Disclaimer:

Many stories herein are subject to the faulty, and sometimes creative, memory of the blog owner and should not be taken as factual, although the names and events are real! Kind of.

Monday, February 22, 2010

Fire and Ice

Some say the world will end in fire,
Some say in ice.

 

From what I've tasted of desire,
I hold with those who favor fire.


  

But if it had to perish twice,



I think I know enough of hate
to say that for destruction ice



is also great


and would suffice.

Robert Frost

Yesterday, the girls and I were going around town shopping and every time we got back in the pickup, the fog was a little bit thicker.  As we passed the wooded walking trail that surrounds the field station, I quoted the Carl Sandburg poem, "Fog," and asked Sarah if she knew who wrote it.  I gave her the hint that he was a Poet Laureate of the United States.  Now, I'm not so 'academic' to think that everyone should know all the poet laureates of the US, or that everyone should remember poetry they learned in grade school, but it saddened me when she said it didn't matter to her to know about that stuff.  (I'm not picking on you Sarah, promise!).  I love it when information, poetry, bits of songs, just pop up from my memory in unexpected places.  It's not that you have to memorize whole poems, or recite the lists of Poet Laureates or have watched the entire opera, but I believe that people should be culturally literate.  And possibly my kids are a little bit, since they can sing songs from more Broadway musicals than anyone else I know.  There are so many references in the news, in comic strips, in advertising--everywhere, really, to classical literature, art, music and poetry.  And I think many people miss the connection. I must confess I don't 'get' the point when people refer to modern tv shows or music, but in my defense, have these stood the test of time to become classics?

What do you think?  Do you think it's important to 'get' these references?  Does it matter people stop remembering what Robert Frost wrote?  Or catch on to Bugs Bunny and Alfalfa (Little Rascals) references to "The Barber of Seville?" 

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

I am not sure if the problem is information overload or the fact that we allow electronics to surpass other cultural mediums. We have to pick up the books and read them. We have to switch the music from Top 40 to classical pops. So do I personally do these things? Surprisingly the man and I do play classical music on long road trips. We do listen to NPR. If we show interest then the boys do too. BTW... the man likes NPR, but has no interest in joining me for an evening at the symphony. LOL
Love ya
P

Anonymous said...

Coming from a musical perspective, the same can be said. Do people realize the significance of hearing works by the great composers-within the context of writing BY HAND pieces that were to be performed from week to week in church-the inner exhaustion that comes from pulling the music from within your soul and writing it on a score and being brave enough to let others experience it?

Then the listener today has to LEARN an appreciation for this music...that's my soap box!

Ok...i gotta breathe! I could go on and on!

Andi said...

I'm too tired to think about any of this...

But, I gotta admit ignorance on the poetry thing. I love when you quote it, but I never remember reading those poems. I know you find that sad.

Right now I'm too busy beating myself about not doing daily devotionals as a family to add guilt about culture too!

Andi said...

I gave you homework, I mean an award... I know, I know. You can thank me later!

Marilyn said...

Sad to say---I do not remember all of the poetry that I had to memorize in school and I so seldom read it today. I do love it and love to write it. There is a lot to be said about writing down the right words and painting a picture with them. I am no Robert Frost but oh well!!! I hope that you write and keep the beautiful words that you write.

One Last Thought.......

Pleasant words are a honeycomb;
sweet to the soul and healing to the body.
Proverbs 16:
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