Comments | offthebalcony: times watches from the shadow, and coughs when you kiss.

offthebalcony

times watches from the shadow, and coughs when you kiss.

Feb 04, 2009 17:32

when you see this, post your favourite poem
(my favourite poem fluctuates wildly, but today, it's this one.)

As I Walked Out One Evening by W. H. Auden

( the glacier knocks in the cupboard, the desert sighs in the bed. )

we stand alone; together, ex oh ex oh, words make me weak

Comments 14

dreamer4life78 February 4 2009, 18:43:18 UTC

No lie, first time I heard this poem I was eight years old and I cried so hard I couldn't sleep that night.

lol well I was 11 and um yeah it sort of had the same effect... xD

Anything anything anything at all ever written by T. S. Eliot.

I second this so hard. seriously.

offthebalcony February 4 2009, 18:48:30 UTC

My friend, you would not tell with such high zest
To children ardent for some desperate glory,
The old Lie: Dulce et decorum est
Pro patria mori.

I often declare those lines one of the greatest string of words ever written. True story.

I have a book of Eliot's complete works. My favourite, ever ♥

modernthirst February 4 2009, 18:51:24 UTC

Oooh, that's so lovely. I love things about time and love together, it is my favorite conundrum.

And I love e.e. cummings too, he wrote my favorite poem (somewhere i have never travelled is a close second behind my love is building a building).

offthebalcony February 4 2009, 18:56:02 UTC

Time watches from the shadow, and coughs when you kiss is honestly one of my favourite lines in poetry ever. Time and love is such a heartbreakingly lovely juxtapostion. I love it when science and love are put next to each other too. The warm/cold effect is my favourite.

I'm new to e.e. cummings and I'm kind scared to fully dive into all of it. I kind of need to prepare my brain first, or something, before I do but I've adorred everything I've read so far. He use of punctuation and language slays me.

modernthirst February 4 2009, 18:57:36 UTC

Ooooh yeah he and Neruda are my favorite poets (though I'm not particularly well-versed in the genre). I've really only read his love poems though because that's usually what I like when it comes to poetry.

persiflage_1 February 4 2009, 18:59:25 UTC

I'm afraid Wilfred Owen always comes a poor second to Siegfried Sassoon for me.

But I adore Auden, and Eliot fascinates me, and Neruda entrances me...

offthebalcony February 5 2009, 17:38:51 UTC

I love all war poetry, pretty much. That goes back to my Band Of Brothers post where I explained my Dad's long-standing obsession with the world wars. WWI in particular. He introduced me it all. Dulce Et Decorm though, urgh, it just hits something inside me so. hard.

I got to fangirl Auden in my AS English Lit exam in January, awesome. Eliot is my favourite ever, I take his complete works with me every time I stay somewhere over night. I haven't read a lot of Neruda as yet but everything that I have read just floors me.

persiflage_1 February 5 2009, 17:43:35 UTC

I love all war poetry, pretty much. That goes back to my Band Of Brothers post where I explained my Dad's long-standing obsession with the world wars. WWI in particular. He introduced me it all. Dulce Et Decorm though, urgh, it just hits something inside me so. hard.

Oh, I'm not saying there's anything wrong with Owen's poetry - just that Sassoon's appeals to me more...

I got to fangirl Auden in my AS English Lit exam in January, awesome.

Neat!

liot is my favourite ever, I take his complete works with me every time I stay somewhere over night. I haven't read a lot of Neruda as yet but everything that I have read just floors me.

I must admit, I've not read masses of Neruda yet, either, but yes, flooring is a good way of expressing it!

unamourdoux February 4 2009, 19:14:57 UTC

I lovee Dulce Et Decorum Est...
I've never really been that into poetry. Which is weird...
Did Phil Larking's High Window's collection for AS last year I hated him at first but loved it by the end. And Wilfred Owen and Siegfried Sassoon are fast becoming firm favourites.
I'm partial to a bit of T.S Eliot and Emily Dickinson though.
RECOMMEND MEEEEE SOME STUFF :)

offthebalcony February 5 2009, 17:42:22 UTC

I RECCOMEND YOU ANYTHING AND EVERYTHING BY RICHARD SIKEN. Especially Snow And Dirty Rain, it kind of changed my life the first time I read it. The things that man does with words makes me want to curl up into a little ball and cry or something, hurts so good. The best introduction to him is probablty the collection Crush. sdaoih gfjk;ag ♥

colour_me_quick February 4 2009, 20:06:00 UTC

The poem you posted is glorious, I love that one.
I have to admit I'm pretty ignorant when it comes to poetry, but there is one in particular that always comes to mind, I love this one very much, particularly because of its links to Arthurian legend.

The Bard by Thomas Gray.

I can even recite a few stanzas off the top of my head xD

offthebalcony February 5 2009, 17:46:22 UTC

There are so many parts of that poem I love! I love most Auden poetry, which is something I vaugely struggle with myself over because as a person I really kind of dislike him. But, hey.

'O plunge your hands in water,
Plunge them in up to the wrist;
Stare, stare in the basin
And wonder what you've missed.

I always wonder if those lines are a Macbeth reference.

I've never read that one before. I'll definately check it out now, though! :D