When thinking about analyzing the self, what came into my mind is one of the most iconic poetry called Song of Myself by Walt Whitman. This poem is from his collection of amazing poetry from his book Leaves of Grass, a treasure would be just an understatement. Below in it’s entirety for your reading pleasure.
Or not quite. Not feeling inspired to write bit of poetry now, it needs to come to me. So check this out one of my early works back in the day. While quite naive, it did help me meet the former president 😉
So this was a challenge to play with space,
Here I’m writing this poem trying to meddle with some words,
In a pathetic attempt, to make some text sound nice.
But what I don’t get, why does it matter if it doesn’t rhyme?
My grandfather was a poet, and so was I
Atleast that’s what I thought, many years ago
But as time went by, I just realized
Nothing more than a few lame words
Calling it poetry as an alibi.
I don’t know why I’m even writing this
I’ve got lot of work to do and lack of imagination
Yet I’m just sitting here passing time
Maybe I feel the need to write something not making sense
But ain’t I do that always?
So here I’m just messing around with the editor
Mashing some buttons begging me not to
I feel the need to write one more line
Or maybe it’s just I just want this to look
A DNA of drunken words
Need to work harder for time doesn’t wait
But heck I’ll do what I want anyways.
Courtesy of IndiBlogger
As per your wish, here is not one but many happy smiles hearty laughter. And a bonus, I’m there too 😀
This was taken at a bloggers meet by IndiBlogger, India’s largest community of bloggers. Connected Music IndiMeet (we technically add ‘Indi’ before anything here, sort of) sponsored by HP. And as another bonus, here is what happened there in glorious detail (kind of) in a previous post of mine – The sound of blogging. Well okay, I already mentioned this in another previous challenge, but still that post is so awesome. (so kindly don’t jump on me please)
Coming to the title, this poem was what immediately came into my mind.
Take this kiss upon the brow!
And, in parting from you now,
Thus much let me avow-
You are not wrong, who deem
That my days have been a dream;
Yet if hope has flown away
In a night, or in a day,
In a vision, or in none,
Is it therefore the less gone?
All that we see or seem
Is but a dream within a dream.I stand amid the roar
Of a surf-tormented shore,
And I hold within my hand
Grains of the golden sand-
How few! yet how they creep
Through my fingers to the deep,
While I weep- while I weep!
O God! can I not grasp
Them with a tighter clasp?
O God! can I not save
One from the pitiless wave?
Is all that we see or seem
But a dream within a dream?
I have a lot of favourite poems, had a very keen interest in them before (and even used to write myself). For now I could think of only this small four lined one:
Once more into the fray…
Into the last good fight I’ll ever know.
Live and die on this day…
Live and die on this day…
This is from the movie The Grey (2011). It conveys a powerful meaning in just few lines, not only in the movie itself, but when you think about it, in our very lives of survival. As subtle as it says ‘once more into the fray, into the last good fight I’ll ever know’, every moment in our lives is a fight we must face, and that may define our very life. Many are generally mistaken that one is at their own best when they have nothing to lose, but the truth is having something to lose, something worth fighting for is what makes one go ahead. It should be noted that it goes live and die on this day and not or (contrary to the popular saying ‘live/do or die’ or the modern iteration ‘do it before you die’) which signifies continuing from the previous line ‘…Into the last good fight I’ll ever know.’ that this is the moment and we must live it, and die with it, the next will play on itself depending on our actions.
“The ‘moment’ has no yesterday or tomorrow. It is not the result of thought and therefore has no time.” – Bruce Lee
Also on another note, if you haven’t seen The Grey you must see this movie, a very moving tale on survival.
The Nameless One 