Spur of the Moment Thoughts
Between the death of winter, and the first breath of spring, there is a seeming silence. But is it really silent? The words transition and changing of the guard are called to mind. Absolute Silence holds no sound, no movement, but contains the idea of sound and movement within Nature's womb.
The only way to look at the silence that is "absolute" in the example of the moment between the last breath of winter and first day of spring, is to say the old winter has passed, and that particular winter is a single incident that will never occur again.* It is a mini-death.
Are the seasons to be diagrammed as a line or a circle? I tend to think both are correct. The line of seasons contains more deaths, and the circle implies a transition has occured that will continue. Both contain death and continuation. One sees more trees, and the other a forest. A bunch of trees is a forest, and a forest contains many trees. (cliche, I know. But we are talking about nature, you know. *sheepish, but evil grin*
Is it the definition of a line, like in Geometry <--------------> , and the continuity of a O ?
all those lines and circles, to me, a mystery
Eve pull down the apple and give taste to me
if she could it would be wonderful
-Natalie Merchent
(I'm taking the meaning of her lyrics out of context. They popped into my head as I was writing. The three lines of the song, on their own, seem to fit the situation)
I'm captivated by what ignited that forest within the seed. Instead of nothingness, we get this mad rush of creativity, and inventiveness from necessity.
My favorite question: Why?
My second favorite question: How?
---------
*Temperate climates don't have that change from winter to spring.
The only way to look at the silence that is "absolute" in the example of the moment between the last breath of winter and first day of spring, is to say the old winter has passed, and that particular winter is a single incident that will never occur again.* It is a mini-death.
Are the seasons to be diagrammed as a line or a circle? I tend to think both are correct. The line of seasons contains more deaths, and the circle implies a transition has occured that will continue. Both contain death and continuation. One sees more trees, and the other a forest. A bunch of trees is a forest, and a forest contains many trees. (cliche, I know. But we are talking about nature, you know. *sheepish, but evil grin*
Is it the definition of a line, like in Geometry <--------------> , and the continuity of a O ?
all those lines and circles, to me, a mystery
Eve pull down the apple and give taste to me
if she could it would be wonderful
-Natalie Merchent
(I'm taking the meaning of her lyrics out of context. They popped into my head as I was writing. The three lines of the song, on their own, seem to fit the situation)
I'm captivated by what ignited that forest within the seed. Instead of nothingness, we get this mad rush of creativity, and inventiveness from necessity.
My favorite question: Why?
My second favorite question: How?
---------
*Temperate climates don't have that change from winter to spring.
posted by Heather O'Neill | 11.10.05
4 Comments:
On a winter being a single incident that will never occur again; Norman MacCaig wrote a poem on the subject of seasonal transience and transition - at least it begins as if it's about that and then takes on a life of its own. I don't know if you know it:
Explicit Snow
First snow is never all the snows that were
Come back again, but novel in the sun
As though a newness had but just begun.
It does not fall as rain does from nowhere
Or from that cloud spinnakered on the blue,
But from a place we feel we could go to.
As a great actor steps, not from the wings,
But from the play's extension - all he does
Is move to the seen from the mysterious -
And his performance is the first of all -
The snow falls from its implications and
Stages pure newness on the uncurtained land.
And the hill we've looked out of existence comes
Vivid in its own language; and this tree
Stands self-explained, its own soliloquy.
Rob,thanks for posting one of Norman MacCaig's poems. I'd never read this poem, or any of his work before.
There is a simple elegance to "Explicit Snow" that I find beautiful. It reads quite nicely, too. MacCaig writes about "pure newness" without pretense, and that is refreshing.
It's a hard thing being a reader of poetry. Once you become addicted to the stuff, your pocketbook is always empty. :(
For some reason, most of MacCaig's work is going for a pretty penny on all the online places where I looked. Is it that way in Scotland too?
"pretty penny" meaning more than I usually pay when buying used poetry books.
Heather - you can get his Selected Poems for about $18 at amazon.ca. It's a good selection.
However, you can also read quite a few poems at http://www.jacobite.org.uk/maccaig/critic.html. That site also contains a lot of good information on MacCaig.
He started off writing formal verse and gradually turned almost exclusively to free verse. He was really good at observing ordinary things and sensing the extraordinary in them.
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