🚀 go-pugleaf

On 2022-08-11 9:12 a.m., Michael Pendragon wrote:
> On Thursday, August 11, 2022 at 12:34:43 AM UTC-4, Ash Wurthing wrote:
>>
>> Now I have to agree with Ilya, the poet's style, although kinda dull to my taste, looks like most of the conventional poetry of the time (early 20th century) and I didn't see anything terrible about.
>>
>
> I agree with you about the poem.  It's a cut above the majority that PPB rescues from obscurity.  The narrative has a dreamy-eyed whimsy about it that carries over nicely to soften the hints of age in the penultimate, and death in the final, stanza -- appropriately seeing age and death as nothing more than the peaceful close of a glorious Summer day (life).
>
> The overall sentiment is Pantheistic (the poet sees God manifested through Nature), which appeals to me as I have similar beliefs.  The rhyme and meter is nicely handled, and the poem contains several imaginative and appealing images -- particularly the portrayal of sunrise as a single white lily becoming a sailboat that's bringing the day to the poet from the mysterious lands of the East.
>
> But as much as I like the poem, I have to agree that there is an inexplicable sense of dullness about it.  As beautiful and imaginative as the thoughts and images are, the words never really grab me.  So while the poem remains a pleasant and thought-provoking read, it's not going to stick in my memory, much less inspire me to memorize it.
>
> I think the problem might be that the overall feeling reflects the languid, drowsy peacefulness of the July day it depicts.  It captures the fancy of a daydreaming poet, but lacks any deep-seated emotions.  That said, it remains a well-crafted idyll, with a deeper meaning (the acceptance of age and death as a natural part of the human experience) for those who scratch just below the surface.

A very good, even "quite cogent," review of Rexford's poem. It makes me
want to strike up a conversation about it; which I'll do in another part
of the thread.