ENGL 2003: Introduction to Poetry

here is the link to my wikipedia assignment http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Psalm_100

My first draft: Waltner, (2006) wrote “Psalm 100 is a simple and beautiful hymn inviting God’s people everywhere to enter into worship with thanksgiving and praise.” Waltner also found that “the whole psalm speaks od joyful response to life, seeking to praise God for all God has done and is.” He describes the Psalm 100 as a doxology or an expression of praise which concludes the psalm 93, 95-99 which he describes as psalms of enthronement or kingship, a sort of inauguration. Holman Bible Dictionary, (1991) writes,”Hymns lift the congregation’s praise to God, describing God’s greatness and majesty. In the hymn, worshipers invite one another to praise God and to provide   reasons for such”. Holman Bible Dictionary, (1991) writes, that psalm 100 is one of these hymns.

Reference: My references will be listed here

Fingerplay is a term used to describe hand action or movement combined with singing or spoken-words to engage the child’s interest. Some chants or common rhymes that incorporate fingerplay include Itsy Bitsy Spider and Peek-a-boo I See You. The article entitled, “Fingerplay Fun” explains fingerplay as a form of chants or songs to gather the child’s attention (Church, 2001).

An example of fingerplay:

Five Little Monkeys

Five little monkeys (five fingers)

Jumping on the bed – (rest elbow on other hand, jump arm up and down)

One fell off, (hold up one finger, bring down as if falling)

And bumped his head! (hand to head)

Mama called the doctor (hold phone to ear)

And the doctor said –

“No more monkeys (shake finger in scolding motion)

jumping on the bed!”

(Repeat: Four little monkeys…)

Mama called the doctor (hold phone to ear)

And the doctor said –

“No more monkeys

jumping on the bed!” (shrug)

References

Church, E. (2001). Fingerplay Fun!. Early Childhood Today, 16(1), 60-61

(2011) Retrieved: http://www.piercecountylibrary.org/files/library/wigglesfingerplays.pdf

– Describe the wikipedia stub you’ve chosen to expand. What is it and what type of page is it (ie., poet, aspect of poetry, genre, etc.)

– Describe what’s currently on the page now

– Describe the general direction of your proposed changes

– Describe your research methodologies – how have you done research related to this topic?

– What kinds of sources did you find?

– What questions do you still have about:
a) contributing to wikipedia
b) your topic

DISCUSSION
Search methodology:
1. Difficult topic — “chain rhyme”
— Try other potential data source
— if you find one piece of information, follow its lead ex. “Frost and rhyme” –> o results –> “Robert Frost” –> 44 books at City Tech –> find some and check the INDEX
— search “poetic terms”

The page on wikipedia that I chose to update is on the book A Monster at Christmas. This specific title caught my eye because for some odd reason it reminded me of one of my favorite movies, The Nightmare Befor Christmas. I went to the wikipedia page and seen that is has very little details so, I would like to update it more.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Monster_at_Christmas

This gruesome horror-fantasy poem potrays a unamed young boy being terrorized by monsters. Its a extended poem with 48 pages of anti-poerty and scary graphics. It is the very opposite of “Twas the night before christmas”. This book is not your typical christmas bedtime stroy at all. Thomas Canty’s writting goes hand in hand with Phil Hale’s dense illustration. The ending leaves you with a darkly comedic twist.

Unfortunately, I was unable to find many resources on this book but i will look further.

Sorry for the late blog post for last week’s assignment. I chose to update the Wikipedia page of the poet, Frik. A small amount of history with beliefs of fatalism and rebellion against the religious clergy were revealed about him. It interest me very much, and I’ll be finding out things about him especially the fact that he was a poet between the 13th and 14 century. Link is below.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frik

From what I seen so far on the material some students posted on the open lab, Anti-poetry seems to be popular. I found it difficult to find a person or a subject to write something of in wikipedia. I had first tried to do research on the poet Rod Taylor, but I could not find the poet that wrote “Dakota: October 1821, Hunkpapa Warrior”. The search for Rod Taylor resulted in finding the actor, producer, a writer which could be right, but the poetic work was made in 1972. This particular poem was not cited or even mentioned. I had different results for the name Rod Taylor, the poem had dramatic irony and it held my interest because of its “political” message that it held.

