For today's Blogmas post I wanted to do something a little different and that I haven't done on my blog before. Although there is some poetry that I absolutely love, I wouldn't say I know a whole lot about this genre of literature, by any means. However, now and then I really enjoy browsing through my poetry app or through books and seeing what I can find, and Christmas seems like a good time to do just this. I find poems to be sometimes very meaningful and touching, I really enjoy the way the words are put together and the different things they can mean. For me, it's altogether a very romantic type of literature!
I have found a few short Christmassy poems which I thought were really nice and quite special, plus they make for a breath of fresh reading air, so I wanted to share them with you here! I thought I would also give you a little background to each one, in case you see something that you liked. Enjoy!
Mistletoe, Walter De La Mare
Sitting under the mistletoe
(Pale-green, fairy mistletoe),
One last candle burning low,
All the sleepy dancers gone,
Just one candle burning on,
Shadows lurking everywhere:
Some one came, and kissed me there.
Tired I was; my head would go
Nodding under the mistletoe
(Pale-green, fairy mistletoe),
No footsteps came, no voice, but only,
Just as I sat there, sleepy, lonely,
Stooped in the still and shadowy air
Lips unseen—and kissed me there.
Walter De La Mare was an English writer, around the turn of the 20th century, of mainly poetry and short stories, although he also wrote some novels. He is particularly known for his works for children as well as a series of ghost stories. He actually worked for Standard Oil in order to support his wife and four children, but still found time to become an award winning writer, which is quite inspiring! De La Mare is also widely known for his theories on imagination and how imagination changes as a child becomes an adult, which is very interesting.
I like this poem because there is an idea that, perhaps, an angel came to this person, who was lonely at Christmas, and kissed him (maybe this is related to his supernatural writing). This man, falling asleep by himself, with only one more candle, was not really alone, whether it was an angel or someone else that came to him. I hope that nobody feels alone this Christmas.
The Magi, William Butler Yeats
Now as at all times I can see in the mind's eye,
In their stiff, painted clothes, the pale unsatisfied ones
Appear and disappear in the blue depths of the sky
With all their ancient faces like rain-beaten stones,
And all their helms of silver hovering side by side,
And all their eyes still fixed, hoping to find once more,
Being by Calvary's turbulence unsatisfied,
The uncontrollable mystery on the bestial floor.
Irish Poet, William Butler Yeats, who lived from 1865-1939, is one of my favourite poets. His poetry covers such a wide variety of, sometimes controversial, topics; from religion to Irish mythology, poems inspired by other poets, and many love poems based on his tempestuous relationship with his muse, Maud Gonne. In 1923, Yeats won the Nobel Prize for Literature, for which they said 'his always inspired poetry, which in a highly artistic form gives expression to the spirit of a whole nation'. I really recommend checking out more of his work - it is beautiful and full of life and life's questions.
My feeling from this poem, as with many others of Yeats' poems, is that it is a remark on the inevitable approach of his old age and perhaps his concerns about it. Also, when he mentions the 'uncontrollable mystery' at the end, I feel like he is talking about life, the mystery that it is, and that he cannot predict nor determine it. I find his words to be very touching and symbolic as we reach the end of this year.
Unpublished poem, Philip Larkin
Apples on a Christmas tree!
We sing the annual mystery
– But tomatoes on a Christmas tree!
Philip Larkin was another English Poet, who died in 1985. I absolutely had to include a piece by him as he is another of my favourite poets! In a lot of his work he demonstrates his 'no-nonsense', straight-talking and sometimes quite black British humour, which I love, even though it can sometimes cause you to feel strange and uncomfortable. I remember once reading a poem that he wrote about old people and feeling incredibly uncomfortable because of his words! But his style can also be very funny and very alive.
I found this little ditty just by chance, I think it was included in a recent BBC documentary that was made about Larkin. It is an unpublished poem that he wrote while living in Hull, England, and I think it shows off this unique style perfectly!
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