Thursday, June 9, 2011

Simply Dimply

No, this week’s simple pleasure isn’t about smiling. I just wanted my title to rhyme.

Today, I'm  yakking about  this stuff.  


Now, I realize that not everyone reading this will *get* this simple pleasure. I’ve come to realize that poetry is like a music style. You either love it, or it hurts your ears.  

Put me in the love it column.

I think there must be some kind of poetry gene, and I was born with it. My paternal grandfather, the fiery evangelist from yesterday’s post, was a great lover of verse.

And then there's the Duchess...  

While most kids have a favorite storybook from their childhood and remember sitting on their mother’s lap as she turned the colorful pages, my best memories are of sitting in the kitchen, or just about anywhere, as mine turned the colorful words.

Longfellow is her favorite, and she interjected him regularly. It was impossible to leave the breakfast table any morning of April 18th before she began,  Listen my children and you shall hear, of the midnight ride of Paul Revere… Of course, I never wanted to leave anyway. I stayed for the whole ride and hung on every word like Revere to the reigns.   

I sure hope the sister doesn't recognize this poetry book that I never returned to her...

I’m sad to report that I’m not a poet myself, though that’s not for lack of trying. As a little girl growing up, I fancied myself a great one. I bought those black and white composition books and sat outside for hours, writing Odes.

Because it’s always an Ode if it’s written outside, you know.

Little Debbie Seventh Grader tried to turn her angst into verse as well. Since absolutely nothing rhymes with the word Philip, I turned to free verse. Let’s just say that there are some things I’m mighty grateful that I never hoarded.

After a while, I realized that I wasn’t called to write poetry; I was just called to love it, and love it I have for nearly 50 years.


I say without exaggeration that I can sit for hours with a good anthology. I don’t have a favorite poem or poet, either, although I actually tried to photograph some favorites for this post. I gave up because it was taking too long.


It all depends on my mood.
 From ballads to sonnets, I love them all.
 (ok, maybe not e.e. cummings. he bugs me.)

  
It’s so important to me that I have tried my level best to pass the passion to the next generation.  I spontaneously burst into random acts of senseless rhyming just like my mother did, but it doesn’t appear that either daughter ever caught the bug. I blame their left- brained father who apparently stunk up the gene pool.

So I'm saving my books and my hope for the next generation. In the meantime, enjoying poetry is this week's simple pleasure.  
   
***** 
Now click THIS LINK
If you seek treasures
And party with 
The Simple Pleasures…

(It’s not as if I didn’t warn you, folks…)

38 comments:

Barbara F. said...

I love to read poetry but can't get two rhyming sentences together. I used to love haiku when I was in school. And just about anything by Elizabeth Barrett Browning. xo,

Ann said...

You are right to say, Debbie, that not everyone is "into" poetry .... although I do have some favorites .... such as ".... a host of golden daffodils..." and "...who's house this is, I do not know ...."

Notice I did not cite the author, or even the full poem or title .... I am slightly illiterate in that area ... but when I hear the full verse, I know it's one that I like!

I only wish teachers didn't make us rip them apart and try to "get into the author's head." Perhaps if that hadn't happened, I might also be a full blown "lover" of poetry.

Cheers!

Debbie said...

Ann, I can't believe you named those two! They happen to be two of my favorites, and I actually snapped pictures of them for the post but didn't put them.

Daffodils: William Wordsworth
"...whose house is this.." is from "Stopping By Woods on Snowy Evening" by Robert Frost.

And I totally agree about teachers. I didn't do that. Promise!! I just stood there all excited about the poem like a big goof.

Lynn said...

See now, I like your poem! It made me smile and I think that's what it's all about, feeling something:@)

Tammy@T's Daily Treasures said...

I love quotations because they are short and sweet. And I like poetry that I can understand. :) I used to write simple poems for friends on their birthday and would hand make a card and draw but all that doesn't come to me so easily anymore. :/ Hope you are having a great day. Tammy

Ms.Daisy said...

Debbie,
I also am a lover of poetry and Emily Dickinson is one of my favorites. I have writen some poetry and a few have been published in obscure publications (grin) like my sister's Association NewsMagazine in Hoschton, GA. and a holistic health magazine in NJ, which is now defunct. Maybe because of my poetry? :) I haven't written any poems in a very long while, I guess because the mood hasn't struck.

~Jean

Gaby said...

Please say you read Pablo Neruda! I know much is lost in translation but Neruda, Mistral, and Paz are among the best. Love me some poetry as well!

Angel said...

