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But this poem is in a collection of poems entitled "I'm the Man Who Loves You," a reference to a song of the indie-rock band Wilco. And it seems quite a lot of her work makes reference to objects that are already lyrically rich. So how did poets and songsters converge in terms of developing the same ideas?]]>Poetic America: Literature and Lyrics TodayakarraTue, 08 Jul 2008 14:32:56 -0700trailfire:markId:226821http://www.trailfire.com/akarra/marks/226822This poem has a lyrical rhythm appropriate for an address to a child. In fact, it appears that Hopkins began composing a musical accompaniment to the verse, though no copy of it remains extant.

Now granted, this is a poem written by an Englishman. And it has nothing to do with our problem at hand, except two things:

1. Poems (duh) translate very easily into songs. All of us are aware epics were once sung. Poems in a sense are songs.

2. The theme of this poem, man's mortality and his ultimate yearning, is a universal theme. It does show up in American poetry, but I think it is safe to say in older American poetry mainly. The more recent concern is with love and a politics which reflects love, and wouldn't you know...]]>Poetic America: Literature and Lyrics TodayakarraTue, 08 Jul 2008 14:41:40 -0700trailfire:markId:226822http://www.trailfire.com/akarra/marks/226825Poetic America: Literature and Lyrics TodayakarraTue, 08 Jul 2008 14:51:50 -0700trailfire:markId:226825http://www.trailfire.com/akarra/marks/226826here it is. There's nothing wrong with emphasizing two and two only, over and beyond all, except one slight thing.

Going back to the Hopkins poem before, mortality is a universal problem. To contemplate it is to wonder what unites us all, and might act as a basis for another sort of love entirely.]]>Poetic America: Literature and Lyrics TodayakarraTue, 08 Jul 2008 15:01:40 -0700trailfire:markId:226826http://www.trailfire.com/akarra/marks/226827
We don't care about the public things because we can't afford to care about the private things: to look like we care for the "lonely outline of the host" would interrupt what we think is freedom, his and ours.]]>Poetic America: Literature and Lyrics TodayakarraTue, 08 Jul 2008 15:16:28 -0700trailfire:markId:226827http://www.trailfire.com/akarra/marks/226831
This kind of self-critique - I don't know what love is, I don't know what's worth loving, I need to be sensitive to others - is Socrates' "knowledge of ignorance," the "know thyself" atop the Delphic oracle. The stuff you know, that you don't get taught nowadays because we're teaching science only.]]>Poetic America: Literature and Lyrics TodayakarraTue, 08 Jul 2008 15:27:04 -0700trailfire:markId:226831