Monday, December 31, 2007

Edges, Precipices, Cusps.

Thresholds. Cliffs. Dawns. Dusks. Doorways. Roots. Springs. Inceptions. Origins. Deaths. Shores. Prefaces. Postludes. Initiations. Creations. Frontiers. Perimeters. Finales. Brims. Borders. Outposts. Fringes. Lips. Mouths. Lobbies. Passages. Portals. Peaks. Pathways. Turns. Limbs. Limits. Lines. Verges. Brinks. Breaks. Boundaries. Bindings. Inlets. Approaches. Avenues. Halls. Corners. Margins. Splits. Tips. Rings. Ridges. Fronts. Fences. Bars. Blanks. Extremes. Stops. Confines.

Beginnings, Endings.

***

I'm going to end my writing for this year by stealing someone else's: Thomas Hardy's "Darkling Thrush" is such a hopeful New Years poem.

I leant upon a coppice gate
When Frost was spectre-gray,
And Winter's dregs made desolate
The weakening eye of day.
The tangled bine-stems scored the sky
Like strings of broken lyres,
And all mankind that haunted nigh
Had sought their household fires.

The land's sharp features seemed to be
The Century's corpse outleant,
His crypt the cloudy canopy,
The wind his death-lament.
The ancient pulse of germ and birth
Was shrunken hard and dry,
And every spirit upon earth
Seemed fervourless as I.

At once a voice arose among
The bleak twigs overhead
In a full-hearted evensong
Of joy illimited;
An aged thrush, frail, gaunt, and small,
In blast-beruffled plume,
Had chosen thus to fling his soul
Upon the growing gloom.

So little cause for carolings
Of such ecstatic sound
Was written on terrestrial things
Afar or nigh around,
That I could think there trembled through
His happy good-night air
Some blessed Hope, whereof he knew.
And I was unaware.

5 comments:

Mantramine said...

I don't know jdub. I was going to say that was really great, but then, I didn't really get a good vibe, like that you were in the moment when you wrote that, and everything? Ya know? I think maybe you should light some insense and REALLY feel 'it'

love always,

sunshines in my poop (my hippie name)

(umm... and you realy don't have to publish this comment)

wizard sleeves

please love me, I will try harder and do better

Wayward Son said...

Happy New Years whatever that means. I wouldn't wish you anything less any other day.

WS

Mary P Jones (MPJ) said...

You're lighting me forward into happy, my lovely friend. :)

Mary P Jones (MPJ) said...

P.S. I've always liked Hardy's poetry much better than his crazed novels where the protagonist inevitably chooses (or has forced upon her) a terrible unsuitable lover, only to meet his/her true love, but in the end, is unable to escape the original terrible partner. Hardy's love life must have sucked.

John Donation said...

sweet door