Mercy! Mercy! That Dang Nabed PERCY!

Socrates on Poetry

Socrates on Poetry

I suppose a poem should start out with the thread of a beautiful thought however, my experience is that they just start out. A line pops to mind and the rest follows.

I often write poetry like this that sounds good and I have no clue as to any underlining meaning….Socrates in his dialogues spoke of excellence and collecting examples of the leading poets works and confronting them as to what the poetry meant.

I paraphrase (Socrates)…. “And so I went to the poets with examples of what I considered their best works and questioned them as to the true meaning….I am almost ashamed to tell you this, but the least of you could have better explained the meaning of their poems than they themselves.”

I had to really chuckle when I read that because I felt he was talking directly to me. Sometimes mine starts with a resonance….all I have to do is kick back and think of some of the structures used by my favorite poets.

For example Kipling….“You can talk of gin and beer, while you’re safely quartered here…or send to penny fights like Aldershot….but if it turns to slaughter, you’ll do you work on water, and lick the bloomin boots of him that’s got it.”

That’s the opening to Gunga Din and I might not have it exactly right but I summoned it from recollection….

So I’ll come up with something like…

She can do what’er she wants and I won’t hold her back.
Let the record plainly show I cut the broad some slack.
What ever’s said, let no one claim, I kept her on a fetter.
Or that I stood on rightousness and held the law to letter.
She had her chance to do the dance. I hope she’s feeling better.

Now this is a good example of a resonance that just found it’s own path.
This is an example of what I think Socrates is talking about. I’m not sure what it means….do you?