Written 374 years ago, a sensuous poem by Robert Herrick relishes a woman whose clothes are messy and disheveled, suggestive of a playful naughtiness.
“Delight in Disorder” (1648)
Read by Alan Rickman
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When You Are Old
Visualization of “When You Are Old” by William Butler Yeats.
In his youth Yeats was rejected by a beautiful actress, and while still in his 20s he crafted this poem imagining his beloved, old and grey now, reading these words and remembering, with regret, her decision to spurn his love.
🙂 🙂 🙂
People Are Not Good To Each Other
The philosopher Bertrand Russell lived into his late 90s. On his deathbed he was asked if after a lifetime of reflection he had any wisdom he would like to pass on. “Try to be a little kinder,” he said.
Nobody remembers that. Philosophers don’t go viral. Poets usually don’t, either. But at least they try a different approach. Instead of whispering, they shout. They get up in your face and demand not that you listen, but that you participate.
Charles Bukowski is not known for sugarcoating. The narrator, Tom O’Bedlam, took out two lines he judged “too offensive for most people” from this poem cataloguing the ills of society and lamenting the lonely. If I could match his marvelous voice I would sneak them back in.
Nevertheless, in this poem Bukowski, paradoxically, both amps up and understates Russell’s sentiment. I have added some visuals mostly to piss off purists.
🙂 🙂 🙂
giblets & flapdoodle 