I LOVE this simple pleasure! I too started writing poetry at an early age and it stuck with me (sort of). I still spin out a few verses now and then when inspiration strikes (nothing very highbrow or sophisticated, mind you). I love the sound of a good rhyme (including the one you wrote at the end of your post.) Don't give up. You definitely have a gift for words. Perhaps you're a poet - you just don't know it! :)

Denise said...

Busted. I recognized the poetry book before I saw the small disclaimer. You have loved that book from afar and maybe one day I'll give it to you. (If you ever give it back). I didn't get the poetry gene, sniff, although I do like to make up ditties for presents occasionally. I don't mind listening to a little of it, but NOTHING like you and the Duchess.

Karen @ Pieces of Contentment said...

My eldest daughter loves poetry and most classics, she has so many good books.....and tries desperately to pass on the passion to her younger siblings.

Francie...The Scented Cottage Studio said...

I'm rather fond of poetry myself ... well some of it. One of my favorites is dorothy parker, the first poem I read of hers was
Razors pain you;
Rivers are damp;
Acids stain you;
And drugs cause cramp.
Guns aren't lawful;
Nooses give;
Gas smells awful;
You might as well live.
Soooo I guess you can see I love it if it's not tooo Highbrow :)) Although I do have Sonnets from the Portuguese as well as Wadsworth and a few others. (())

http://bitsandpieces-sonja.blogspot.com/ said...

oh yeah... count me in the 'appreciator' group! I love a good poet, but I am also NOT one! Every line I write has to have an ending word that rhymes with the ending word of the line before. Shameful. BUT, I do love a good poem and appreciate those great poets of long ago. (Maybe not Poe as much as the others)

I DO think you are a hilarious and gifted writer though... have I already said that?? :)

xo

Sharon said...

Debbie -

I write poems, yes I do
And I love poetry, just like you
When the words rhyme, I am glad
And when they don't, it's not so bad.

Odes are nice, sonnets too
Ballads sometimes make me blue
I love the words that ebb and flow
Yes, poetry truly feeds the soul.

That's the best I've got for now. Loved this simple pleasure...

(Do you know that I've spent the last 15 minutes frantically trying to think of SOMETHING that rhymes with Philip...

"You've got to be nice to Philip
And be sure not to give Bill lip..."

It's all I've got.

XO

no spring chicken said...

First I was grinning. Then I was grinning broadly. But when your left brained husband stunk up the gene pool it was an instant guffaw. Personally I think that you are a great poet. Yours is an as yet unappreciated style and no one will admit it until you are dead! Sorry, that's just the way it works with the greats...

Blessings, Debbie

Blessings, Debbie

aspiritofsimplicity said...

I love poetry also and recently discovered a Robert Frost poem that I had never read before. I thought I was at least vaguely familiar with all of his Anyway, it's Nothing Gold can Stay.

Sue said...

Some are meant to enjoy other's work, guess which category I fall under.~lol~Your Duchess and my mother would get along so well, she sounds so much like my mother,
You are a gifted writer, Debbie, and always bring such joy to me.

Thank you for your kind words of encouragement.
Hugs,
Sue

Joan Hall said...

I used to write poems when I was in high school. (Didn't keeep many of them as they were mostly about a boy that I was crazy about at the time.)

Anyhoo...I stick with prose these days, although I do enjoy a good poem. I really liked Robert Louis Stevenson when I was growing up. Some of them were rather melancholy, however. I had the book "A Child's Garden of Verse." I think the tattered copy is somewhere in my attic.

Love your little closing poem!

Susan Nowell @ My Place to Yours said...

Love this post! It's been a lonnnng time since I've written any poetry, but I do enjoy reading it occasionally. My Grandma gave me "All the Silver Pennies" when I was a very young girl, and it was my intro into the world of poetry. My oldest daughter definitely got the gene!

Trish said...

I LOVE poetry!!
My family are all into playing with words :-)
I also love to sit with one of those old hymn books, that you often find in goodwill/op shops and just read it through as poetry.
The hours slip by so pleasantly and my soul is blessed in more ways than one!
Great post, Debbie :-)
blessings..Trish

Tami said...

I don't read a lot of poetry, but love it when I read a good one. The Other Nut wrote me an amazing poem one time that I cherish. And you may not feel that you can write poetry, but you are a great writer in general. You always make me smile. And I so enjoyed reading about your parents-what a sweet post and a great legacy. Thanks for sharing your parents and poetry with us.

Anonymous said...

The "poetry gene" most defiantly skipped our family. Hopefully one of our grandchildren will catch "the bug" :-)

The Charm of Home said...

Love to read poetry. Have read it often to children. Nice post on this Debbie! I have been gone, thanks for coming by and your sweet comments. Thought I would stop and visit for a moment.:)
Sherry

Janettessage.blogspot.com said...

