Poetry Quotes Worth Reviving in Conversation
Every so often, some journalist declares that “Literature is dead” in an op-ed. In a rose-colored hindsight, these articles are underlined with a nostalgic yearning for bygone writers, capturing the “ineffable but all-powerful zeitgeist.”
This summer, that man was NYT columnist David Brooks. There are some valid points that Mr. Brooks makes, namely the changing media and publishing landscape, the shortening of attention spans, and a society that rewards conformity. However, I would like to propose a solution: the idiomatization of poetry into the vernacular.
Here are five proposed quotes that are incredibly applicable for our journey:
1. Robert Herrick, To the Virgins, to Make Much of Time, “Gather ye rose-buds while ye may”
Defined as a carpe diem, or “seize the day,” poem, Robert Herrick’s To the Virgins to Make Much of Time captures the spirit of the modern acronym YOLO (You Only Live Once). His original intent may have been to encourage women to enjoy their youth before being confined in marriage, but I find it to be a great all-purpose phrase to encourage haste.
Ex. There are only four weekends left in the summer! Gather ye rose-buds while ye may!
2. William Carlos Williams, The Red Wheelbarrow, “So much depends on a red wheelbarrow”
William Carlos William’s Imagist poem The Red Wheelbarrow, which describes an agricultural scene – a red wheelbarrow, some rainwater, and white chickens, celebrates the importance of everyday objects and the interconnectedness of the world. By changing the predicate nominative, the opening line is a perfect meditation of gratitude for almost any object.
Ex. Sliced bread is the greatest. So much depends on sliced bread.
3. Dylan Thomas, Do not go gentle into that good night, “Do not go gentle into that good night”
It has been suggested that Welsh poet Dylan Thomas wrote the villanelle, Do not go gentle into that good night, for his dying father. In a metaphor of life as day and death as night, Thomas calls him to “rage, rage against the dying of the light.” Besides in the rage against death, I find his words make a great vehicle for peer pressure, especially on a night out.
Ex. I think I’m going to head home. In response: The sun hasn’t even set! Do not go gentle into that good night!
4. Allen Ginsberg, Howl, “I’m with you in Rockland.”
Described by Allen Ginsberg as “a litany of affirmation of the Lamb in its glory,” the refrain of Howl, “I’m with you in Rockland,” addresses Carl Solomon who Ginsberg encountered during his stay in the New York State Psychiatric Institute. Alas, New York State Psychiatric Institute doesn’t have the same phonaesthetic appeal as Rockland and thus “I’m with you in Rockland” was coined. I like to throw this quote out there to express solidarity in a communal experience of incredulity and, in the Beatnik spirit, a bit of nonconformist resistance.
Ex. Con Edison has increased the rates for electricity in the middle of a heatwave! In response: I’m with you in Rockland.
5. Rainer Maria Rilke, Dunio Elegies, “Who, if I cried out, would hear me among the angelic orders?”
Lauded as perhaps the most lyrically intense poet of the German language, there is no better person to quote than Ranier Maria Rilke when expressing existential angst. Written over a ten-year period, during which he was conscripted into World War I, Dunio Elegies is an existentialist exploration of humanity and the divine. Rilke begins the first elegy (Stephen Mitchell translation) with a question of philosophical despair, which can be used in response to any minor inconvenience.
Ex. [Upon discovering that the McDonald’s soft serve machine is out of order] Who, if I cried out, would hear me among the angelic orders?
The gusto and appreciation for life are as present today as they were for Herrick, Williams, and Thomas, just as the feelings of despair and lamentation of Ginsberg and Rilke. Poetry represents the eternal. Thus, it is ever relevant. I believe that we must – to once and for all end the recurring Death of Literature – invoke the words of poets past tomorrow, and tomorrow, and tomorrow.*
*Quote from William Shakespeare’s Macbeth
Written by Abby Li
Abby Li is currently considering Sartre, and is thus too deep into a contemplation of life to have a concrete sense of self for a comprehensive bio. She has previously written for Sartle.
