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#Post#: 6--------------------------------------------------
Poetry
By: Alharacas Date: April 27, 2018, 8:50 am
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Dan, I really liked your version of the Rubaiyat - perhaps you'd
be kind enough to copy it in here? And perhaps also the
original?
#Post#: 7--------------------------------------------------
Re: Poetry
By: the lost minion Date: April 27, 2018, 8:57 am
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And some illustrations perhaps.
#Post#: 8--------------------------------------------------
The Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam... modified
By: Dan Smith Date: April 27, 2018, 9:46 am
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I actually don't drink, by the way, but I enjoyed writing this.
In 1859 Edward FitzGerald published a translation, or perhaps a
paraphrase, of the Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam, and later revised
it several times. It became, in English, a beloved poem. I don't
know how to calculate this objectively, but I once found that
fully 1/4th of the lines in this poem are in the Oxford
Dictionary of Quotations, and I therefore assert that it is "the
most quotable work in the English language." Anyway, here is
what Omar might have written if he had liked beer rather than
wine.
Perhaps I should add that I am also following in the tradition
of a 1925 song by Billy Rose and Al Dubin, entitled "A Cup of
Coffee, a Sandwich, and You."
Some look for Wisdom in the scholar's Tome,
Others, beneath the Imam's sacred Dome;
And yet, no greater Knowledge have I known
Than that I found while drinking beery Foam.
And much as Life has drowned me in its Tears,
And Fate beset me roundabout with Fears,
I will not sadden after bitter Fruit:
Instead, be sodden in a Thousand Beers.
And while I live, my Drinking never Stops;
I quaff the Draft in endless precious Drops;
And if I lie down, Weary from the Race,
Revive my Spirit with the Scent of Hops.
I went to find what Wisdom I could hear
From learned Doctor and from saintly Seer;
I listened for eternity, it seemed,
And then went out and drank a glass of Beer.
Here, by the river's green and grassy Bed,
Come sit beside me with a Loaf of Bread,
A box of Boom, a couple Packs of Six,
And soon we, too, shall have a fizzy Head!
Ah, my beloved, though the Night draw Near,
Tomorrow's Dawn will bring another Year;
And, lo! the Stars are sprinkled in the Sky,
Like Bubbles sparkling in a glass of Beer!
#Post#: 9--------------------------------------------------
Re: Poetry
By: Alharacas Date: April 27, 2018, 9:51 am
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Thank you very much, Dan! By the way, I'm really sorry this is
now under the heading "Digital Dementia" - haven't quite got the
hang of this thing yet.
#Post#: 12--------------------------------------------------
Re: Poetry
By: the lost minion Date: April 27, 2018, 10:05 am
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[quote author=Alharacas link=topic=3.msg9#msg9 date=1524840695]
Thank you very much, Dan! By the way, I'm really sorry this is
now under the heading "Digital Dementia" - haven't quite got the
hang of this thing yet.
[/quote]
What's wrong with the name? I told you, give your ideas because
mine will be most likely goofy. You still have a chance to
propose the sections and names for them.
#Post#: 14--------------------------------------------------
Re: Poetry
By: Allie Date: April 27, 2018, 1:57 pm
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I love the poem. A glass can really be a source of inspiration.
Here one of my favourites:
"A Drinking Song "
By William Butler Yeats
Wine comes in at the mouth
And love comes in at the eye;
That’s all we shall know for truth
Before we grow old and die.
I lift the glass to my mouth,
I look at you, and I sigh.
(By the way, I don't get the Digital Dementia thing either haha)
#Post#: 16--------------------------------------------------
Re: Poetry
By: Alharacas Date: April 27, 2018, 2:05 pm
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Nice one, Allie. With those great poems, you and Dan are going
to make an alcoholic of me yet. ;)
#Post#: 18--------------------------------------------------
Re: Poetry
By: Allie Date: April 27, 2018, 2:11 pm
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If reading poems about booze makes you an alcoholic, what to say
about those who write them?
#Post#: 26--------------------------------------------------
Re: Poetry
By: Dan Smith Date: April 27, 2018, 5:07 pm
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I don't like "digital dementia," either. Since the first few
posts have been on poetry, I suggest "Books, Reading, Poetry,
and Literature." Or "Books and Reading" if there's a length
limit.
Another good major section would be "¡talki."
Another good one would be "Language learning websites and
resources (other than ¡talki)."
#Post#: 43--------------------------------------------------
Re: Poetry
By: Coligno Date: April 28, 2018, 5:26 am
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[quote]A glass can really be a source of inspiration.[/quote]
It can indeed, I liked the one by famous drinker and poet Lord
Byron which he had engraved on a cup made out of a skull he dug
up in his garden (he lived in an abandoned monastery):
Start not, nor deem my spirit fled:
In me behold the only skull
From which, unlike a living head,
Whatever flows is never dull.
I lived, I loved, I quaffed like thee,
I died, let earth my bones resign.
Fill up! Thou canst not injure me,
The worm hath fouler lips than thine.
Better to hold the sparkling grape
Than nurse the earth-worm's slimy brood,
And circle in the goblet's shape
The drink of gods than reptiles' food.
Where once my wit, perchance, hath shone,
In aid of others' let me shine.
And when, alas! our brains are gone,
What nobler substitute than wine?
Quaff while thou canst: another race,
When thou and thine, like me, are sped,
May rescue thee from earth's embrace
And rhyme and revel with the dead.
Why not? Since through life's little day
Our heads such sad effects produce:
Redeemed from worms and wasting clay,
This chance is theirs to be of use.
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