Thanks Daniel, I appreciate that! T. S. Eliot is a big influence in terms of trying to work in as many allusions as I can, which is to some people's taste and not others. Glad you enjoyed it.
I'll say poetry can sometimes feel like philosophy, in the sense that, having not robustly studied either, jumping into more recent poetry/philosophy without taking a survey course gives one the distinct impression they've missed centuries of context haha but I certainly appreciate poetry that works with or without knowing the allusion in question. I've found yours does so.
Agreed! My mom always says that the goal of an education is to get every joke, ie, to try and catch as many references and allusions between works as we can. I do try and keep mine so that the poem (or essay) doesn't wholly depend on them. Part of the power of a great literary reference or image is that it still resonates even if we don't know that it's originally from Milton, or Donne, or whomever.
If you want the breakdown in this one:
“I all alone etc” - Shakespeare’s Sonnet 29
“Lakes of many waters” - had in mind “many waters cannot quench love” from Song of Songs 8:7
“I who had died etc” - a slight edit of a line from e. e. cummings' poem “i thank You God for most this amazing”
“water muddying earth etc” - had in mind the blind beggar whom Jesus heals
“good measure” — you already clocked that one, obviously, but it was our Gospel reading in the Anglican lectionary cycle this past Sunday :)
“No one can gaze upon the world etc” - a direct quote from Anthony Esolen’s translation of Dante’s Paradiso, one of the earlier cantos, but I don’t remember which of the top of my head
“Blue eyes etc” - also a Dante reference; he talks a lot about looking at Beatrice as she’s looking heavenward
And then the quote in italics is from Mary Oliver’s “The Summer Day”, which the whole poem (and title) are somewhat answering--or at least conversing with.
That's far more than I was anticipating getting packed into a single poem haha impressive! Are most of these lines just readily available to your line, or do you keep a list of quotations stashed away somewhere that you like/think you might want to converse with in your poems?
Kind of a mix! I keep a commonplace book, and sometimes lines from that will work their way into my poetry. But I also have a pretty good memory for images/the sense of a quote, if not a perfect quotation, so sometimes things slip in without me needing to dig them up.
Your allusions don't seem "worked in," as if you had an allusion quota. I'm guessing they come naturally as you compose, one among the many elements drawn into the vortex of your creative faculty at work. Unfortunately, I lack the knowledge to appreciate all of them. For instance, I've never read Dante, so when I read "Dante's sunshine," I wonder how Dante's sunshine differs from the sunshine here in Philadelphia.
Toddler mom brain at work, but at the end I totally thought of the Frog and Toad story where he's looking around literal corners to see if Spring is there yet. haha
This poem is lovely. It's so touching to me, not because I recognized all your many (!) literary references in it, unfortunately, but because you capture exactly how precious the first warm hint of spring feels. I'm always surprised by how happy it can make me. Thank you for putting this into beautiful poetry.
That's exactly what I meant the feeling of the poem to be! I am not a winter person, and so that first thaw + warmth always feels so charged with resurrected life. Thanks for taking the time to read it. :)
"the good measure, pressed down,
shaken together, and running over."
Gotta love the words of Christ. I love how allusion rich your work is, Olivia.
Thanks Daniel, I appreciate that! T. S. Eliot is a big influence in terms of trying to work in as many allusions as I can, which is to some people's taste and not others. Glad you enjoyed it.
I'll say poetry can sometimes feel like philosophy, in the sense that, having not robustly studied either, jumping into more recent poetry/philosophy without taking a survey course gives one the distinct impression they've missed centuries of context haha but I certainly appreciate poetry that works with or without knowing the allusion in question. I've found yours does so.
Agreed! My mom always says that the goal of an education is to get every joke, ie, to try and catch as many references and allusions between works as we can. I do try and keep mine so that the poem (or essay) doesn't wholly depend on them. Part of the power of a great literary reference or image is that it still resonates even if we don't know that it's originally from Milton, or Donne, or whomever.
If you want the breakdown in this one:
“I all alone etc” - Shakespeare’s Sonnet 29
“Lakes of many waters” - had in mind “many waters cannot quench love” from Song of Songs 8:7
“I who had died etc” - a slight edit of a line from e. e. cummings' poem “i thank You God for most this amazing”
“water muddying earth etc” - had in mind the blind beggar whom Jesus heals
“good measure” — you already clocked that one, obviously, but it was our Gospel reading in the Anglican lectionary cycle this past Sunday :)
“No one can gaze upon the world etc” - a direct quote from Anthony Esolen’s translation of Dante’s Paradiso, one of the earlier cantos, but I don’t remember which of the top of my head
“Blue eyes etc” - also a Dante reference; he talks a lot about looking at Beatrice as she’s looking heavenward
And then the quote in italics is from Mary Oliver’s “The Summer Day”, which the whole poem (and title) are somewhat answering--or at least conversing with.
That's far more than I was anticipating getting packed into a single poem haha impressive! Are most of these lines just readily available to your line, or do you keep a list of quotations stashed away somewhere that you like/think you might want to converse with in your poems?
Kind of a mix! I keep a commonplace book, and sometimes lines from that will work their way into my poetry. But I also have a pretty good memory for images/the sense of a quote, if not a perfect quotation, so sometimes things slip in without me needing to dig them up.
Your allusions don't seem "worked in," as if you had an allusion quota. I'm guessing they come naturally as you compose, one among the many elements drawn into the vortex of your creative faculty at work. Unfortunately, I lack the knowledge to appreciate all of them. For instance, I've never read Dante, so when I read "Dante's sunshine," I wonder how Dante's sunshine differs from the sunshine here in Philadelphia.
Toddler mom brain at work, but at the end I totally thought of the Frog and Toad story where he's looking around literal corners to see if Spring is there yet. haha
A Frog and Toad comparison?? The highest compliment.
This just…captures!
Thank you!
Great tone and imagery. Shout out to Sonnet 29. ;-)
Thank you! And well done catching the nod. :)
Such a good one. There’s a lovely clip of Dame Judi Dench reciting it from memory. Should probably go on my list too.
That's awesome! I'll have to look that up. "Let me not to the marriage of true minds" is the only Shakespeare sonnet I know pieces of by heart.
This poem sings
Thank you, and thanks for reading! :)
This poem is lovely. It's so touching to me, not because I recognized all your many (!) literary references in it, unfortunately, but because you capture exactly how precious the first warm hint of spring feels. I'm always surprised by how happy it can make me. Thank you for putting this into beautiful poetry.
Hope you are feeling well and recovered fully.
That's exactly what I meant the feeling of the poem to be! I am not a winter person, and so that first thaw + warmth always feels so charged with resurrected life. Thanks for taking the time to read it. :)
"The sky has remembered how to be blue,
and I who had died am alive again."
Love that imagery. It's the kind of weather we've had the last couple of days after what felt like endless weeks of rain.
I recognized the Cummings line but couldn't quite place where I'd heard it before. It's nicely placed.
And also the good measure pressed down being applied to light works quite well.