The Rime of the Ancyent Marinere

April is National Poetry Month. And although I didn’t publish a single poem of my own, this is the time to celebrate poetry.

It’s kind of funny how this poem, first published in 1798, is relevant still.

Day after day, day after day,
We stuck, nor breath nor motion;
As idle as a painted ship
Upon a painted ocean.
Water, water, every where,
And all the boards did shrink;
Water, water, every where,
Nor any drop to drink.

This has become the state of our world now. We have water — too much of it — but it won’t quench our thirst. Blame it on global warming, or air conditioners or even the UV rays.Whatever it is, it’s melting snow, and all we have left is water. And it’s useless.

Water, water, every where,
Nor any drop to drink.

Why am I posting this?

Enjoyed this poem and thought you should too.

You’re welcome.

The Bard turns 450

Last year, same date, I shared a poem, by the bearded Bard himself. It’s his 450th birthday today, and everywhere, people are surely celebrating him on their blogs and other social media.

One of Shakespeare’s greatest and my favourite play, is Macbeth. I don’t really know why, but, I know I like tragedies. And Macbeth is one of the biggest tragedies. Here, is the infamous scene of Macbeth, also the major twist in the plot.

Enjoy.

Act 1 Scene 3

MACBETH:
So foul and fair a day I have not seen.

BANQUO :
How far is’t call’d to Forres? What are these
So wither’d and so wild in their attire,
That look not like the inhabitants o’ the earth,
And yet are on’t? Live you? or are you aught
That man may question? You seem to understand me,
By each at once her chappy finger laying
Upon her skinny lips: you should be women,
And yet your beards forbid me to interpret
That you are so.

MACBETH:
Speak, if you can: what are you?

First Witch:
All hail, Macbeth! hail to thee, thane of Glamis!

Second Witch:
All hail, Macbeth, hail to thee, thane of Cawdor!

Third Witch:
All hail, Macbeth, thou shalt be king hereafter!

BANQUO:
Good sir, why do you start; and seem to fear
Things that do sound so fair? I’ the name of truth,
Are ye fantastical, or that indeed
Which outwardly ye show? My noble partner
You greet with present grace and great prediction
Of noble having and of royal hope,
That he seems rapt withal: to me you speak not.
If you can look into the seeds of time,
And say which grain will grow and which will not,
Speak then to me, who neither beg nor fear
Your favours nor your hate.

First Witch:
Hail!

Second Witch:
Hail!

Third Witch:
Hail!

First Witch:
Lesser than Macbeth, and greater.

Second Witch:
Not so happy, yet much happier.

Third Witch:
Thou shalt get kings, though thou be none:
So all hail, Macbeth and Banquo!

First Witch:
Banquo and Macbeth, all hail!

MACBETH:
Stay, you imperfect speakers, tell me more:
By Sinel’s death I know I am thane of Glamis;
But how of Cawdor? the thane of Cawdor lives,
A prosperous gentleman; and to be king
Stands not within the prospect of belief,
No more than to be Cawdor. Say from whence
You owe this strange intelligence? or why
Upon this blasted heath you stop our way
With such prophetic greeting? Speak, I charge you.

-Witches vanish-

Want more? Read the full play here.

Another Face of Poetry

I am utterly surprised at how useful Quora is. I love poetry, and though I may not be the greatest of amateur poets, I enjoy the company of good poetry. It was all thanks to Quora that I discovered this new form of poetry, (OK, it’s not entirely new; it’s just so to my knowledge. (Though that reminds me to be a bit more mindful of the things that interest me. #NoteToSelf)) that they call ‘Spoken Word Poetry’.

I’ve heard poets narrate their works, but this is different. It’s not about narrating a poem that fits on a paper so well; this, is something that cannot be recorded (and is ineffective) on paper. It’s the ultimate power of speech merged with the art of poetry. A little bit of digging into the topic made me realize that it is indeed a long-existent form of poetry and that it is I who was stuck in the medieval age.

I must say that I enjoy this form, as much as I appreciate the written form. (Though I have to admit, nothing beats the smell of print (fresh or old) on paper!))

For your auditory pleasure, here’s Sarah Kay, delivering her poem “If I should have a daughter” on TED Talks. (The poem is only a segment of her speech.)

Enjoy!

Fire and Ice

Now a days, I often catch myself wishing that the world had ended in December 2012.

That reminds me of a poem of Robert Frost that I like, Fire and Ice. It was love at first sight. It was helpful that the first sight was during the time everyone in school was so feverishly worried about the world’s end.

