lover is dying
skidderider158: even children are ephemeral
skidderider158: because they're mortal
shesaidshesaid02: right. I get that.
shesaidshesaid02: I get the first paragraph, basically.
skidderider158: but till morning, though she is mortal, she is stil perfect to him?
skidderider158: did you get anything else out of that?
shesaidshesaid02: the first paragraph?
skidderider158: yes
shesaidshesaid02: no, that's just it. And now I have nothing to input.
skidderider158: good good
skidderider158: that was the point
skidderider158: so i did the first one
skidderider158: now YOU do the next one
shesaidshesaid02: no. see. This is what I'm saying.
skidderider158: lol
shesaidshesaid02: I only had something to say about the first one. That was all I had to write about. That was my only point...
shesaidshesaid02: That was the harshness I was going to talk about.
shesaidshesaid02: but I had nothing else to say.
skidderider158: lol
skidderider158: that's cause the second stanza makes NO SENSE
shesaidshesaid02: hahah
shesaidshesaid02: does the third one talk about the mundan...ity...of life? And then he goes back to say that...
skidderider158: what the hell is the hermit's sensual ecstasy??
shesaidshesaid02: I don't care.
skidderider158: that's what i want to know
skidderider158: it's obviously about masturbation
shesaidshesaid02: Amyyyyyyy!
skidderider158: that's what we should write about
shesaidshesaid02: Tell me if my interpretation is silly!
skidderider158: ok ok
shesaidshesaid02: you can write about that. you'll get an A.
shesaidshesaid02: maybe not mundane...but regulated life? And that tonight...I don't know, Amy!!
skidderider158: ok
skidderider158: life is mundane
skidderider158: these are everyday occurrences
shesaidshesaid02: right.
shesaidshesaid02: right?
skidderider158: the cost shall be paid
skidderider158: like she'll have to die
skidderider158: but for tonight
skidderider158: they won't think about that
shesaidshesaid02: yeah, they'll just make out.
skidderider158: while the hermit looks on in sensual ecstasy
skidderider158: so the whole thing is one extended metaphor about night and how dawn is coming
shesaidshesaid02: what's "noons of dryness see you fed by the involuntary powers"?
skidderider158: i realized the problem with this poem
skidderider158: lack of verbs
skidderider158: let the winds of dawn that blow softly round your dreaming head
skidderider158: THAT'S NOT A COMPLETE THOUGHT
shesaidshesaid02: so metaphor...night...hoping for a good day?
shesaidshesaid02: hahah
skidderider158: umm i don't think hoping for a good day
shesaidshesaid02: it would be if he just got rid of "that"
skidderider158: i thought she dies when day came
skidderider158: ?
shesaidshesaid02: yeah...which would make a better day for her?
shesaidshesaid02: since the mortal world kinda sucks?
shesaidshesaid02: so he hopes that she's fed properly in heaven? at noon?
shesaidshesaid02: by involuntary powers...he's an effin' athiest. "faithless arm" yeah!
shesaidshesaid02: or does faithless arm refer to the hermit watching with ecstasy...
shesaidshesaid02: his ARM doesn't have to stay faithful to her!
shesaidshesaid02: IT SO IS ABOUT MASTURBATION!
skidderider158: faithless arm?
skidderider158: that's back in the first stanza!
shesaidshesaid02: it's in the first stanza.
shesaidshesaid02: I know
skidderider158: we've moved on!
shesaidshesaid02: but it ties back!
skidderider158: nights of insult let you pass? whaa?
skidderider158: watched by every human love. now THAT''S tying back to the hermit again
shesaidshesaid02: he called her a bitch in between the lines, Amy, you didn't catch it.
shesaidshesaid02: hahaha
skidderider158: ok so she's fed by the invlountary powers...
skidderider158: i've got nothing
shesaidshesaid02: I just have...that...the night will pass to day when she be dead and he hopes her day (when she be dead) will be...good.
shesaidshesaid02: eh/
skidderider158: i don't get why it's good
shesaidshesaid02: the day?
skidderider158: where does it says it's good?
shesaidshesaid02: he wants her to be shown a day of sweetness "such a day of sweetness show"
skidderider158: ooohhhh
skidderider158: gotcha
skidderider158: so is she dead or not?
shesaidshesaid02: she will be...ummm no, yeah, she is.
shesaidshesaid02: yeah.
shesaidshesaid02: yeah.
skidderider158: ok
skidderider158: dead
shesaidshesaid02: dead.
skidderider158: now we're getting somewhere!
and you know what? it turns out i was TOTALLY RIGHT ABOUT THE HERMIT!