POEM OF THE DAY - I OPENED A BOOK

POEM OF THE DAY : SEVEN AGES OF MAN - SHAKESPEARE

SEVEN AGES OF MAN - SHAKESPEARE

(POWERFUL LIFE POETRY)

407,589 views

•Mar 31, 2020

RedFrost Motivation

802K subscribers

SUBSCRIBED

In this drama of life, each one of us plays seven distinct roles. This, Shakespeare says, is the Seven Ages of Man. Music by CHRIS COLEMAN

 

Grateful thanks to RedFrost Motivation, CHRIS COLEMAN and YouTube and all the others who made this video possible

 

POEM OF THE DAY : THE RAINY DAY - H. W. LONGFELLOW

THE RAINY DAY - H. W. LONGFELLOW

 (POWERFUL LIFE POETRY)

97,241 views

•Nov 16, 2020

RedFrost Motivation

787K subscribers

Read by Shane Morris - A poem for anyone going through a rough time right now. #poem #poetry #inspirational

 

Grateful thanks to RedFrost Motivation, Shane Morris  and YouTube and all the others who made this video possible 

POEM OF THE DAY : OZYMANDIAS - P. B. SHELLEY

OZYMANDIAS - P. B. SHELLEY (POWERFUL LIFE POETRY)

226,716 views

•Apr 11, 2020

RedFrost Motivation

783K subscribers

Read by Vincent Price Music by Slow Meadow - Percy Bysshe Shelley was one of the most highly regarded and influential poets of the 19th century. Shelley's poem “Ozymandias” famously describes a ruined statue of an ancient king in an empty desert. This ambiguous ode carries between its folds heaps of philosophical matters; the poet uses a shattered statue to highlight the ephemeral nature of fame, vanity and power. Nothing lasts forever. Glory, reputation, conquests or occupations, everything will come to an end eventually.

 

Grateful thanks to RedFrost Motivations and YouTube and all the others who made this video possible 

POEM OF THE DAY : TOMORROW, TOMORROW & TOMORROW

“Tomorrow, and tomorrow, and tomorrow”

BY WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE

(from Macbeth, spoken by Macbeth)

Tomorrow, and tomorrow, and tomorrow,

Creeps in this petty pace from day to day,

To the last syllable of recorded time;

And all our yesterdays have lighted fools

The way to dusty death. Out, out, brief candle!

Life's but a walking shadow, a poor player,

That struts and frets his hour upon the stage,

And then is heard no more. It is a tale

Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury,

Signifying nothing.

POEM OF THE DAY : THE WILL TO WIN - BERTON BRALEY

THE WILL TO WIN - A POWERFUL LIFE POEM

142,671 views

•Nov 25, 2020

RedFrost Motivation

760K subscribers

 

Read by Shane Morris - The Will to Win by Berton Braley If you want a thing bad enough To go out and fight for it, Work day and night for it, Give up your time and your peace And your sleep for it, If only desire of it Makes you quite mad enough Never to tire of it, Makes you hold all other things tawdry And cheap for it, If life seems all empty and useless without it And all that you scheme And you dream is about it, If gladly you'll sweat for it, Fret for it, Plan for it, Lose all your terror of God or man for it, If you'll simply go after that thing that you want With all your capacity, Strength, and sagacity, Faith, hope, and confidence, stern pertinacity, If neither cold poverty, famished and gaunt, Nor sickness nor pain Of body and brain Can turn you away from the thing that you want, If dogged and grim you besiege and beset it, You'll get it.

 

Grateful thanks to RedFrost Motivation, Shane Morris, Berton Braley and YouTube

 

 

 

POEM OF THE DAY : ULYSSES - TENNYSON

ULYSSES 

BY ALFRED, LORD TENNYSON

It little profits that an idle king, 

By this still hearth, among these barren crags, 

Match'd with an aged wife, I mete and dole 

Unequal laws unto a savage race, 

That hoard, and sleep, and feed, and know not me. 

I cannot rest from travel: I will drink 

Life to the lees: All times I have enjoy'd 

Greatly, have suffer'd greatly, both with those 

That loved me, and alone, on shore, and when 

Thro' scudding drifts the rainy Hyades 

Vext the dim sea: I am become a name; 

For always roaming with a hungry heart 

Much have I seen and known; cities of men 

And manners, climates, councils, governments,

Myself not least, but honour'd of them all; 

And drunk delight of battle with my peers, 

Far on the ringing plains of windy Troy. 

I am a part of all that I have met; 

Yet all experience is an arch wherethro' 

Gleams that untravell'd world whose margin fades 

For ever and forever when I move. 

How dull it is to pause, to make an end, 

To rust unburnish'd, not to shine in use! 

