Each morning as I a waken, in those first few moments when awareness stirs, I take the time to thank my creator for another day. I do not question whether my benefactor exists! I remember the manners that I was taught as a child and am grateful and will continue to be so for every subsequent breath that I take.Ingratitude is unacceptable! But what I wish to convey to you today is the simple fact that my heart sings and has done so for most of my life in spite of adversity. As we have learned from Job, faith is all! Tears are a necessity, like washing ones heart, purging our emotions not unlike windshield wipers clearing our vision as we travel on life’s “fractious” highway. These are not incompatible feelings but rather complimentary. The point I am attempting to advance is that one needs to be “tempered” by the other, you know “all work and no play makes Jack a dull boy”! The total of which leads me to an example of both beauty and sadness by Tennyson, “Tears Idle Tears”.
“Tears, idle tears, I know not what they mean,
Tears from the depth of some divine despair
Rise in the heart, and gather to the eyes,
In looking on the happy Autumn – fields,
And thinking of the days that are no more.”
Alfred, Lord Tennyson
As one of the “Apostles” of the 19th century and the genius who followed Wordsworth (whom I also adore) as Englands’s Poet Laureate, his writings are almost immortal and endless, each more valiant than the previous! Do you recall that I have voiced my request for another 100 years so I can get it right this time? His concluding line, “O Death in Life, the days that are no more!” He may just be the “Willie Mays” of poetry, you must make that decision on your own. You’re next up in the batter’s box, try hard to not strike out! He’s a champ!
Sincerely,
Claire B.
Claire V. Bogdanos 
DATELINE: Hoboken, NJ USA “NIGHTINGALES” ( 2013 ) 2013/07/07
Tags: Blog, Blogging, Commentary, Memories, Naidu Sarojini, Opinions, Poem, Poet, Poetry, Sassoon Siegfried, Writing
In 1945, I stumbled upon a poem, “Transcience” by a poet, Sarojini Naidu. I was unaware that she was a woman or that she was so very special. However, my hungry mind gravitated to her incredible thoughts and words. In my effort to commit them to memory, I devised a plan by using the first 4 words of each of 3 stanzas and it worked. “Nay, do not grieve, Nay do not pine, Nay, do not weep,” now here we are almost 70 years later and with this single device I am able to recall that piece without hesitation. I find that time has not diminished its value or the consolation it carried in its rhythmic style to alleviate the almost unbearable tragedy of that era and its world impact ! This reminds me of another man of note and pathos, Siegfried Sassoon of World War I, still one more voice in the “wilderness “along with a cadre of others. Oddly enough both of these poets shared similarities, born late 1800’s , died after WWII concluded,educated in England and rooted in Indian culture with a passion for peace. Both deserve your attention and respect ! Please allow me to close with the last 4 lines of my personal favorite:
“Nay, do not weep; new hopes,new dreams,new faces,
The unspent joy of all the unborn years,
Will prove your heart a traitor to its sorrow,
And make your eyes unfaithful to their tears.”
by Sarojini Naidu
And so again, we find another facet of magic words in the hands of “word warriors” not to be ignored. I find myself compelled to think of one greater, the Preacher,Solomon, have you read him lately? That’s Ecclesiastes !
Sincerely,
Claire B.
Share this:
Like this: