Golden Maple Publications
  • books
  • contact
  • blogs

July 14, 2017

14/7/2017

0 Comments

 
THE WRITTEN FORMAT OF POETRY
from my book, Simple Poetry
 
  A piece of poem is a piece of poem if and only if you consider it as such.
  This principle emphasizes the fact that the intention of the composer and the acceptance of the reader plays the crucial role in identifying a piece of poem. Now, we must see how a poet conveys his intention when he considers a piece of poem as such; and how the reader may receive the message ‘this is a piece of poem’.
  This is usually done through a set of formal features that distinguish the written format of poetry from that of prose. Consider the following short paragraph:
 
    Some people say, “A word is dead when it is said.” However, I say, “It just begins to live that day.”
 
  The written format of this paragraph is the usual format of a piece of prose. In this way, the writer does not seem to intend composing a poem, although the content (thought and feeling), and the other poetic aspects (i.e., rhythm, rhyme, melody, figurative language, and artistic beauty) do exist in a level which is more than enough for a short piece of poem. Consequently, the reader, who encounters the usual format of prose, is not supposed to read it as a piece of poem. Normally, the reader’s speed and his amount of carefulness to the form and content of the paragraph would adjust according to the assumption of reading prose rather than reading poetry.
  Now, consider the following poem:
 
    A Word
 
    A word is dead
    When it is said,
    Some say.
 
    I say it just
    Begins to live
    That day.
 
          Emily Dickinson (Ibrahim & Thiyaga Rajah, p. 3)
 
  When the reader looks at the above written format, he gets ready to read a poem. What are the formal features that tells the reader, ‘this is a poem’?
  First of all, the poem is composed of short lines put vertically under one another, instead of following each other in a horizontal sequence as far as the margins allow space. The lines may be either centered or left aligned. When we write a paragraph in prose, the sentences follow each other horizontally and a new line may start anywhere in the sentence whenever we reach the right margin. However, in poetry, a new line starts when the reader is supposed to pause after a tone unit and whenever a shorter pause is required, the new line is indented (More discussion about tone unit and its role in the phonological form of poetry is presented in Unit Four: Melody of the book, Simple Poetry).
  The lines of a poem usually start with a capital letter, no matter it is the beginning of a sentence or not.
A paragraph in poetry is called a stanza. Stanzas are separated by a double line space. The above short poem is divided into two stanzas. Each stanza covers a subdivision of the subject matter of the poem.
  Finally, a poem, no matter how short it is, usually has a title.
  It should be mentioned that what we say about the written format of poetry concerns the normal way a poem is written. However, there are poems with the written format of prose. To have an example, you may have a look at the following poem by Indian poet, Rabindranath Tagore, one the world’s greatest poets of the twentieth century. This poem is quoted from the famous book, Gitanjali, which won the Noble Prize for literature. All the poems in this book are presented in the written format of prose and instead of having titles, they are given numbers:
 
                                                                                     XVI
  I have had my invitation to this world’s festival, and thus my life has been blessed. My eyes have seen and my ears have heard.
  It was my part at this feast to play upon my instrument, and I have done all I could.
  Now, I ask, has the time come at last when I may go in and see thy face and offer thee my silent salutation?
       Rabindranath Tagore (Shahbaaz, pp. 135-7)
 
It is possible to write the above poem in poetic format. That is, to divide it into its tone units and put them down vertically. We can also consider each paragraph as a stanza and leave a double line space between them. We start each line with a capital letter and, to give it a more usual form of a poem, we also provide it with a title. Now, read the poem in its new format, as a poem,  and compare it with its original format in prose.
 
   The Musician
 
    I have had my invitation
    To this world’s festival,
    And thus,
    My life has been blessed.
    My eyes have seen and
    My ears have heard.
 
    It was my part at this feast
    To play upon my instrument,
    And I have done all I could.
 
    Now, I ask,
    Has the time come at last
    When I may go in
    And see thy face
    And offer thee
    My silent salutation?
 
  Now, read the following poems and pay a closer attention to their written format.
The first time you read a poem, never forget to read it just for the sake of enjoyment and contemplation.
 
   Forgive Me
 
    I have eaten all the plums
    That where in the icebox
    Those you may keep
    For breakfast
 
    Forgive me
    But they were delicious
    So sweet
    And so cold.
 
      William Carlos Williams (Williams, p.76)
 
   Eskimo Chant
 
    There is joy in
    Feeling the warmth
    Come to the great world
    And seeing the sun
    Follow its old footprints
    In the summer night.
 
      Knud Rasmussen, translator (Durr et al, a, p. 109)
 
   In the Mirror

    In the mirror
    On the wall,
    There’s a face
    I always see;
    Round and pink,
    And rather small,
    Looking back again
    At me.
 
    It is very
    Rude to stare,
    But she never
    Thinks of that,
    For her eyes are
    Always there;
    What can she be
    Looking at?
 