As tho' to breathe were life! Life piled on life 

Were all too little, and of one to me 

Little remains: but every hour is saved 

From that eternal silence, something more, 

A bringer of new things; and vile it were 

For some three suns to store and hoard myself, 

And this gray spirit yearning in desire 

To follow knowledge like a sinking star, 

Beyond the utmost bound of human thought. 

         This is my son, mine own Telemachus, 

To whom I leave the sceptre and the isle,— 

Well-loved of me, discerning to fulfil 

This labour, by slow prudence to make mild 

A rugged people, and thro' soft degrees 

Subdue them to the useful and the good. 

Most blameless is he, centred in the sphere 

Of common duties, decent not to fail 

In offices of tenderness, and pay 

Meet adoration to my household gods, 

When I am gone. He works his work, I mine. 

         There lies the port; the vessel puffs her sail: 

There gloom the dark, broad seas. My mariners, 

Souls that have toil'd, and wrought, and thought with me— 

That ever with a frolic welcome took 

The thunder and the sunshine, and opposed 

Free hearts, free foreheads—you and I are old; 

Old age hath yet his honour and his toil; 

Death closes all: but something ere the end, 

Some work of noble note, may yet be done, 

Not unbecoming men that strove with Gods. 

The lights begin to twinkle from the rocks: 

The long day wanes: the slow moon climbs: the deep 

Moans round with many voices. Come, my friends, 

'T is not too late to seek a newer world. 

Push off, and sitting well in order smite 

The sounding furrows; for my purpose holds 

To sail beyond the sunset, and the baths 

Of all the western stars, until I die. 

It may be that the gulfs will wash us down: 

It may be we shall touch the Happy Isles, 

And see the great Achilles, whom we knew. 

Tho' much is taken, much abides; and tho' 

We are not now that strength which in old days 

Moved earth and heaven, that which we are, we are; 

One equal temper of heroic hearts, 

Made weak by time and fate, but strong in will 

To strive, to seek, to find, and not to yield.

Grateful thanks to 

POETRY FOUNDATION.ORG

https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/45392/ulysses

POEM OF THE DAY : "1ST SEPTEMBER 1939" BY W.H. AUDEN

"1ST SEPTEMBER 1939" BY W.H. AUDEN 

(READ BY TOM O'BEDLAM)

109,473 views•Dec 29, 2008

SpokenVerse

98.4K subscribers

 

On this day Hitler invaded Poland and WWII broke out.  Thucydides was an honest historian, the originator of Political Realism which observes that the relationship between countries is based on strength and not which is in the right. His work is still studied in military academies.

 

Grateful thanks to SpokenVerse, TOM O'BEDLAM and YouTube and all the others who made this video possible

POEM OF THE DAY : ULYSSES BY TENNYSON

         (Picture from Wikipedia)

Ulysses

by James Joyce

"O and the sea the sea crimson sometimes like fire and the glorious sunsets and the

figtrees in the Alameda gardens yes and all the queer little streets and pink and blue

and yellow houses and the rosegardens and the jessamine and geraniums and

cactuses and Gibraltar as a girl where I was a Flower of the mountain yes when I put

the rose in my hair like the Andalusian girls used or shall I wear a red yes and how

he kissed me under the Moorish wall and I thought well as well him as another and

then I asked him with my eyes to ask again yes and then he asked me would I yes to

say yes my mountain flower and first I put my arms around him yes and drew him

down to me so he could feel my breasts all perfume yes and his heart was going like

mad and yes I said yes I will Yes."

Excerpt from, "Ulysses, " by James Joyce. Public domain.

Grateful thanks to

THE WRITER'S ALMANAC 

For Biography of Tennyson from Wikipedia 

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alfred,_Lord_Tennyson

POEM OF THE DAY : O TELL ME THE TRUTH ABOUT LOVE - W.H. AUDEN

O TELL ME THE TRUTH ABOUT LOVE BY W.H. AUDEN

(READ BY TOM O'BEDLAM)

133,077 views•Oct 12, 2008

SpokenVerse

98.1K subscribers

 

This is Auden being facetious about a serious subject.

 

Grateful thanks to TOM O'BEDLAM), SpokenVerse and YouTube and all the others who made this video possible

 

POEM OF THE DAY : MOTHER TO SON - LANGSTON HUGHES

"MOTHER TO SON" LANGSTON HUGHES

RECITES FAMOUS HARLEM RENAISSANCE POEM

38,117 views•Jun 12, 2016

TIM GRACYK

2.89K subscribers

 

Mother To Son

 

By Langston Hughes

 

Well, son, I'll tell you:

Life for me ain't been no crystal stair.

It's had tacks in it,

And splinters,

And boards torn up,

And places with no carpet on the floor—

Bare.

But all the time

I'se been a-climbin' on,

And reachin' landin's,

And turnin' corners,

And sometimes goin' in the dark

Where there ain't been no light.

