{"id":2476,"date":"2016-05-05T20:14:27","date_gmt":"2016-05-05T20:14:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.doingwhatmatters.com\/?p=2476"},"modified":"2016-05-05T20:14:27","modified_gmt":"2016-05-05T20:14:27","slug":"a-poem-truth-and-the-month-of-may","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/doingwhatmatters.com\/a-poem-truth-and-the-month-of-may\/","title":{"rendered":"A poem, truth, and the month of May"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"A<\/a><\/h1>\n

Under the Willows<\/h1>\n

by James Russell Lowell,\u00a01819\u00a0–\u00a01891<\/p>\n

May is a pious fraud of the almanac,
\nA ghastly parody of real Spring
\nShaped out of snow and breathed with eastern wind;
\nOr if, o\u2019er-confident, she trust the date,
\nAnd, with her handful of anemones,
\nHerself as shivery, steal into the sun,
\nThe season need but turn his hourglass round,
\nAnd Winter suddenly, like crazy Lear,
\nReels back, and brings the dead May in his arms,
\nHer budding breasts and wan dislustred front
\nWith frosty streaks and drifts of his white beard
\nAll overblown. Then, warmly walled with books,
\nWhile my wood-fire supplies the sun\u2019s defect,
\nWhispering old forest-sagas in its dreams,
\nI take my May down from the happy shelf
\nWhere perch the world\u2019s rare song-birds in a row,
\nWaiting my choice to open with full breast,
\nAnd beg an alms of springtime, ne\u2019er denied
\nIndoors by vernal Chaucer, whose fresh woods
\nThrob thick with merle and mavis all the year.<\/p>\n

The consolation of a good book (and exactly the right poem)<\/h2>\n

Facing yet another dreary, chilly day in the merry month of May, I had to agree with Lowell \u2014 May is indeed the “pious fraud of the almanac, \/ A ghastly parody of real Spring.” In the absence of lovely weather, a good book \u2014\u00a0Lowell chose Chaucer \u2014 is consolation for\u00a0the spirit. Better still, the right poem at the right time\u00a0is a gift. It can speak of a fleeting moment\u00a0in a way that reveals a\u00a0universal truth and often, reveals it\u00a0as\u00a0a thing of beauty.<\/p>\n

At its best, poetry helps you see beyond<\/strong>. Practically speaking, it can allow you to speak\u00a0truth, beauty, and goodness in a way that can be heard.\u00a0“Tell the truth but tell it slant<\/a>” Emily Dickinson admonished, because “The Truth must dazzle gradually \/\u00a0Or every man be blind”.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>\"\"You don’t have to have a memory stocked with poetry (though it’s a good idea<\/a>) in order to experience the power of the right poem at the right time. All you need is a good anthology or even an internet search to find a poem that vividly captures something worth remembering. Next time you experience something you find hard to put into words, try browsing a poetry anthology or searching online for a “poem about \u00a0. . . “.<\/p>\n

It may take a few tries to find the search phrase that locates the perfect poem, but when you come up with a list of likely-looking poems, read or skim until you find the one that elicits a little thrill\u00a0of recognition. Once you’ve found it, copy it to your commonplace book or otherwise save it for future enjoyment. In this way, you will develop a mental library of ideas, beautifully expressed.<\/p>\n

Lowell’s reminder that\u00a0an afternoon with a good book can redeem even the dreariest day<\/strong> inspired me to be\u00a0thankful for the warm walls of books that surround my desk. As Lowell himself said,\u00a0“Books are the bees which carry the quickening pollen from one to another mind.” Despite the chilly gloom outside, it will always bright inside my\u00a0library.<\/p>\n

P. S. One final thought<\/h3>\n

In keeping with the idea of poetry as the language of truth, beauty, and goodness, consider this:<\/p>\n

A man with a scant vocabulary will almost certainly be a weak thinker. The richer and more copious one\u2019s vocabulary and the greater one\u2019s awareness of fine distinctions and subtle nuances of meaning, the more fertile and precise is likely to be one\u2019s thinking.<\/p>\n

Knowledge of things and knowledge of the words for them grows together.
\nIf you do not know the words, you can hardly know the thing.<\/p>\n

