March Slice of Life No. 8.
Poetry Friday.
Two weeks ago I tripped upon a sea poem by Celia Thaxter, “Seaward To ___”. I connected immediately with her words. {Perhaps because I love “all things sea.”} It was a natural next step for me to search for more, and liking what I found, I created a digital note page to which I copied some text and added hyperlinks. I knew I’d come back someday soon. . .
Today I’m enjoying the luxury of a slow morning: eating a late brunch, taking care of some business, reading and, of course, writing, as I wait at the hotel for my afternoon departure flight. Thinking about #PoetryFriday, I return to my Celia Thaxter page and begin searching for more about her and the Isles of Shoals. I am not disappointed.
My first find is a Google Books link to Poems by Celia Thaxter (1899) Such a wonderful find! It’s now in my library. That’s followed by An Island Garden. {Reading her directions of ridding her garden of slugs (pages 9-10) and cutworms (page 11) is like reading a story.}
Celia Laighton Thaxter (1835-1894)
… was born in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, June 29, 1835. Soon after, her family moved to the Isles of Shoals. I found it very interesting that her father was a lighthouse keeper {I love lighthouses, since the day I first climbed Cape Hatteras Lighthouse with my brothers}.Later, on Appledore Island, her father built a hotel that became a gathering place for literary and artistic greats of New England during the late 19th century. Read more…
I was intrigued that Celia Thaxter’s garden exists today and welcomes summer visitors to walk the pathways among her flowers. {This could be a bucket list item.} Read more…
I fear this post will become far too long if I continue to share all things Celia Thaxter that I’m reading this morning. So, without further delay, here is one of her poems that I am enjoying. {I think it is sure to be one of my favorites.”}
Poems by Celia Thaxter (1899)
Quotable snippets: I find it difficult to select a favorite phrase, line or stanza in this poem. I think I must quote the entire poem.
Text-to-self connections: Ah, my passion for the sea and its shore is a powerful connection. But I also connect as a poet; the last line in stanza five reminds me of my poem “The Sea is Calling Me.”
Crafting: I’m marking this poem as a mentor text because it contains so many poetry craft moves. One that I’m still pondering: the use of enjambment that connects stanza 4 and stanza 5.
Which phrases, lines, or stanzas resonate with you?
What text-to-self connections have you made?
Which crafting move do you notice?
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Thank you to
Two Writing Teachers
#PoetryFriday Roundup
is hosted by Catherine at Reading to the Core
Poetry Friday Schedule Jan – June 2019
I’m stopping by a week late to enjoy this wonderful post. Thank you so much for introducing me to Celia Thaxter. It was a joy to visit her garden online this morning. I didn’t have a favorite line, but I couldn’t help but think that a woman in the late 1800s would of course have been drawn to the freedom that the sea represented. Beautiful poem.
Thank you. I like you thought about freedom. I think that is one reason I love walking along our coast… I always feel like I’m free from deadlines, worries, etc. and I sleep so well with the sound of the surf.
I’m sure to be a minority, but I feel no call from the sea. I grew up in the flat, arid, treeless high plains of eastern Colorado, and that is the landscape that calls to my heart. That land, and that sky, which is equally infinite.
Either am I ungrateful; I dream deliciously of twilight. I love both dawn and twilight, many days pausing to appreciate the beauty. I want to take a field trip too. Looking up the location now. It’s so close for me.
I love “all things sea,” too, Alice! These lines resonate:
“Deliciously how twilight falls to-night
Over the glimmering water, how the light
Dies blissfully away…”
I love the imagery and “glimmering” is one of my favorite words! Thank you for this rich post, Alice!
Alice, firstly I love the poem, but I also note your thoughtful, structured response to the poem and the invitation you pose to respondents. Living as I do so close to the sea, I found myself taken by the closing lines- the sad caressing murmur of the wave, that breaks in tender music on the shore.’ Those words deliver a strong connection for me. I will have to add this poem to my file of collected poems. Thanks for sharing the words of Celia Thaxter.
So glad you enjoy the poem! It’s in my file of “best loved poems.” We live just over an hour from the coast… and my choice will always be to live at least that close. I’ve lived mid-USA and know that land-locked feeling of yearning for the sea that Celia Thaxter writes of.
I adore how you crafted this post so that I read and thought and re-read and thought. “Black lie the hills,” got me and so did “To feel the wind, sea-scented, on my cheek.” A lovely poem and mentor text. I look forward to seeing what comes from you from it.
“Black lie the hills” was one that got me too. I show students the inverted sentence. (The cookies are delicious. / Delicious are the cookies.) They love figuring out which sentence can be flipped and writing them. Once they get the feel for this technique, I show them how poets use it in their poems. And now I can add this poem as a mentor text.
The haunting tone of nature’s call resonates w/ me. Those voices in the final line of stanza five: “my name they speak.”
I like the word order, the inverted form, of “my name they speak.” I think it gives emphasis to the poet’s name, that nature would call her name.
Do add a trip to the Isles of Shoals and Celia’s Appledore to your travel bucket list. You won’t be disappointed and you’ll see where so much of her inspiration came from. — Christie
It sounds like you’ve been there! Lucky you!
Oh how wonderful to be tripped up and then to dig in! I find the rhyme scheme really interesting.
I’m so glad you mentioned that. I didn’t notice the pattern the first couple times I read the poem. I was noticing word choice and imagery and tone. About the third read I noticed the rhyming and was impressed.
Love the poem you shared. I sense a yearning for traveling and wanting to see what is just beyond the horizon. Because my OWL this year is “explore” this poem really speaks to me.
That’s great! You will need to add it to your OWL journal pages.
Thank you for sharing this poet. this poem hauntingly drawing me to the sea. Since I can’t be near the sea, I treasure the lines, Have Patience; here are flowers and birds…
For now nature is my sea.
Thanks for sharing your connection, Patricia. I, too, was drawn in by the “land-locked” longing for the sea in this poem.
I shared about Celia a few weeks ago, Alice. How wonderful that you’ve found her, too! I’ve bought some of her books and am reading An Island Garden now! Thanks for sharing so much today, too!
Isn’t her description in An Island Garden wonderful? I love the anecdote about her order and the delivery of toads for the slugs. I would love to visit her garden. I think it is wonderful that it has been preserved.
O happy river! I, too, love water… have you read the book HOW TO READ WATER by Tristan Gooley? Much there to love for water lovers. Happy day to you!
I will check out HOW TO READ WATER… thanks for sharing it.
I enjoyed and learned so much from this slice. I love poetry and continue to learn about them and to use the different styles. I learned about poemhunter.com and the poetry that can be discovered there. Celia Thaxter’s, Land Locked is perfect. Thank you so much for sharing. i also like the activity you carried out, which brings more meaning and connection to the poem.
I’m so glad you enjoyed it!
Great poem! Crafting wise, I noticed quite a bit of lovely alliteration.
Yes, there’s alliteration even in the title: Land-Locked.
To begin with, “all things sea” captivated me. Then “I dream/Deliciously how twilight falls tonight/over the glimmering water” – so visual and full of longing. Made me want to pack and go to the beach now. Glorious poem to analyze!
“dream / Deliciously” grabbed me on my first read. Speaking of analyzing… I’ve printed a copy so I can make jot down what I notice (form, technique, word choice) each time I read it.