Monthly Archives: November 2012

Verse Fable

25 Sunday Nov 2012

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FableVerse fable, as well as prose, is an ancient literary genre that can be found in the works of almost every country and is one of the most enduring forms of folk literature. It is a fictional story that features a myriad of mythical creatures, animals, plants, inanimate objects or forces of nature all bestowed with human qualities –such as the ability to speak and reason – and through such human attributes are able to illustrate and express a simple moral or lesson.  This can be seen reflected in Denny Bradbury’s poem “Hare in the Moonlight” from her new collection “De-versify” where she bestows insight upon an animal :

“.. Hare knows the old ways
Hare knows what we lack

Hare sees all the mystery
Hare keeps it all back..”

There have been numerous verse fabulists over the centuries, such as Marie de France, Jean de la Fontaine, Ignacy Krasicki, Ivan Krylov, Ambrose Bierce and, possibly the most well-known of all, Aesop.   Many of Aesop’s fables are characterised by animals and inanimate objects that speak, solve problems and generally behave in the manner of human beings.

Verse fables use a variety of meter and rhyme patterns and are renowned for telling the story of talking animals that are wise, or whimsical or foolish creatures that happily mimic the faults and foibles of humans.  The moral can usually be found at the end of the story, sometimes explicitly expressed, at other times merely inferred, and verse fables often have a “twist” or a surprise at the end that the reader would not have been expecting.

Unlike fairy tales, verse fables do not generally have the fantastical elements to them that re synonymous with fairy tales and are usually written as a child’s story, conveying a simple message or lesson.  The word fable itself comes from the Latin word ‘fabula’ meaning ‘a story’. Denny Bradbury, in her poem from her new collection “De-versify” entitled “Broken in Time” writes about one particular force of nature – the sea – and refers to the boulders and pebbles as if they have human characteristics:

“..Proud boulders that thought they were ‘it’
Smart pebbles gathered en masse
Thinking safety in numbers all right…”

Over the years, verse fables became a vehicle for conveying simple moral truths, incorporating humour and giving the reader the opportunity to laugh at the mistakes made by humans by demonstrating their behaviour through animals, or forces of nature or, as in Ignacy Krasicki’s “Bread and Sword”, things inanimate:

“..As the bread lay next to the sword, the weapon demurred,
You would certainly show me more respect if you heard
How by night and by day I conscientiously strive
So that you may safely go on keeping men alive.”
“I know”, said the bread, “the shape of your duty’s course
You defend me less often than you take me by force.”

Ode.

19 Monday Nov 2012

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Greek OdeAn ode is a form of lyrical poetry, carefully structured, that praises or glorifies an event or a person.  Odes can also be found to describe nature intellectually as well as emotionally, just as Denny Bradbury does, in her poem “Wisdom of Trees” from her soon to be published new collection “De-versify” where she draws reference to the First World War and talks of how the trees know that mankind will go on fighting from “righteous outrage” rather than learning from the past and walking “..in peaceful union” whilst the trees

“..will reach their searching branches
Up into the wind and rain
They live and die as nature dances
Next year they grow and live again.”

Odes are about celebration and reverence and were originally accompanied by music and dance with instruments such as the aulos and the lyre.  They were performed in public with a Chorus during ancient Greek times and were often composed to celebrate athletic victories.  Whilst modern odes are not written to be performed in such a way, their aim is still to describe or report a situation or individual using celebratory language and grand metaphors.

A classic ode was structured in three major parts – the strophe, the antistrophe and the epode – with three typical forms of odes: the Pindaric, of which William Wordsworth, Samuel Taylor Coleridge, John Keats and Percy Bysshe Shelley were all known to follow; the Horatian and the Irregular.

Whereas the Pindaric ode follows the three part form, the English ode,  who’s most common rhyming scheme is ABABCDECDE, of which Horace was the initial model, consists of a two or four line stanza, written in praise of, or dedicated to, someone or something that capture’s the poet’s interest as can be seen in Denny Bradbury’s poem “Broken in Time” where she talks of how the sea “reclaims its own, Pulling earth to drown..”

Some of the most famous historical odes describe traditionally romantic things and ideals, often written for a certain occasion or on a particular subject such as Keats’ “Ode to Autumn”  where he talks of how

“.. full-grown lambs loud bleat from hilly barn,
Hedge-crickets sing; and now with treble soft
The red-breast whistles from a garden-croft
And gathering swallows twitter in the skies.”

Whilst in “Ode On a Grecian Urn” he describes the timelessness of art.

An ode is usually more serious and dignified than other forms of poetry, and just as Denny Bradbury does in a number of her poems from her new collection “De-versify”, Shelley, in his “Ode to the West Wind” addresses the west wind as a powerful force and asks it to scatter the his words throughout the world.

“O Wild West Wind, thou breath of Autumn’s being
Thou, from whose unseen presence the leaves dead
Are driven, like ghosts, from an encounter fleeing,

…O Wind,
If Winter comes, can Spring be far behind?”

Lest We Forget…

11 Sunday Nov 2012

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Earlier today people up and down the country as well as various locations around the world bowed their heads in respect.  We remember….

