Poems, A letter to Evolution, and Bridges

So If you've read most of my other blog posts you'll know, I have a thing for poetry. I've quoted lots of poems over the course of this blog and I think it's important to share with you some of my favorite stuff. Maybe later this week
I'll do a post on my favorite song quotes, as I mention those a lot too. Links to all poems mentioned will be at the end of this post.

So I'm pretty sure no poetry enthusiast can do a list of their favorite poetry and leave out Walt Whitman. The man has a way with words that is beyond beautiful and is often truly moving. My Favorite Whitman poem is Passage to India. It has, in my opinion, some of Whitman's most beautiful imagery and it also has a sense of hope and joy, which can be rare for Whitman. I know that many people would say that Song of Myself is his best work and I agree, Song of myself is amazing and wonderful, but Passage to India is still my favorite mostly due to these lines:
"Passage to India!
Lo, soul, seest thou not God's purpose from the first?
The earth to be spann'd, connected by network,
The races, neighbors, to marry and be given in marriage,
The oceans to be cross'd, the distant brought near,
The lands to be welded together."
Earth be spann'd, The lands be welded together. I think these may be my favorite bits of poetry ever. I have a thing for bridges. I think they're a beautiful feat of engineering and I can't really describe it but I love them, and this poem, especially this passage represent everything I love about them.

Another favorite poem of mine isn't really a poem at all. It's actually an old nursery rhyme. A really creepy one at that. It's called A Man of Words and not of Deeds and it's pretty much warning children against being Full of shit. Or I suppose against bragging. It's telling children that actions speak louder than words, and I love it because it's Gothic and creepy and wonderful. It has really great imagery and I love the way it builds from the not very threatening "A man of words and not of deeds, Is like a garden full of weeds" to the really terrifying "And when your heart begins to bleed, You're dead, and dead, and dead indeed" SO AWESOME!

Another Poem I'm going to share, I have already quoted in this blog and that is High Flight by John Gillespie Magee, Jr. I love the sky and I love flying and this poem encompasses everything I love about the sky. It makes me wish that humans could fly without the help of flying contraptions. It also makes me really want evolution to kick in.

Dear Evolution,
I've been a big supporter and defender of yours for years and I was wondering if you could do me a favour. It IS necessary for humans to fly, please fit that into your plans for us.
Thanks,
Julie

But yes, I love this poem. I love this:
"Oh! I have slipped the surly bonds of earth,
And danced the skies on laughter-silvered wings;
Sunward I've climbed, and joined the tumbling mirth
Of sun-split clouds, --and done a hundred things
You have not dreamed of --"
I Love this imagery. The surly bonds of earth, Sun-split clouds and Done a hundred things you have not dreamed of. I Love these lines they're some of my favorite lines ever.

More pieces of poetry that aren't actually poetry are Irish blessing. I love them, they're so pretty like this one:
An Old Irish Blessing:
"May the road rise up to meet you.
May the wind always be at your back.
May the sun shine warm upon your face,
and rains fall soft upon your fields.
And until we meet again,
May God hold you in the palm of His hand."
I love the lines "May the road rise up to meet you. May the wind be at your back" I find myself repeating them frequently, and that I think is the mark of a good poem. I'll link to a whole page of Irish blessings for you.

The Last Poem I'm going to share with you today is my favorite poem ever. It was what got me into poetry and I don't think it'll ever be surpassed in my mind. This poem moves me and it is pretty much my motto. It's a little dark on first read but I like to see the optimism in it. At it's base level it's about someone who has hardship and doesn't let them get it down. I'm going to put the whole poem here because if you don't go read any of the poems I link to I'll understand, but you absolutely need to read this one.

Invictus

Out of the night that covers me,
Black as the Pit from pole to pole,
I thank whatever gods may be
For my unconquerable soul.

In the fell clutch of circumstance
I have not winced nor cried aloud.
Under the bludgeonings of chance
My head is bloody, but unbowed.

Beyond this place of wrath and tears
Looms but the Horror of the shade,
And yet the menace of the years
Finds, and shall find, me unafraid.

It matters not how strait the gate,
How charged with punishments the scroll.
I am the master of my fate:
I am the captain of my soul.

William Ernest Henley

Every time I read it, it gives me chills. "I am the master of my fate: I am the captain of my soul" I think this is some of the most beautiful and inspiring words I've ever read. Or at any rate they're the words that have touched me the most. I want this tattooed on me somewhere. I could probably Squee and talk symbolism of this poem for a very long time, but this post has gone on for long enough so I'll leave it at that for now, but I may return to it later in more depth.

On that note if you guys have any poems you think I'd like, or just poems that you really love please post links in the comments! If you've made it to the end of this rather long winded post then thanks! I really appreciate it.

Julie

Links:

Passage To India: http://www.online-literature.com/walt-whitman/3328/

A Man of Words and not of Deeds: http://www.rhymes.org.uk/a4-a-man-of-words.htm

High Flight: http://www.davidpbrown.co.uk/poetry/john-magee.html

Irish Blessings: http://islandireland.com/Pages/folk/sets/bless.html

Invictus: http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/invictus/

P.s. If anyone is curious what my favorite bridge is it's the New River Gorge Bridge. It's a steel-arch bridge in West-Virgina and is the second highest bridge in the world.

People Base jump off it! That is so Bad Ass!!!