Now I am moving on to the most unlikely of poets, someone who many would not recognize or think of being a poet. The man’s name goes by Bruce Lee. Believe it or not, I found it interesting that he wrote poetry, some or most of his work have been published. One of them is titled “Boating on Lake Washington“. There is no information on this topic in wikipedia for Bruce Lee, and the site is secure. I am currently still working on the draft that would be in wikipedia, It will be posted soon on the open lab.

The Wikipedia page on Anti-Poetry is pretty bare. I’m going to be editing and expanding the page and provide a longer definition and examples so the researcher can understand the meaning a little better.

Anti-poetry is an art movement that attempts to break away from the normal conventions of poetry.

– (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anti-poetry)

Anti-Poetry is a way poet’s attempt to differentiate what is to be known as “normal” or “traditional” poetry. Often times poems are stereotyped to be simple, sweet, romantic, etc. Anti-poetry is used to change that. Some anti-poetry poems are the reality that surrounds us everyday. Poets use their words to make us open our eyes and realize everything we pretend not to see. “The poet who sees only those details that flatter our fondest hopes has one eye closed to reality. But no more so than the poet who sees only what is ugly or shocking.” (WW: pg 69) Reading poems can be misleading. Shakespeare is one of the many poets who used Anti-Poetry in his writings.

Shakespeare’s “Sonnet 130” and “Winter” is a perfect example of anti-poetry. (Western Wind: An Introduction To Poetry Pg’s. 68 & 71)

Sonnet 130

My mistress’ eyes are nothing like the sun;
Coral is far more red than her lips’ red;
If snow be white, why then her breasts are dun;
If hairs be wires, black wires grow on her head.
I have seen roses damask’d, red and white,
But no such roses see I in her cheeks;
And in some perfumes is there more delight
Than in the breath that from my mistress reeks.
I love to hear her speak, yet well I know
That music hath a far more pleasing sound;
I grant I never saw a goddess go;
My mistress, when she walks, treads on the ground:
And yet, by heaven, I think my love as rare
As any she belied with false compare.

Winter

When icicles hang by the wall,
And Dick the shepherd blows his nail,
And Tom bears logs into the hall,
And milk comes frozen home in pail,
When blood is nipp’d, and ways be foul,
Then nightly sings the staring owl,
To-whit! To-who!—a merry note,
While greasy Joan doth keel the pot.
When all aloud the wind doe blow,
And coughing drowns the parson’s saw,
And birds sit brooding in the snow,
And Marian’s nose looks red and raw,
When roasted crabs hiss in the bowl,
Then nightly sings the staring owl,
To-whit! To-who!—a merry note,
While greasy Joan doth keel the pot

Sonnet 130 is your typical anti-poem. Instead of complementing his mistress like any other man would compliment a girl he loves, Shakespeare uses the “unattractive” features of his mistress. Letting her flaws be known in this sonnet but stating the love he has her. In the poem Winter, Shakespeare changes the sweet traditional winter “fairyland” everyone visions into a dark and creepy one. Winter would be compared to Christmas, decorations outside every house, etc. But this anti-poem describes the total opposite.

I will be expanding on the Eye Rhyme stub (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eye_rhyme). Currently this stub doesn’t have any examples or sources.

Eye Rhyme

A rhyme in which two words are spelled similarly but pronounced differently.

Examples

Wreath: breath

Height: weight

Sphere, here: there, where

Sew: blew, hew, new, crew, dew, few.

Old English Poem using eye rhyme

The Brigs of Ayr by Robert Burns (1759-1796)

The simple Bard, rough at the rustic plough,

Learning his tuneful trade from ev’ ry bough;

The chanting linnet, or the mellow thrush,

Hailing the setting sun, sweet, in the green thorn bush;

The soaring lark, the perching red-breast shrill,

Or deep-ton’ d plovers, grey, wild-whistling o’ er the hill;

Shall he, nurst in the Peasant’ s lowly shed,

To hardy Independence bravely bred,

By early Poverty to hardship steel’ d, And train’ d to arms in stern Misfortune’ s field,

Shall he be guilty of their hireling crimes,

The servile, mercenary Swiss of rhymes?

