Poetry a la carte....

1. William Cullen Bryant; (Biography of William Cullen Bryant) “To him who in the love of Nature holds Communion with her visible forms, she speaks A various language;.... Yet a few days, and thee The all-beholding sun shall see no more In all his course; nor yet in the cold ground, Where thy pale form was laid with many tears, Nor in the embrace of ocean shall exist Thy image. Earth, that nourish’d thee, shall claim Thy growth, to be resolved to earth again, And, lost each human trace, surrendering up Thine individual being, shalt thou go To mix for ever with the elements, To be a brother to the insensible rock, And to the sluggish clod, which the rude swain Turns with his share, and treads upon. The oak Shall send his roots abroad, and pierce they mould.....” For the first time since starting the Walking part of the required reading, I am starting to appreciate poetry; not that I hated it before, or hadn’t read any poetry, but I don’t think that I really had acquired much of a “taste” for it the way that I recently have. It has come upon me, quietly, gently, but has gripped my heart through the words of this great poet: William Cullen Bryant, of whom I knew nothing before the reading. I want to “own” or acquire some of his poetry to peruse and enjoy at a time when I am not so rushed. His words have so moved me, that I find myself musing on the images his choice of words have painted in my conscious mind. The first part of Thanatopsis, which I’ve quoted herein, reminds me of the tranquil solitude that I find when I am out in nature, away from the pressing demands of life, weilding my fly rod, armed with one of my creations, a substitute for real food, to tempt a fish or two, and enjoy the experience. It is more than seeing, hearing, smelling or feeling. Indeed, for me, it is to mingle with the very spirit of the Earth, in its raw form, and feel the healing that comes to my soul every time I veture to a favorite stream or lake, or, even to a new one. It is all the same: I return to mother Earth, to partake of a renewal or rebirth, and revel in my choice of that day’s activity, feeling that I have done so almost selfishly, hiding the “secret” of my experience of spending time "fooling" each time I go “a-fishing.” Thank you for showing us a “path” that now beckons all the more to me. (I inherited a set of books of poetry, and found Bryant therein; I was pleased with myself. Too bad I hadn’t found a place for them in my readings prior to this time. I suppose we all “wake up” in our own time to new and wonderful things, such as poetry.) I was just wondering if anyone else was enjoying any of the poetry also.....