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I've really appreciated everyone's contribution to this thread (well, nearly everyone's), because I think poetry is essential, and it used to be so highly valued, but now it has become almost a niche literary form....
And of course we could carry on posting favourite poems, like Frankie Friday, and maybe those of you who love poetry would keep on adding more... So in that spirit, here's one many of you will recognise, with its lovely Irish lilt...
The Lake Isle of Innisfree
By William Butler Yeats
I will arise and go now, and go to Innisfree, And a small cabin build there, of clay and wattles made; Nine bean-rows will I have there, a hive for the honey-bee, And live alone in the bee-loud glade..
And I shall have some peace there, for peace comes dropping slow, Dropping from the veils of the morning to where the cricket sings; There midnight’s all a glimmer, and noon a purple glow, And evening full of the linnet’s wings..
I will arise and go now, for always, night and day, I hear lake water lapping with low sounds by the shore; While I stand on the roadway, or on the pavements grey, I hear it in the deep heart’s core.
I just saw this previously unpublished Laurie Lee poem in an email from Penguin books, thought I'd share it, because I think it's beautiful:
Ah Well
Ah well, I think, even the chestnuts are breaking, there is a soft down upon the cry of birds, and they slip covertly, with intent gentleness, among the bushes; life is full in the green ear and brilliant with chance, what of the mere grain blown out and forgotten, rotting or ripening in a shroud of grass?
The trouble is, Juzzie, the entire establishment is riddled with this kind of abuse. I met the twin brothers behind the book and documentary 'Tell Me Who I am' - an extraordinary, horrifying story of the abuse they suffered at the hands of their extremely well-connected aristocratic parents and their circle, and it became clear that this went to the heart of the establishment, on every level.
But you're right, there needs to be a way of breaking this pattern of supression and bringing justice to those countless people who have suffered from it.
Watching two utterly different series at the moment, both are absolutely fantastic - with some reservations:
Firstly: Ludwig on BBC iplayer. This really tickles my particular funny bone; it's about an autistic problem solver, played by David Mitchell, who has to impersonate his twin brother - a DCI in the Cambridgeshire police force - in order to find out why he's disappeared. First episode had me in stitches, as well as intriguing and delighting my puzzle-solving geeky mind.
Secondly: The Rings of Power - season 2: I have very mixed feelings about this; as an unashamed Tolkien fan, the series tramples roughshod over so much of his incredible legacy. The opening of The Silmarillion includes a letter from Tolkien to his publisher, where he explains the part-supernatural origins of his cosmology, in that he 'channeled' the story. But its amazing detail - the background and history of Middle Earth preceding the Lord of the Rings - comes from his long scholarly research into ancient European history and languages. As a result, Tolkien created something that feels as real as any other history, something that has a deeply spiritual dimension. And for those of you who don't know about it, Tolkien imagined an entire creation myth from the very beginning, with existence starting with the godlike music of the spheres, bringing into being an amazing cast of characters, such as the immortal Elves, and the Istari (a race of wizards who reincarnate, including Gandalf), as well as a whole host of languages from Elvish to Numenorean, and an entire and detailed history spanning hundreds of thousands of years, with a whole slew of different races, including various human tribes, as well as Orcs, Goblins, Dwarves, Halflings (Hobbits etc.), Ents and many more.
So..... this series might best be described as a reimagining of Tolkien's Middle Earth pre-History (as opposed to the 'based on' it uses in the opening titles). But if I get past me wincing at some of the liberties the writers have taken with Tolkien's legacy - including lifting, verbatim, lines of dialogue and action sequences from Lord of The Rings - then I have to concede: it's utterly brilliant. An incredible, sweeping spectacle that takes you to dizzying heights of imagination and story-telling. Without Tolkien, this wouldn't exist, and he's probably turning in his grave, but the writers and director/s have created something amazing here, with extremely clever (sometimes subtle, sometimes irritating) references to our modern world-view, yet framing them in a mythical context. If you're into fantasy epics, this is extraordinary.
They're not working well. Not only were the music and announcements too loud (for my sensitive ears) in Ellerslie last week, the sound was horribly distorted as well, as if the speakers were blown and the volume was turned to max.
I like the fact that Durham has chosen his top ten grounds purely from a football fan's personal perspective, but even so, The Valley at no.8?? I hate that ground. Nice for us to be his no. 1 though. Away fans tend to romanticise our place, as do we, once we've forgotten the pillar blocking our view, the lack of leg room, the queue for something to eat and the Ellerslie bogs.
Got to say I think the OP is completely wrong to single out Varane as a problem, if anything, the reverse is true: for me he's one if the few players who came out if that game looking good, and we were a much better team second half with him in the side. The real conundrum for me is Madsen: what does he offer? As others have said, he looked like he was hiding half the time; no link up play, no line-breaking passes, and certainly no tackles or interceptions; for such a big bloke, he has all the presence of a powder puff. I get that he has technical ability, but he seems scared to use it. With the featherweight Saito to the left and Andersen flanning around in the centre, and another lightweight in Dembele on the right, we had no midfield presence at all. It was a massive problem. That changed when Varane replaced Madsen and Smyth replaced Saito. Because although Smyth is another lightweight, he's also a tenacious terrier snd retains possession better. Varane is one I'm really excited about; I think he's the real deal.
I was at the game. It looked like we were playing with 8 men in the first half: Celar, Madsen and EDB were all dreadful. Amazing that we only conceded one goal.
So firstly, a genuine question: what have people seen that gives them any faith whatsoever that Celar can score goals? I've watched every game this season, either online or at the ground, and so far I've seen absolutely nothing from him. His press is weak, he doesn't tackle, his positioning is poor, and he can't finish, either with his head or his feet. So all I've got to go on is the fact that he was apparently decent in the past. I'd love to see some sign, a hint, that he's got what it takes. A cheeky back flick, a goal-bound shot, setting up someone else to score.... But so far.... nada. And so what if we were playing Premiership opposition, that shouldn't stop him doing something positive.
Secondly, Madsen: he was awful too. Poor decision making, poor passing (nearly all of it backwards), zero press, zero tackles. He's like a giant powder puff.
So for me, those are two black marks against our recruitment policy. The big positive for me was Varane. I could see he had quality from his first outing, and last night he was very good. Positive passing, strong in the tackle, great interceptions; I really think we've got a rough diamond here, who with some more polishing will really sparkle. So that's one excellent signing, versus two poor ones. Dembele is obviously another great signing and Saito is... ok. So that kind of makes it even on the recruitment side. Oh, Nardi is excellent too, so it's +1 for the recruitment. Too early to tell about Ashby.
Sorry to have changed the subject from the OP, but thought I might as well put it all in one post, and so my other main gripe is that I'm with Brian (McCarthy) - putting out the B team properly pissed me off. We had an excellent opportunity to progress in the cup last night and Marti threw it away with that line-up. Yeah, yeah, yeah, he's saving it for Millwall. What's the point of competetive football if you don't compete? Isn't that why we go to games? To see us try and win?
Oh, okay then. I thought it was a rather informative thread. There wasn't any nasty stuff in it, as far as I can recall. And that DT piece was rather good, IMHO!
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