The 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month: 1918 the Great War was over.  Now the date and time is used to reflect on fallen comrades, those soldiers serving today, and the sacrifice which many have had to make and are still making today.

It is important to remember the past.  Many voices from the Great War still speak to us today through the written word.  Poetry enabled soldiers to express themselves.  People far from the trenches gained a small insight into the lives of service personnel.

The detail, the emotion is at times harrowing.  Poetry, more than any other form of literature, can stir up so many different feelings.

Sometimes poetry can be factual:

Bent double, like old beggars under sacks,
Knock-kneed, coughing like hags, we cursed through sludge,
(Wilfred Owen, Dulce et Decorum est)

Other times it gives us an insight into the mental attitudes of serving soldiers:

This is no case of petty right or wrong
That politicians or philosophers
Can judge.  I hate not Germans, nor grow hot
With love of Englishmen, to please newspapers.
(Edward Thomas, This Is No Case of Petty Right or Wrong)

When reading First World War poetry, you can find a common idea – we do not hate those we fight but we do love our country.  That in itself is the reason we go to war:

But with the best and meanest Englishmen
I am one in crying, God save England, lest
We lose what never slaves and cattle blessed.
The ages made her that made us from dust:
She is all we know and live by, and we trust
She is good and must endure, loving her so:
And as we love ourselves we hate her foe.
(Edward Thomas, This Is No Case of Petty Right or Wrong)

Here dead we lie
Because we did not choose
To live and shame the land
From which we sprung.
(A E Housman, Here Dead We Lie)

And yet others convey the simplicity of reality – we live, we fight, we die, we return back to the earth:

We are the Dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved and were loved, and now we lie
In Flanders fields.
(John McCrae, In Flanders Field)

We have not explored the horrors of war or gone into any great detail of the poetry: this is a very personal era of poetry and one which should be left to the individual to explore.

What we should acknowledge is the impact that poetry can have.

Never forget the sacrifices; never forget the individuals; never forget.

World Leaders and Nature

08 Thursday Nov 2012

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Renewed leaders and changing leaders in the super powers creates endless headlines for the media.  I implore all those with these great responsibilites to remember their election promises and also to remember that Nature will keep the grass growing, the trees reaching for the light and the sun and stars shining to lighten our world. Whatever we do I have great faith that Nature will restore. Perhaps those in the media who try to direct our thoughts should think on that as well.

I wish you good fortune. Denny Bradbury

Sonnet.

07 Wednesday Nov 2012

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SonnetA sonnet is a form of poem that originated in Europe, mainly Italy, with the poet Giacomo da Lentini being credited with its invention. The most recognisable form of sonnet is that which contains 14 lines and in Italian is known as a “sonetto”, meaning “little sound”.

By the thirteenth century, it was known for being a poem of 14 lines that follows a strict rhyming scheme and a very specific structure.  William Shakespeare is one of the most well-known sonnet writers, writing 154 in total, not including those that appear in his plays, with one of his most famous starting “Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day?..” referencing one of the four seasons in a comparison to the beauty of his love just as Denny Bradbury talks of the “Crisp clear air of deepest winter” making her heart “leaden blue” in her poem “Winter Soul from her new collection “De-versify”.

There are many types of sonnets – the Italian (Petrarchan Sonnet – divided into two stanzas, the octave and the answering sestet), Dante’s variation, Spenserian Sonnet, the Urdu sonnet, the Occitan Sonnet, the Modern Sonnet and the English (Shakespearian) Sonnet – three quatrains and a couplet – all of which consist of the 14 lines, with each line made up of ten syllables and written in iambic pentameter, in which a pattern of an unstressed syllable is followed by a stressed syllable and is repeated five times.

The purpose behind a sonnet is to show two related, yet differing things, developing a specific idea in each quatrain or octave with each idea being closely linked to the ideas portrayed in the other quatrains/sestet.

The three main types of Sonnets are the Italian, Spenserian and English sonnets, with the English sonnet being the easiest in terms of its rhyming scheme, calling for pairs of rhyming words rather than groups of four.

A Sonnet is constructed in such a way that its fourteen line dialectical form allows the poet to examine the nature and possible ramifications of two contrasts – be that ideas, emotions, beliefs, actions, states of mind or images – in such a way that the two are juxtaposed, with the tensions sometimes being resolved and in other cases just created but with no resolution. This contrast can be shown at any point in the fourteen line stanza.

One example where the essential element of the sonnet, known as the “volta” meaning the “turn” in subject matter and the introduction of something new occurs can be seen in Sonnet LXXI by Sir Philip Sidney where he delays the reveal of the volta until the final, fourteenth line for dramatic effect.  He devotes thirteen lines to extolling how Reason shows that Virtue is the path to follow but concludes with:.

“But,ah,” Desire still cries, “give me some food” – a final line which counteracts Reason’s arguments by stating that Desire is not beholden to Reason.

Sonnets in varying interpretations continue to inspire modern poets today, often only recognisable in the 14 line form it is renowned for.