"Nightshade – Random Twitter Poem for June 25th"
Wanderer Thoughts (June 25, 2010)
"Nightshade is a poem about alchemy or herbalism, it is a tale of a plant that grows by night and is harvested to produce a healing type of effect when imbibed...."
"...Nightshade
"Celebrate this mystical nightshade
appearance like a scruffy parsnip...."
"...absinthe liquid of absolution
healing all mortal exhaustion"
I experienced the poem itself before reading what the author had written about it. That's my habit, since I would much rather meet the poem - or movie, or book, or any creative work - before learning what the artist thought I should perceive in it.
Which is getting seriously off-topic.
Or, maybe, not.
This time, I learned that the swirl of imagery was a salute to alchemy or herbalism - appropriately, given Western civilization's perceptions of both, in this time. The mysterious, shifting 'feel' of the poem (my experience, anyway) probably explains why the last lines of Coleridge's "Kubla Kahn" came to mind while writing this post:
"...And all should cry, Beware! Beware!
His flashing eyes, his floating hair!
Weave a circle round him thrice,
And close your eyes with holy dread,
For he on honeydew hath fed,
And drunk the milk of Paradise."
(from victorianweb.org)
It does have a good comparison, so in your opinion should I refrain from writing the meaning of the poem so that readers can be unbiased when they read and draw their own interpretations. I normally don't like writing the meaning of the poems, but I don't like poems without a paragraph before them for SEO reasons.
ReplyDeleteDragonblogger,
ReplyDeleteIn my opinion, should you refrain from writing the meaning of the poem?
I've got two reasons for you to write a sort of 'cover paragraph' for your poems.
First, a practical reason: SEO is important, and search engines are notoriously lacking in appreciation of poetry. For the sake of the AIs that tie us together in cyberspace, keep those opening paragraph(s) coming.
Second, an 'artistic' reason: It's easy enough for someone with my tastes to note and skip an opening section, and read the poem first. Later, I like to go back and see what the poem looks like from the other side - that of the creator. So, for the sake of greater appreciation of the poetry, keep those opening paragraph(s) coming.
Thanks for this opportunity to opine - again.