Or labour hard the panegyric close,

With all the venal soul of dedicating Prose?

No! though his artless strains he rudely sings,

And throws his hand uncouthly o’ er the strings,

He glows with all the spirit of the Bard,

Fame, honest fame, his great, his dear reward.

Still, if some Patron’ s gen’ rous care he trace, Skill’ d in the secret, to bestow with grace;

When B[allantine] befriends his humble name,

And hands the rustic stranger up to fame,

With heartfelt throes his grateful bosom swells,

The godlike bliss, to give, alone excels.

http://search.ebscohost.com.citytech.ezproxy.cuny.edu:2048/login.aspx?direct=true&db=ulh&AN=39028407&site=ehost-live

“Rhyme.” Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, 6Th Edition (2011): 1. MAS Ultra – School Edition. Web. 23 Apr. 2012.

Burns, Robert. Poems and Songs. Vol. VI. The Harvard Classics. New York: P.F. Collier & Son, 1909–14; Bartleby.com, 2001.

Some History-Elias Petropoulus had tried to describe the art of Anti poetry according to one of his protegees and admirer John Taylor. In his “notebook” Indeed in Berlin contain verses which included intentionally made mistake in regard to prosody, grammar and rhyme. The inspiration for many of Mr. Petropoulous poems had been the harsh, and sad atmosphere of the wall divided German metropolis where he was residing. Mr. Petropoulus had long come to the conclusion that poetry about love and desires was becoming too gentle for the literature of modern age. Rather it was time to introduce anti poetry by incorporating anti-sentimentalism feelings and reaction within poems. Anti poetry is as old as poetry itself writes Mr. Taylor; perhaps it had even been born the day after after poetry when individuals decided the art of just poetry was becoming somewhat a routine and he were becoming tired of the sentimental aspects. During 5th century B.C theatrical Sketches called Mimes were being introduces with ideas and languages that were deduced to being Anti plays. There had been times when poets would turn against his/her own poetry in an anti poetical way. yet Anti poetry itself had not yet been well receive by critics. Anti poetry can be found and cited from the first poets of Italy as well ( Dante, follow by Petrarch) as well as some other places in Europe. They had made the decision to compose verses in vernacular rather than Latin were behaving in an anti poetical manner. Many Playwrights which include both Shakespeare and Moliere were some of the writers sighted by Mr. Taylor for using Anti poetry within their work now and then in the midst of a verse play. Anti poetry in a way attempts to reject the norms of poetry.

The Art of poetry demonstrated by Shakespeare in Sonnet 130.

SONNET 130

My mistress’ eyes are nothing like the sun;
Coral is far more red than her lips’ red;
If snow be white, why then her breasts are dun;
If hairs be wires, black wires grow on her head.
I have seen roses damask’d, red and white,
But no such roses see I in her cheeks;
And in some perfumes is there more delight
Than in the breath that from my mistress reeks.
I love to hear her speak, yet well I know
That music hath a far more pleasing sound;
I grant I never saw a goddess go;
My mistress, when she walks, treads on the ground:
And yet, by heaven, I think my love as rare
As any she belied with false compare. 

Shakespeare in this poem was able to celebrate the unappealing features of his mistress. In a way stating her flaws are also attractive to him. He uses Dark tone Humor one of the many features of Anti poetry.  while many poems focuses on the beautiful aspect of a woman Shakespeare was able to take it to a next level by focusing not on the beautiful aspect but rather on the cold hard true of her many flaws.

http://ehis.ebscohost.com.citytech.ezproxy.cuny.edu:2048/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?sid=8154f34c-72db-4c5f-b727-89f8f4965940%40sessionmgr4&vid=17&hid=101

Taylor, John. “Poetry Today.” EBSCOhost. N.p., june, 1 2009. Web. 23 Apr 2012. <http://ehis.ebscohost.com.citytech.ezproxy.cuny.edu:2048/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?sid=8154f34c-72db-4c5f-b727-89f8f4965940@sessionmgr4&vid=17&hid=101>.
Mason, David, and John Frederic Nims. Western Winds. 5. New York: McGraw-Hill, 2006. Print.