So, boy, don't you turn back.

Don't you set down on the steps

'Cause you finds it's kinder hard.

Don't you fall now—

For I'se still goin', honey,

I'se still climbin',

And life for me ain't been no crystal stair.

 

__________________________________________

 

______________________

Background:

 

"Mother to Son" is a product of the Harlem Renaissance.

 

The Harlem Renaissance refers to an explosion among the arts--poems, paintings, music, novels--produced by African Americans.

 

It started around World War I and ended in the 1930s.  The 1920s was its heyday.

 

This is free verse.  It does not have a sonnet structure.  It does not rhyme.  It has no regular rhythm like iambic. 

 

I like the way “bare” stands alone in one line.  The word “bare” is bare--or the line is bare.

 

This poem is a great example of a dramatic monologue.  The poet created a character--it is not the poet speaking for himself. 

 

It is almost as if a boy had earlier said, "Life should be a crystal staircase," and this poem is the mother's response.  But is this realistic?  No boy would think to say life should be a crystal staircase!

 

Maybe the boy said, "Life is rough," and the mother is the one who made up the glass stair metaphor.

 

I marvel that the mother never promises that life will be better in the future.  She only says to keep going.  Don't expect rewards!

 

Grateful thanks to TIM GRACYK and YouTube and all the others who made this video possible 

POEM OF THE DAY : BECAUSE I COULD NOT STOP FOR DEATH - EMILY DICKINSON

BECAUSE I COULD NOT STOP FOR DEATH 

BY EMILY DICKINSON - POETRY READING

126,604 views•Mar 27, 2012

PEARLS OF WISDOM

65.6K subscribers

 

Because I Could Not Stop For Death -- A poem by Emily Dickinson. About the poet - Emily Elizabeth Dickinson (December 10, 1830 -- May 15, 1886) was a very prolific private American poet. She was born in Amherst, Massachusetts. Many of her poems deal with themes of death and immortality. For more videos log onto http://www.youtube.com/pearlsofwisdom  Also find us on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/pearlsofwisd...

 

Grateful thanks to PEARLS OF WISDOM and YouTube and all the others who made this video possible 

POEM OF THE DAY : LEAP BEFORE YOU LOOK - W H AUDEN

"LEAP BEFORE YOU LOOK" BY W H AUDEN 

(READ BY TOM O'BEDLAM)

24,314 views•Sep 8, 2011

SpokenVerse

97.7K subscribers

 

There are many locations called "Lovers' Leap".  The one at the start is in  Chattanooga, the one at the end in La Jolla.

 

On searching for this poem I found it was read on the Colbert Report on 14th April last. 

 

The sense of danger must not disappear:

The way is certainly both short and steep,

However gradual it looks from here;

Look if you like, but you will have to leap.

 

Tough-minded men get mushy in their sleep

And break the by-laws any fool can keep;

It is not the convention but the fear

That has a tendency to disappear.

 

The worried efforts of the busy heap,

The dirt, the imprecision, and the beer

Produce a few smart wisecracks every year;

Laugh if you can, but you will have to leap.

 

The clothes that are considered right to wear

Will not be either sensible or cheap,

So long as we consent to live like sheep

And never mention those who disappear.

 

Much can be said for social savoir-faire,

But to rejoice when no one else is there

Is even harder than it is to weep;

No one is watching, but you have to leap.

 

A solitude ten thousand fathoms deep

Sustains the bed on which we lie, my dear;

Although I love you, you will have to leap;

Our dream of safety has to disappear.

 

Grateful thanks to SpokenVerse  and YouTube and all the others who made this video possible 

POEM OF THE DAY : SARDANAPALUS - LORD BYRON

In my native land a God,

And in my heart a feeling like a God's,

Exalted; yet I own 'tis only mortal;

For what I feel is humble, and yet happy—

There comes

For ever something between us and what

We deem our happiness: let me remove

 The barrier which that hesitating accent

Proclaims to thine, and mine is sealed.

Excerpted from SARDANAPALUS by Lord Byron

PREFACE TO LYRICAL BALLADS - AN OVERVIEW

PREFACE TO LYRICAL BALLADS - 

AN OVERVIEW

4,229 views•Nov 21, 2019

SG LURN

889 subscribers

 

Grateful thanks to SG LURN and YouTube and all the others who made this video possible 

SEVEN AGES OF MAN - SHAKESPEARE

SEVEN AGES OF MAN - SHAKESPEARE

(POWERFUL LIFE POETRY)

321,626 views•Mar 31, 2020

RedFrost Motivation

731K subscribers

In this drama of life, each one of us plays seven distinct roles. This, Shakespeare says, is the Seven Ages of Man.