      Elizabeth Fleming (Ibrahim & Thiyaga Rajah, p. 33)
 
   Warning
 
    When I am an old woman I shall wear purple
    With a red had which doesn’t go, and doesn’t suit me.
    And I shall spend my pension on brandy and summer gloves
    And satin sandals, and say we’ve no money for butter.
    I shall sit down on the pavement when I’m tired
    And gobble up samples in shops and press alarm bells
    And run my stick along the public railings
    And make up for the sobriety of my youth.
    I shall go out in my slippers in the rain
    And pick the flowers in other people’s gardens
    And learn to spit.
 
    You can wear terrible shirts and grow more fat
    And eat three pounds of sausages at a go
    Or only bread and pickle for a week
    And hoard pens and pencils and beermats and things in boxes.
 
    But now we must have clothes that keep up dry
    And pay our rent and not swear in the street
    And set a good example for the children.
    We must have friends to dinner and read the papers.
 
    But maybe I ought to practise a little now?
    So people who know me are not too shocked and surprised
    When suddenly I am old, and start to wear purple.
 
      Jenny Joseph (Martin & Hill, p. 22)


0 Comments

WHO AM I?

18/12/2011

1 Comment

 
There is a devil inside me
Aggressive, cruel, and ugly.
There is an angel inside me
Gentle, kind, and beautiful.
Visible when awake
Invisible when dormant
They have the same name
But have never met
When one rises
The other one faints.
If you look at me angrily
And shout my name, "KUROSH!"
The devil responds with hatred.
If you look at me tenderly
And whisper my name, "Kurosh!"
The angel replies with respect.

For years, I asked myself,
"Who am I?"
I think I know the answer.

* * *

Kurosh Taromi
1 Comment

Freedom Is Something to Learn

7/12/2011

0 Comments

 
I have written a short introduction to the book, "Freedom Is Something to Learn: Perspectives on Freedom by Outstanding Thinkers & Activists, from Aristotle to Emma Goldman". I blog it here:

Do you remember the first time you were free to use a knife as a child without supervision?

In the early stages of your childhood, when you seized a knife, the adults acted reflexively to take it away from you in order to prevent any injury or hurt you might cause to yourself or your siblings and little friends. That is natural.

During the course of life, all normal children learn how to use a knife in a safe manner, without cutting their hands or hurting or threatening others. The time inevitably comes when nobody feels uncomfortable as the child handles the knife to peel an orange properly. When children learn the required skill and morality in handling a knife, nobody questions their acquired right anymore. I do not remember the first time I was free to use a knife either.

Do you remember if you or any other children demonstrated in front of the adults and fought for your freedom to use a knife? Was this freedom ever bestowed on you?

The same is true with other areas of our personal and social life and whatever sort of freedom we have achieved. The same is also true with nations and their freedom. Democracy is also something to learn. In the history of nations, we read about revolutions. People fought and gave their precious blood to gain freedom and democracy. However, the only things they could keep and pass to next generations were those they actually learned during the whole process. Whatever the nations actually learned they applied in their day to day life. Then, their children who were exposed to the free behavior, acquired it in a natural way, in the same way they acquire their native language.

Democracy involves personal and social skills as well as a democratic mentality -- which can be considered as its morality. Until a society has learned democracy, it is of no use to fight for it or even to bestow it on the people. In some developing countries, people revolted and even overthrew long-established monarchies and replaced them with a kind of republic. Nevertheless, that kind of republic is only a modern version of dictatorship, even if it carries the name of democracy. The problem is that the majority of the society have not learned democracy yet. They lack the democratic mentality and skills. They do not treat their family and themselves democratically and they do not even notice it. They complain that their governors do not act democratically but they do not blame themselves for acting in the same way.

Dictatorship has its roots in the mentality of its subjects. No dictator can deprive a nation of the freedom they have adequately learned. Such a nation would have to forget and therefore stop practicing freedom before it is ready to accept and suffer dictatorship. I do not deny the possibility of it, though it is improbable to forget something so valuable if it is fully ascertained.

Like any other kind of education, 'Freedom education' is also a matter of degree. Members of the same society may enjoy different levels of freedom in different aspects of their lives, depending on the levels of education they have had in each field. At home, at school, at work, regarding politics, religion, economy and any other conceivable aspect of life, there are various kinds and levels of freedom: freedom of belief and thought, freedom of speech and expression, freedom of behavior and action. When we learn freedom, we learn our rights and those of others and we will be urged to regard them all. Freedom education leads to a healthier, happier and more successful society.

Freedom is not something to bestow and it is not something to fight for. Freedom is something to learn. Let's learn more of it.

0 Comments

    Author

    Kurosh Taromi

    Archives

    July 2017
    December 2011

    Categories

    All
    Poems

    RSS Feed

 Books . Contact . Blogs                                                                                                    © 2011-2022 Golden Golden Golden Maple Publications