The Poetry Course

I was stumbling through the college grounds

On a day, eight months ago,

It was wintertime, in a fading light

And the ground was covered with snow,

I was there for a course of literature

Set up by Professor Burke,

They said that he had all the answers, then,

To the Poets, and all of their work!

 

I’d never read too much poetry

What I had went over my head,

I thought there was too much imagery

To understand what they said,

The class was small, I sat by the wall

And tried to avoid his frown,

Whenever he asked a question

I was afraid that he’d put me down.

 

I didn’t know anyone else in there

I was feeling bereft, alone,

But one of the students that sat by me

Had a face that was set in stone,

He was shrunk right down in his overcoat,

And he sat there, stroking his mo,

So after the class, I followed him

And he gave me a brief: ‘Hello!’

 

I can’t ever say that we were chums,

He was far too quiet for that,

We’d wander together, lost in thought

And I was the one to chat,

He’d answer me with a short ‘Hurrumph’,

Occasionally answer: ‘Hah!’

And often he’d sound almost profound

With a short and considered: ‘Bah!’

 

The only time that he came to life

Was when Burke was discussing Rhyme,

Burke curled his lip at the thought of it,

And said: ‘It’s a waste of time!’

My friend sank down in his overcoat

And he gave out a funny sigh,

With Burke extolling the free-form art

Of the moderns, and told us why.

 

He tore up Coleridge: ‘Christabel,

Is just an unfinished dream,

And Wordsworth, him and his leeches - Well!

It seems to me quite obscene!’

He massacred Noyes and his ‘Highwayman’,

And Kipling he threw in the bin;

‘‘The Raven’ is boring, it’s much too long

And the rest of his stuff, just spin!’

 

Exams were held on a frosty night

With a hell of a fog outside,

My friend was down and dispirited,

But he wrote with a quiet pride,

The final question on rhyme was set

On ‘The Raven’ - give a critique!’

I think he would still have been writing there

If we’d had ‘til the end of the week!

 

The marks came back in a day or two,

I’d scrambled through with a pass,

My friend walked off on his own that night

His shoulders were hunched at the last,

I never ran into him after that,

He’d said, ‘I’d better just go!’

The marks for ‘The Raven’ had let him down,

They’d flunked Edgar Allan Poe!

 

David Lewis Paget

Reviews

[poeticpiers]

What annoys me is the experts who claim to know what the poet really meant.
Poets write about life as they see it in their environment in their time.
Experts are invariably totally wrong in their opinions but merely pass on what some other expert has said. What you or I write into a poem will not be read in the same way by two readers. Readers relate to their own life experiences and some times astonish the writer with their interpretations

[Erin Thomas]

Exactly. That is why there is no science or math to poetry. It is not exact or precise, it is whatever the write makes it which will be different to the reader!

[Dinesh Sairam]

The problem is, they should start teaching children prosody and meter at a young age, and not only rhyme. In fact, meter is the music of the poem and is very important to them than rhyme.

Kids who grow up with reading just rhymes seem to think that free verse or non-rhyming verse is more 'mature'. Bullshit, I say.

[Tate Morgan]

Ill second that.More mature could easily equate to lazy.To create a rhyming metered verse Is extremely hard .If it were easy everyone would do it.It is exactly that tribulation that makes it special ,that makes a verse sentient.

[BlackRose]

I so agree with these others here. It's your poetry and how you write it. How you want it to read and be read by others. It's your style, being you and not someone else. I have had some critique mine to the hilt, I still knowing it's just as good as anyone elses. And we don't expect everyone to like our works or everyone one of them or anyone else to expect it either for that matter but it's the many many others that like them that will that will count and keep us going strong. I have read many and your poetry so far is one of the very few that I can rave about. LOVE LOVE your work.

[Coyote Poetry]

Most of the great writers didn't gain respect till after their death. Edgar Allan Poe is one of my favorite. But few try to grasp his words. I like your story. Description of people and location took me to a interesting place. Thank you for the entertaining story.
Coyote

[R J Askew]

Bravo. Hurrah to smashing all those plonkers who diss rhyme. You continually show how beautiful rhyme is. Free verse is fine, too. Hurrah to both in fact. But boo to the idiots who turned their back on rhyme from the 60s on. Their intellects were rather like a lot of the poorly constructed tower blocks on the outskirts of British cities which leaked water, were hated by all who lived in them, and have mostly been blown up to put them out of their misery now. Hurrah for rhyme. Hell, even the coolest of the cool - rappers - know the value of rhyme.

[Fréyjä Helv..]

Poetry could have a million interpretations and meanings... the truth to that we'll never know unless the writer draws us a pretty clear picture on what his poem relays...

regarding your work, just brilliant...

[Honey54]

Tate Morgan informed me about your work...and I must say I am impressed...he is right...you are a legend in you work does touch me...this is nice...I can learn alot from you

[Tate Morgan]

Once again the indomitable Paget meter wins out. I think your use of the stacked metered quatrains is always going to be my favorite.They go from line to line so easily.THE WORDS LAY UPON EACH OTHER LIKE THE TEXAN ACCENT! Unlike a disjointed free verse your works tell stories beginning to end. Stories that with just a bit of imagination we can all relate to. Being one who was drug into adulthood kicking and screaming. It is so refreshing to find one who is a little older than I who still holds to his childish amusements such as I do. Life as an adult is way too serious and bland. Perhaps schools and society could use a bit of this instruction in happiness.

[cynthiabuhainbaello]

I like this remarkable narrative that relates a witty yet very instructive story and the characters are quite human in their failings and limitations -which is a reality in life. I also take particular notice of the smooth flow of the story as though it was being told over a warm cup of coffee with friends - natural, not preachy, matter-of-fact. The word choice is also apropos, the style vivid and unmistakeably :David. Excellent narrative and very enjoyable to read!

[CRAIG A. THOMSON]

Rhyme is to poetry what rhythm is to a good tune! You've set it out articulately and written with conviction in this no nonsense rhyme, 'The poetry course.' Great!
It's a breath of fresh air!

[Muse]

I think trying to define poetry is like trying to define song and art. What is just noise to one person..can also be inspiring music to another. What looks like a mess on paper...is beautiful abstract art in a museum.

[Manpreet]

I feel Poetry is a synonym of life itself and it has all in it .... you name it it has....physics, chemistry, biology, philosophy,geography and even engineering in it... well I got a new idea to work on my next poem... Thanks Tate again you surely keep me going by sharing these wonderful works!!!

[Abdul Aziz]

Thank you for putting my thoughts into words! I can never understand why rhyme is so looked down upon. Rhyme and rhythm provide such elegance and novelty to a poem, that I find it quite difficult to extoll any poem that does away with such things. Nevertheless, I understand that poetry cannot be confined to any one form, or for that matter, to the lack of form. Rhyme shall continue to delight and enthrall readers for as long as poetry exists.