In thirty hundred years, with frozen feet
And sleepy eyes, will he, wrapped-up, off-key,
Off-tempo, and confused in phrasing, be
Content to write a song? Life's off the beat,
He'd say, and hum a hit - a pop conceit
Forgotten by the giants, loud debris
Disorderly displaced. The dwarfs could see
Perdition, he'd agree; it's obsolete,
And there's no fear persisting in the dust,
Nor breath to be conserved, and if guitars
Can trumpet sublimation, he'll adjust
The hundred years or so for superstars
To orbit back around. He'll freeze, and trust
The future, and confound its flying cars.
3 comments:
Yahoo! It appears we are beginning to be on a roll for the top mark, Petrarchan triumphs!...for the transient moment.
He is whom? Have you characterized "poetry" as a male?
Interesting discussion, lively with wonderful imagery, and thought-provoking. Presented thus to the mind's eye, he drags his feet and almost seems weary or maybe even discouraged, defeated? Nay, for all his attitude seems almost lax, by the conclusion he shows that triumph lies securely in his grasp, all else and detractors be damned.
La,I know from previous experience that my first readings give one, faulty, impression, and later ones offer more perception or insight. Yet I dare to (brashly?) comment right away? What else can I do? Doubtless my thoughts will mature only after I have damned myself by posting. Hence.
Excellent, and all the more a pleasure in the Italian. You are liking the Miltonian slur right well. I am fascinated with all that the imagery conveys, half of it eluding me still, it seems.
He is Scott Walker. This sonnet came to me while I was sitting in the house alone with cold feet, contemplating The Waste Land, and listening to the song 30 Century Man. Your analysis of him is good: defeated to some, implenetrable to others, but ultimately, and on his own terms, triumphant. Given my passion for that brief song, I feel I have not done it justice.
The Petrarchan remains tempting. Thank you once again for your encouragement.
Oh, sweet! While I am presently completely unacquainted with Scott Walker, I had a niggling thought from something you'd said before I saw this that it was at the very least connected to him. I should hunt up the song.
Hey! A tribute to a beloved piece of music! Superb! I think I know what that is like. Dinna worry, I suspect you did a very good job. Doubtless there will almost always be a bit more we think we might have done in that arena of music/composer tributes, I'm guessing.
Now at least I have a perspective on the song. La, I should hunt it down, shortly.
Glad the top mark is tempting. There's almost a fascination with the original model, maybe for the possibilities the octet and sestet offer as opposed to the vast untamed field of opportunity the "three elegaic quatrains and couplet" Shakespearian seems to lend.
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