Tag Archives: poetry wednesday

Poetry Wednesday: 11/18/09 Landscape with the Fall of Icarus

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Landscape with the Fall of Icarus, 1554 Royal Museums of Fine Arts of Belgium by Pieter Brueghel Oil on canvas In Ancient Greek mythology, Icarus succeeded in flying, with wings made of feathers secured with wax, but he flew too close to the sun, melting the wax, and fell into the sea and drowned. His legs can be seen in the water, just below the ship. Landscape with the Fall of Icarus by William Carlos Williams (1883 – 1963) According to Brueghel when Icarus fell … Continue reading →

Poetry Wednesday 10/07/09: Invictus

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Grandfather Mountain, North Carolina by Helen Hopper Invictus By W.E. Henley, 1875 Out of the night that covers me, Black as the pit from pole to pole, I thank whatever gods may be For my unconquerable soul. In the fell clutch of circumstance I have not winced nor cried aloud. Under the bludgeonings of chance My head is bloody, but unbow’d. Beyond this place of wrath and tears Looms but the Horror of the shade, And yet the menace of the years Finds and shall … Continue reading →

Poetry Wednesday 07/01/09: Jazz Band

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Jazz Band By Frank Marshall Davis Play that thing, you jazz mad fools! Boil a skyscraper with a jungle Dish it to ’em sweet and hot- Ahhhhhhhhh Rip it open then sew it up, jazz band! Thick bass notes from a moon faced drum Saxophones moan, banjo strings hum High thin notes from the cornet’s throat Trombone snorting, bass horn snorting Short tan notes from the piano And the short tan notes from the piano Plink plank plunk a plunk Plink plank plunk a plunk … Continue reading →

Poetry Wednesday 06/24/09: Charlie Parker by Jack Kerouac

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    Charlie Parker by Jack Kerouac Charlie Parker looked like Buddha Charlie Parker, who recently died Laughing at a juggler on the TV After weeks of strain and sickness, Was called the Perfect Musician. And his expression on his face Was as calm, beautiful, and profound As the image of the Buddha Represented in the East, the lidded eyes The expression that says “All Is Well” This was what Charlie Parker Said when he played, All is Well. You had the feeling of early-in-the-morning … Continue reading →

Poetry Wednesday 06/17/09: Carl Sandburg’s Jazz Fantasia

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  Jazz Fantasia Carl Sandburg, 1919 Drum on your drums, batter on your banjoes, sob on the long cool winding saxophones. Go to it, O jazzmen. Sling your knuckles on the bottoms of the happy tin pans, let your trombones ooze, and go husha- husha-hush with the slippery sand-paper. Moan like an autumn wind high in the lonesome treetops, moan soft like you wanted somebody terrible, cry like a racing car slipping away from a motorcycle cop, bang-bang! you jazzmen, bang altogether drums, traps, banjoes, … Continue reading →

Poetry Wednesday 06/17/09: The Fusion of Jazz and Poetry

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Jazz and the blues were a great influence on the poetry of Lanston Hughes (1902 – 1967). He was one of the first American poets to experiment with these distinctly American musical forms created by black people. While Langston was living in France in 1923, he worked washing dishes at a club. He was swept away at the sounds of jazz and the blues, which inspired him to write poems in his head as he scrubbed. He heard jazz and blues live at clubs and … Continue reading →

Poetry Wednesday 05/27/09: Daffadils

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Daffodils William Wordsworth (1770 – 1850) I wandered lonely as a cloud That floats on high o’er vales and hills, When all at once I saw a crowd, A host, of golden daffodils; Beside the lake, beneath the trees, Fluttering and dancing in the breeze. Continuous as the stars that shine And twinkle on the milky way, They stretched in never-ending line Along the margin of a bay: Ten thousand saw I at a glance, Tossing their heads in sprightly dance. The waves beside them … Continue reading →