The poem brought a smile on my lips, what a thought! Fire and ice, two destructive forces compared to two other similarly destructive forces, desire and hate. It seemed like a perfect combination. It was so obvious.

We don’t need another Tsunami or an earthquake to destroy us. Those are just external causes. We have stronger and more dangerous forces within us that have the power to vanquish us. And, we don’t realize it. We are only worried about Natural factors.

Sometimes it sounds so unlikely that desire or hate towards something could end up perilous, but reflection would reveal the truthfulness of those words.

We don’t need to worry about what Nature would do to us, rather, what should be a matter of our concern is what we could do to the only home we have. We could and would destroy ourselves, our loved ones and our generations by our self-centeredness. That is when the world really dies.

This poem changed my view on the world’s existence.

Fire and Ice

Some say the world will end in fire,
Some say in ice.
From what I’ve tasted of desire
I hold with those who favor fire.
But if it had to perish twice,
I think I know enough of hate
To say that for destruction ice
Is also great
And would suffice.

~Robert Frost

Mischief not managed

I’ve watched the movie yet again – I’ve lost count as to how many times I’ve watched it, but it, as always, leaves me hollow, pained and angry.

It really is surprising how an unknown actor, after a mind-blowing performance as your favourite fantasy character, can suddenly become an inspiration; an idol. That’s exactly what happened with Gary Oldman. I didn’t know about him before Batman and Harry Potter. Having been lucky enough to read the books before watching the movies, easily my favourite character was Sirius Black. Of all the stories I’ve read post Harry Potter, I can still confidently say Sirius is my favourite. I’m not joking; I’m totally Sirius!

The moment I read the episode of Sirius’ death, I swore to myself that I wouldn’t ever watch the movie. The book and the words haunted me and I knew the movie wouldn’t be better. It proved worse. A few months later I, just like every other fool, thought I was ready to see the movie at last. I needed some time after the book and I indeed took it. Only, my calculations of being mature enough to handle it, were pathetic.

After his appearance in the 3rd movie, Gary had really made a mark on me. I was enjoying that moment when you realize that an actor did total justice to the character himself. Yes, I did enjoy the feeling. Having expected to see Gary as Sirius in the fourth movie, I was terribly disappointed. But no matter, I told myself, I’ll be soon watching part 5 and I’d see Sirius again. By this time, he felt like family.

When I did see him, I was utterly awed. He looked nothing less than handsome. What I liked most about Sirius is the fact that he turned a blind eye towards others’ view of himself. He wore decent robes and looked decent but underneath all those niceties that mischief and spark in the eye were still intact, unscathed. And I felt Gary had incorporated every cell of Sirius’s non-existent body into his own, and I adore him for it.

When I finally got round to watch the 5th movie, I honestly believed that I was prepared, despite knowing that it would be difficult to witness. I was mistaken. It wasn’t difficult; it was heart breaking. Every time I saw Harry and Sirius in the same frame (which wasn’t many) I could feel the powerful rush of emotion in my veins.

The movie being well poised, when the sad part came, I was first moved and then infuriated, which I feel even to this day. The movie had an extra piece of exchange between Harry and Sirius moments before Sirius’ death. When Harry artfully disarmed Lucius Malfoy, Sirius appreciated him, “Nice one James”. Those were his last words.

Sirius addressed Harry as James; Harry’s father and Sirius’ best friend. Sirius saw James in Harry while Harry saw his godfather as the closest he felt to a father. The brief relationship between them is one of the most beautiful relationships in the story. Sirius’ last words made my insides squirm. The old friendship story between James, Sirius and Remus ran amok in my head.

In less than a minute after this came Sirius’ death. That was irritating. Very.

Just after a wonderful scene from his own imagination, the director and the crew, did ultimate injustice to Sirius’ death. I’ve already mentioned (more than once, I think!) that Sirius is my favourite. Insulting his death got my blood boiling.

As far as I know, Sirius was never hit by a Killing Curse. It was another spell that threw him off-balance, right through the veil.The movie didn’t show it that way though. They seemed to think that a killing curse would’ve been interesting. So they made it that Bellatrix had cast a killing curse, thus killing him even before his body floated through the veil.

Sirius was not such a fool to let his wand-arm hang loosely by his side and catch a killing curse squarely on his chest, and I feel the movie had been filmed so. Watching it, with the knowledge that it shouldn’t have been that way, felt like Sirius’ character was incomplete.

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