Sunday, September 6, 2009

Poetry Is Alive

Here is a famous poem I discovered online, but never read before. I am struck my how my literary exporsure increases just from being online. Do you find that your scope of knowledge and enjoyment of varied fields expand or is limited by the time you spend online? If you care, post your response to the poem. Also, thought this was a good poem to post in tribute to upcoming Labor Day, tomorrow!

Those Winter Sundays

Sundays too my father got up early
And put his clothes on in the blueback cold,
then with cracked hands that ached from labor
in the weekday weather made banked fires blaze. No one ever thanked him.

I'd wake and hear the cold splintering, breaking.
When the rooms were warm, he'd call,
and slowly I would rise and dress,
fearing the chronic angers of that house,

Speaking indifferently to him,
who had driven out the cold and polished my good shoes as well.
What did I know, what did I know
of love's austere and lonely offices?


by Robert Hayden
Explication of the Poem, image of the poet is from this site.

4 comments:

Carrie said...

At times I feel that my enjoyment is limited by the time I spend online soley because of the broadness of it. There is no way you can cover all of the information provided on the internet about a particular topic unless you have gads of time. Becasue of this, I often feel like I can not spend too much time on one particular website. At the same time, unfortunately, I feel that there is so much to be gained in a literary sense due to the openness of the content and the freedom of the writers online. It's just a shame we don't have all the time to cover it.

Kim G (KG) said...

I must say that this poem reminds me a little of myself at the moment as I have started a new school year, am still holding onto my summer job on the weekends and am taking classes myself. All of these things and others keep me working and busy for seven days a week.
I have to agree with Carrie in that my enjoyment of online information is limited. There is so much available and even when I am searching for a specific item or topic, I am easily redirected in other directions. I often feel like the more information I find, whether it's a recipe or a famous quotation, the more there is to still find. This said you could spend hours just searching.

GIna said...

First, the poem reminded me of my childhood when we slept with the heat on way lower than I would ever dream of now and my dad would get up and light the kerosene heater so I would be warm when I got out of bed to prepare for school. The words provide such an amazing visual. In regard to the Internet and the enjoyment of literature, I find myself reading more and more online and exploring more and differnt genres. A quick poem there then the NY Times, then a book on the iphone. I could read and read. I am hoping that today's students take full advantage of the avalanche of information out there. It is almost akin to the Gutenberg transformation which made available the written word to the common people.

Kate said...

I think the internet is wonderful for the very reason that it has exposed me to different genres of literature. All of this is convenient because voila! It is there with a click of the mouse. I think that the internet has encouraged me to read articles and information beyond my usual interests. I agree with Gina in that I hope students take advantage of all the information available to them on the internet. The internet, when supervised by an adult, is a wonderful resource to encourage children to seek out information that entices them. Students love the freedom of navigating on the internet.

I know I have spent countless hours on the internet because reading one article leads to reading another and what was supposed to be a 20 minute time period on the internet turned into an hour. This is soley because I have found that the internet has indeed expanded my interests and scope of knowledge.

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