March Slice of Life No. 15
Poetry Friday
I.
I read a blog post; on that post, I clicked a link about a book.
On Amazon I chose to “Look inside” and read a poem . . .
The Bird
By Arthur Symons (1865-1945)
I have grown tired of sorrow and human tears;
Life is a dream in the night, a fear among fears,
A naked runner lost in a storm of spears.
I have grown tired of rapture and love’s desire;
love is a flaming heart, and it’s flames aspire
Till they cloud the soul in the smoke of a windy fire.
________
II.
I googled the poet and started reading his poems.
That is how I happened upon “Caged Bird” by Arthur Symons.
The Caged Bird
By Arthur Symons (1865-1945)
A year ago I asked you for your soul;
I took it in my hands, it weighed as light
As any bird’s wing, it was poised for flight,
It was a wandering thing without a goal.
I caged it, and I tended it; it throve;
Wise ways I taught it; it forgot to fly;
It learnt to know its cage, its keeper; I,
Its keeper, taught it that the cage was love.
And now I take my bird out of the cage,
It flutters not a feather, looks at me
Sadly, without desire, without surprise;
See, I have tamed it, it is still and sage,
It has not strength enough for liberty,
It does not even hate me with its eyes.
_______
III.
Of course, it immediately made me think of Maya Angelou’s “Caged Bird.”
Caged Bird
Continue reading…
By Maya Angelou (1928-2014)
A free bird leaps
on the back of the wind
and floats downstream
till the current ends
and dips his wing
in the orange sun rays
and dares to claim the sky.
But a bird that stalks
down his narrow cage
can seldom see through
his bars of rage
his wings are clipped and
his feet are tied
so he opens his throat to sing.
The caged bird sings
with a fearful trill
of things unknown
but longed for still
and his tune is heard
on the distant hill
for the caged bird
sings of freedom.
________
IV.
Then I remembered another poem about a caged bird, one in a gilded cage.
A Linnet in a Gilded Cage
By Christina Georgina Rossetti (1830-1894)
A linnet in a gilded cage, —
A linnet on a bough, —
In frosty winter one might doubt
Which bird is luckier now.
But let the trees burst out in leaf,
And nests be on the bough,
Which linnet is the luckier bird,
Oh who could doubt it now?
________
V.
Finally, my wanderings led me to a poem by “one of the first influential Black poets in American literature”–Paul Laurence Dunbar. { I found a copy of Dunbar’s OAK AND IVY, a book of his poems (1893).}
Sympathy
By Paul Laurence Dunbar (1872-1906)
I know what the caged bird feels, alas!
When the sun is bright on the upland slopes;
When the wind stirs soft through the springing grass,
And the river flows like a stream of glass;
When the first bird sings and the first bud opens,
And the faint perfume from its chalice steals—
I know what the caged bird feels!
I know why the caged bird beats his wing
Till its blood is red on the cruel bars;
For he must fly back to his perch and cling
When he fain would be on the bough a-swing;
And a pain still throbs in the old, old scars
And they pulse again with a keener sting—
I know why he beats his wing!
I know why the caged bird sings, ah me,
When his wing is bruised and his bosom sore,—
When he beats his bars and he would be free;
It is not a carol of joy or glee,
But a prayer that he sends from his heart’s deep core,
But a plea, that upward to Heaven he flings—
I know why the caged bird sings!
___________
Thank you to
Two Writing Teachers
#PoetryFriday Roundup
is hosted by Heidi at
My Juicy Little Universe
Poetry Friday Schedule Jan – June 2019
Love the poetic migration you took, Alice, from poem to poem to poem. So many stirring moments along the way.
I love the way you wove these poems together – so beautifully done.
What a collection you’ve curated! Great for comparing themes and metaphors!
Alice, thanks for the poetry on this Saturday morning. I like these lines from Dunbar’s poem: It is not a carol of joy or glee,
But a prayer that he sends from his heart’s deep core,
I loved following your internet journey, bird by bird! I hadn’t realized that Maya’s caged bird was so closely related to Dunbar’s before her. Did you find Arthur to be a little creepy at all? : )
Thank you for taking us along on your flight into cyberspace and sharing all these connections!
Beautiful – fascinating how many poets have drawn inspiration from, and have likely felt some solidarity with, flying creatures trapped behind bars, longing to be free.
I adore all of the poems you shared, and I love how you came upon the work of Arthur Symons.
These are glorious lines – I savored them as I read. I have discovered just how much there is to write about birds (everyone has a bird story. Maybe many). And that little green parrot -! Reminded me of one I knew that was a trained to sing “Oh What a Beautiful Morning” from the musical Oklahoma! (I promise I’m not making this up!)
Thank you, Fran. Speaking of “bird stories,” here’s a LINK to one of my bird stories.
I read once that a parent’s work is to open the child’s cage one bar at a time, to allow the freedom. Though there are other connections to cages, the poems reminded me of children growing up. Beautiful collection, Alice.
I like your lens for reading the poems, Linda.
Linda’s thought is really beautiful. Parents are the first teachers who guide children on the road to independence.
What a fascinating group of poems. I really appreciate how they work together and how the themes and images overlap and diverge. I’ll definitely be reading these as a group again.
Amazing – five poems on the same topic. Each one so different yet echoing the same message.
Thank you for the poetry this morning.
I’m glad I flew in for this post. The PLD poem is my favorite, and I see echos of Maya Angelou’s poem in its themes. I’ve never read the other three. I think I’ll add the Dunbar poem to my There Eyes Were Watching God unit.