 

MUSIC BY CHRIS COLEMAN

 

Grateful thanks to RedFrost Motivation, CHRIS COLEMAN and YouTube and all the others who made this video possible 

LYRICAL BALLADS: A REVOLUTION IN POETRY

LYRICAL BALLADS: A REVOLUTION IN POETRY (1798)

4,588 views•Feb 12, 2017

KASHYAP DEEPAK

3.55K subscribers

This lecture entitled "A Revolution in Poetry: Wordsworth and Coleridge, 1798" is delivered by JAMES CHANDLER of the University of Chicago.

The original link of this video runs thus:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OTfiE...

 

Grateful thanks to KASHYAP DEEPAK, PROF.JAMES CHANDLER and YouTube and all the others who made this video possible 

WORDSWORTH, COLERIDGE AND THE POETIC REVOLUTION

WORDSWORTH, COLERIDGE AND 

THE POETIC REVOLUTION

19,230 views•Oct 22, 2018

GRESHAM COLLEGE

122K subscribers

 

JONATHAN BATE explains why Wordsworth's and Coleridge's Lyrical Ballads is one of the greatest and most influential volumes of poetry ever written.

 

A LECTURE BY PROFESSOR SIR JONATHAN BATE CBE FBA, PROFESSOR OF RHETORIC 16 OCTOBER 2018

 

https://www.gresham.ac.uk/lectures-an...

 

'The sense of a new style and a new spirit in poetry came over me', wrote William Hazlitt, recalling the day in 1798 when he heard William Wordsworth reading aloud from Lyrical Ballads, 'It partakes of, and is carried along with, the revolutionary movement of our age'.

 

Jonathan Bate will explain what Hazlitt meant and why Lyrical Ballads, the product of Wordsworth's intimate friendship with Samuel Taylor Coleridge, is one of the greatest and most influential volumes of poetry ever written.

 

Gresham College has been giving free public lectures since 1597. This tradition continues today with all of our five or so public lectures a week being made available for free download from our website. There are currently over 2,000 lectures free to access or download from the website.

 

Website:  http://www.gresham.ac.uk

Twitter:  http://www.twitter.com/GreshamCollege

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/GreshamCollege

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/greshamcoll...

 

Grateful thanks to GRESHAM COLLEGE, PROFESSOR SIR JONATHAN BATE and YouTube and all the others who made this video possible 

SHAKESPEARE'S SONNETS: CRASH COURSE LITERATURE 304

SHAKESPEARE'S SONNETS: 

CRASH COURSE LITERATURE 304

699,738 views•Jul 27, 2016

CrashCourse

11.6M subscribers

 

This week, we're learning about sonnets, and English Literature's best-known purveyor of those fourteen-line paeans, William Shakespeare. We'll look at a few of Willy Shakes's biggest hits, including Sonnet 18, "Shall I compare thee to a summer's day," Sonnet 116, "Let me not to the marriage of true minds admit impediment," and Sonnet 130, "My mistresses's eyes are nothing like the sun." We'll talk about what makes a sonnet, a little bit about their history, and even a little bit about how reading poetry helps us understand how to be human beings.

 

Consider supporting local book stores by purchasing your books through https://bookshop.org/ or at your local book seller.

 

Crash Course is on Patreon! You can support us directly by signing up at http://www.patreon.com/crashcourse

 

Grateful thanks to CrashCourse and YouTube and all the others who made this video possible

POEM OF THE DAY : DREAM DEFERRED (HARLEM) - LANGSTON HUGHES

"DREAM DEFERRED (HARLEM)" - LANGSTON HUGHES 

88,284 views•Jun 12, 2016

TIM GRACYK

2.88K subscribers

 

Dream Deferred (Harlem)

By Langston Hughes

 

What happens to a dream deferred?

 

Does it dry up

like a raisin in the sun?

Or fester like a sore--

And then run?

Does it stink like rotten meat?

Or crust and sugar over--

like a syrupy sweet?

 

Maybe it just sags

like a heavy load.

 

Or does it explode?

___________________________________

Scholars usually assume that Langston Hughes had racism in mind when he wrote this poem that guesses at the costs of postponing human dreams or aspirations. 

 

The short poem even implies it's dangerous if dreams are set aside or delayed due to racial discrimination--people might explode in anger (riots in cities?). 

 

But readers don't have to give it a racial interpretation.  It is about ANY dreams being put off.

 

Today's young people have dreams or goals or activities put off due to a pandemic, and they feel very frustrated.  The poem is about that.

 

The Harlem Renaissance is a name for an era that witnessed a flowering or blossoming of the arts among African Americans.  Its heyday was the 1920s and early 1930s.  Scholars disagree on when exactly it started and ended.

 

Grateful thanks to TIM GRACYK and YouTube and all the others who made this video possible