Henry Hazlitt, Thinking as a Science<\/em><\/p>\n

\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Under the Willows by James Russell Lowell,\u00a01819\u00a0–\u00a01891 May is a pious fraud of the almanac, A ghastly parody of real Spring Shaped out of snow and breathed with eastern wind; Or if, o\u2019er-confident, she trust the date, And, with her...<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":2479,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[41],"tags":[636,796,303,304,1214,1055],"class_list":["post-2476","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-books","tag-great-books","tag-memory","tag-poetry","tag-reading","tag-transcendentals","tag-truth"],"yoast_head":"\nA 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Here's why, and a partial list of what I'm reading.","rel":"","context":"In "Books and Reading"","block_context":{"text":"Books and Reading","link":"https:\/\/doingwhatmatters.com\/category\/books\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"The early summer garden is a perfect place for reading. ","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.janice-campbell.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/early-summer-garden-2012-225x300.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":1809,"url":"https:\/\/doingwhatmatters.com\/why-christians-should-read-fiction\/","url_meta":{"origin":2476,"position":3},"title":"Why Christians Should Read Fiction","author":"Janice Campbell","date":"August 25, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"I recently met someone who had been raised without fiction. No Little Golden Books, no Dr. Seuss, no Little House on the Prairie, no Chronicles of Narnia...nothing. I can't begin to imagine, but the thought makes me feel a bit hollow inside. The reason? Fiction is \"not true,\" therefore it\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Books and Reading"","block_context":{"text":"Books and Reading","link":"https:\/\/doingwhatmatters.com\/category\/books\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":1821,"url":"https:\/\/doingwhatmatters.com\/how-i-chose-great-books-for-excellence-in-literature\/","url_meta":{"origin":2476,"position":4},"title":"How I Chose Great Books for Excellence in Literature","author":"Janice Campbell","date":"February 9, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"My goal in writing Excellence in Literature is to pass along my love for some of the most beautiful, thought-provoking literature in the world, and to help students learn to think critically and analytically while growing mentally and spiritually. Here's how I chose which books to include.","rel":"","context":"In "Books and Reading"","block_context":{"text":"Books and Reading","link":"https:\/\/doingwhatmatters.com\/category\/books\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"How I chose the books for the Excellence in Literature curriculum for grades 8-12.","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/doingwhatmatters.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/02\/how-i-chose-books-for-excellence-in-literature-sm.png?fit=600%2C600&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/doingwhatmatters.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/02\/how-i-chose-books-for-excellence-in-literature-sm.png?fit=600%2C600&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/doingwhatmatters.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/02\/how-i-chose-books-for-excellence-in-literature-sm.png?fit=600%2C600&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":1834,"url":"https:\/\/doingwhatmatters.com\/read-for-fun\/","url_meta":{"origin":2476,"position":5},"title":"Read for Fun; Learning Happens Along the Way","author":"Janice Campbell","date":"August 18, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"As parents, we can't begin to teach our children everything they need to know, but we can teach them to read, and make sure they have plenty of good books. Truths carried to the heart through the power of story wil linger far longer than anything that comes through a\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Books and Reading"","block_context":{"text":"Books and Reading","link":"https:\/\/doingwhatmatters.com\/category\/books\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/doingwhatmatters.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/08\/Read-for-Fun.jpg?fit=1080%2C1080&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/doingwhatmatters.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/08\/Read-for-Fun.jpg?fit=1080%2C1080&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/doingwhatmatters.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/08\/Read-for-Fun.jpg?fit=1080%2C1080&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/doingwhatmatters.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/08\/Read-for-Fun.jpg?fit=1080%2C1080&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/doingwhatmatters.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/08\/Read-for-Fun.jpg?fit=1080%2C1080&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p65lfN-DW","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/doingwhatmatters.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2476","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/doingwhatmatters.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/doingwhatmatters.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/doingwhatmatters.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/doingwhatmatters.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2476"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/doingwhatmatters.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2476\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/doingwhatmatters.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2479"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/doingwhatmatters.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2476"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/doingwhatmatters.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2476"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/doingwhatmatters.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2476"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}