I've been tagged by Jone and Whirling Dervish for the country poem meme as originating on Poefrika. The rules: Take a country whose name begins with the last letter of your surname. The last letter of my surmane is N. So I chose Nicaragua.
When you're nice and ready, tell us about the capital city of the country; Managua is the capital.
Say how many inhabitants that country has: 5.7 million.
Read more about Nicaragua here.
Find and share with us a poem in English of not more than 20 lines from that country. If it's longer, cut it to twenty lines or less;
Eheu - Ramon Dario
I am a student of the clouds,
I think I can interpret
the confidences of the wind,
the earth and the sea -
A few vague confidences
about being and non-being,
and fragments of awareness
from today and yesterday.
I stopped and cried out,
As if in the midst of a desert,
And I thought the sun was dead,
And I burst into tears.
I have to admit I'm not sure whether this is the whole poem or a fragment. Dario died in 1916 so I'm not breaking copyright by posting this, even if it is the complete poem!
read more about Ramon Dario and the importance of poetry in Nicaragua here.
Tell us something you particularly like about the poem you've chosen: I love how the narrator is in touch with and deeply affected by nature.
Add a line anywhere in the poem (beginning, middle or end), and clearly show which line is yours to avoid confusion and/or ambiguity. Sorry I'm not going to do this, I respect the original artist's integrity too much!
So now its over to you! If you want to join in, consider yourself tagged and leave a comment here so I can find your post!
Beautiful poem. Thanks for traveling there and sending us a postcard.
ReplyDeleteAha, there it is. The poem sounds so much like you! I have never met you, but I feel like I know you through your blogs and your convictions.
ReplyDeleteI've just seen this same poet over at split ends. Gifted character. I can't say whether the poem is complete or not, though it reads complete, with a clear closing statement, whatever I mean by that.
Thanks for playing along and teaching us something about this poet and their country.
I left a rather long comment at split ends to try to explain some of the "rules" of the meme. Knowing that memes, I think, are supposed to be very flexible, to accomodate a larger part of the blogosphere. Thanks again for this.
The last stanza just grabbed my heart. I can understand why you chose not to insert a line to this one.
ReplyDeleteWhat an amazing poem. I love the diversity of cultures in Central America and the incredible poetry they beget. One of my favorites is Octavio Paz: http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/literature/laureates/1990/paz-poetry.html
ReplyDeleteDeb- it is beautiful isn't it?
ReplyDeleteRethabile - It is a poem that I felt fitted in very well with what i write! I also noticed that split ends had discovered the same poet!
Marcia - yes it grabbed me too and no I couldn't bear to add anything to the poem.
Chickle Girl - I love the Central American cultures too - thanks for the link, I'd like to find out more about Octavia Paz!
Juliet. Always a pleasure here. Thank you.
ReplyDeleteWonderful poem. Love the blog!
ReplyDeleteIt's a great meme, I just have to find another N country.
Good to read two poems from the same poet from you and splitends! We are learning so much. If you wish, you can chk out mine on Yemen by clicking on my name.!
ReplyDeleteVery interesting - great poem. So good to learn about poets that aren't in the mainstream.
ReplyDeleteThis is a beautiful poem. I thought you wrote it at first too. I wonder what it sounded like in Spanish--I assume it is a translation?
ReplyDeleteThis poem just grabs my heart and squeezes - hard.
ReplyDeletewriter on board - thanks!
ReplyDeleteElizabeth - plenty of countries beginning with N i think!
Gautami - yes I visited yours too, this is a great prompt isn't it?
Paris - yes it is isn't it?
Sarala - Yes I'm pretty sure its a translation, I didn't find the original though. It would be interesting to read.
Annie - yes it does, doesn't it!
I am back from my road trip. The poem is lovely. What a mystery about whether its complete though. Thanks for playing along. Love learning about our world.
ReplyDelete