What a wonderful simple pleasure and look at the heritage both given to you and being past down! How awesome...and I know this is where you get your talent for writing...from all your wonderful reading.

FrouFrouBritches said...

Summer is here
the kids are fussin'
They're making me want
to start a cussin'

Bahaha! Just joking. I'm not cussin. But I had to make it rhyme, right? That's about poetic as I get. I don't think I'm smart enough to like poetry.

e.e. cummings bugs me just because his name is all lowercase. That's like the people who think they're cool enough to only use one name and I don't mean like Madonna. I'm talking about a guy you might meet at a grocery store parking lot because you hit his truck, while it was parked (not that that has ever happened to me) and he introduces himself as "Constantine, just Constantine" like he's too cool to have a last name or something. Gosh, I'm rambling today, huh?

Chatty Crone said...

This was a wonderful wonderful simple pleasure - what a great idea. Loved your poem. I like Longfellow's poems too.

Canadagirl said...

I need to get more poetry books. I really like Frost. Thanks for sharing this wonderful and fun simple pleasure. I too am a person who is a appreciator of poetry. [o=

Blessings and ((HUGS))!
-Mary

Christine said...

You are so cool!

(how did your mother become the Duchess? I love that name you have for her)

Dayle ~ A Collection of Days said...

Look at you! Rhyming and stuff. I can get lost in poetry books, although I'm not a very good rhymer, personally. I leave that good stuff to the twin sister. She's a pro.

Lovely to see you here at the party!

Anonymous said...

Love poetry but can't write it. I'm too much of a perfectionist for that broad of a writing spectrum. I love it though and have quite a few books among our treasured collection, including some which I grew up with passed down from my parents. Those are from Spanish writers. If you think English poetry is beautiful, Spanish is beyond unreal. I think it's because of the passion of the language.

Okay, now I have to go grab a poetry book. :)
Enjoy your Saturday, Debbie.

Denise at Forest Manor said...

Hi Debbie,

I really like this post. As much as I have always been a lover of the written word, I'm just now starting to really appreciate poetry. I remember liking it more when I was in grade school, and maybe high school. But then I had to read Edmund Spenser's "The Faerie Queene" in college, and that put me off poetry for years :( I'm glad that I'm re-discovering it.

I saw your Robert Frost anthology, and he is definitely one of my favorites. "Walking Through Woods on a Snowy Evening" is my very favorite. I think it's wonderful that the Duchess and your grandfather helped to instill the love of poetry in you at a young age. Thanks for sharing this post.

Denise

Kim@stuffcould.... said...

It is great that you are called to love poetry!

Unknown said...

ummmm, what's a grozet?
e.e. cummings of winnie-the-pooh? you don't like e.e. cummings of winnie-the- POOH?
Not sure which one I am stumped over more.....
xo
lynn

corners of my life said...

You inspired me to post about a poem I like
Morituii Salutamus
by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (1807-1882)

http://cornersofmylife.blogspot.com/

BECKY said...

Hi Deb! I love poetry and I enjoy writing it. Definitely not a prize winner...but I like it!

Would you pulllease do me a favor and send me your address again?? I have looked and looked and haven't been able to find it. I am catching up with some stuff, and something is coming your way. Don't say no...I want to do it!! :o)

Hugs and blessings to you!
My email is junktojoyshop@yahoo.com
Becky

{have a fab week!}

Bargain Decorating with Laurie said...

Debbie, you just did an amazing job of describing my childhood as a poet! I also dreamed of being a magnificent poet, and I sat for hours, in the attic of our home (Jo from Little Women) writing in notebooks. I finally realized that writing poetry took some deep thought. I could rhyme words ~ just not think deep! I love "if it's written outside, it is an ode" and that your husband "stunk up the gene pool"!! I think you are a poet in everything you write~ it doesn't have to rhyme to be poetry. laurie

Amy Kinser said...

I am not surprised that you love poetry. You have such a wonderful way with words, Debbie. You write beautifully with such emotion and make me feel everything you are feeling.

Right now, I am wishing I liked poetry, but usually it makes no sense at all to me.

Manda said...

I love poetry when it's read well. Scripted lyrically. Emotion arising. It stirs something deep. A hidden treasure in word.

Sue said...

You and my grandmother would get along famously Debbie! She was an English teacher of the "old school" and tried very hard to get me "into" poetry and Shakespeare. I do confess to loving a few grown up poets, Robert Frost comes to mind, but I have a lot of fun with children's poetry and have several anthologies.
Great post!
Sue

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