Wednesday, 12 October 2016

Cauliflower

There is no cause for alarm. Ever. My watchword will be "equanimity" from now on.

Help!!!!!!!! (loud scream!!!!!!)

See, I didn't even flinch. Even though there is a tiger that is only partially asleep upstairs.

Dangerous, Protected Species

The garden is looking wonderful. I bought a rose cutting from the local supermarket a couple of years ago for about 2 quid and it´s now a fountain of exorbitant, gushing largess. It smells of tropical sugar and marmalade and the flowers are enormous when they fully open.


The holly is doing it's "get ready for Christmas" thingy...


And the locals have the grape harvest in-hand.



Gilty is making sure all remains in order



...and setting off for work is more of a Buddhist experience when inspired by nice views


..From bedroom window

Today's poem:

Brahma
IF the red slayer think he slays,
  Or if the slain think he is slain,
They know not well the subtle ways
  I keep, and pass, and turn again.
Far or forgot to me is near;        5
  Shadow and sunlight are the same;
The vanished gods to me appear;
  And one to me are shame and fame.
They reckon ill who leave me out;
  When me they fly, I am the wings;        10
I am the doubter and the doubt,
  And I the hymn the Brahmin sings.
The strong gods pine for my abode,
  And pine in vain the sacred Seven;
But thou, meek lover of the good!        15
  Find me, and turn thy back on heaven.

Who or What Is the Red Slayer?
.......The first line of the poem refers to a "red slayer." In the Hindu social system, members of the military belonged to a caste known as Kshatriya. Because a person in this caste typically burned with a fiery temperament that made him a formidable soldier, he was associated with the color red. Thus, the red slayer is a Kshatriya warrior. Kshatriya is derived from the Sanskrit word katra, meaning rule.
Theme
.......The theme of "Brahma" is this: Human beings can find fulfillment and contentment only when they realize that they are part of a universal entity.
Meter
.......Each line in the poem contains eight syllables. The dominant meter is iambic tetrameter, in which a line consists of four pairs of syllables—the first syllable in each pair unstressed and the second stressed. The last two lines of the first stanza demonstrate the pattern:
.........1...................2................3................4
They KNOW..|..not WELL..|..the SUB..|..tle WAYS
.....1.................2..................3................4
KEEP,..|..and PASS,..|..and TURN..|..GAIN
Lines 1, 5, and 6 appear to break from this pattern by placing stress on the first syllable of the line. 
Rhyme
.......In each stanza, the first line rhymes with the third, and the second rhymes with the fourth. 
Point of View
.......Assuming the role of Brahma, Emerson presents the first fourteen lines of the poem in first-person point of view. In the last two lines, he addresses the reader, using second-person point of view.
.
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Summary of the Poem
.......The Hindu god Brahma tells the reader that what appear to be opposites—a warrior and his enemy, remoteness and nearness, shadows and sunlight, and shame and fame—are really the same. Anyone who does not believe this truth lives in error, for all these things are part of the essence of Brahma—the eternal god who is beyond human understanding—and therefore are unified in him and are the same. Even a hymn sung by a Brahmin, a Hindu priest, is part of Brahma's essence. Other Hindu gods—such as Yama, the lord of death; Agni, the god of fire; and Indra, the warrior god and god of rain—long to live in Brahma's essence (line 13), as do the holiest Hindus of the past (line 14). Brahma ends the poem by telling the reader that if he finds his way to Brahma's essence he will have all that he needs for all eternity.

A real and brilliant example of poem that actually rhymes and scans, built on a structural framework that requires inspiration, hard work and craftsmanship. 

I just read an anthology of prize-winning poems from last year. Practically all junk, no rhymes, no proper meter and they didn't scan. Only intellectual rubbish. 


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