This week's question is:
What is your favorite poem and why?
My favorite poem is Eldorado by Edgar Allan Poe. Well, maybe it's going too far to say it's my favorite, because it's hard to have a single favorite poem that would always be at the top of my list no matter my mood. But Eldorado often comes to mind when I think of poems that I love.
Why this one? I love Poe, for one thing. But it's also one of the first poems I remember memorizing on purpose on my own. And it's one of the first poems I remember puzzling over. What does it mean? I distinctly remember asking my father what Eldorado was. And he said it was a city of gold, a rumored city of gold that didn't really exist. I was pretty young at the time, although I can't remember exactly how young. Certainly preteen. That much info was a lot to chew on. And it still is. I used to think it was a sad poem. This knight wasted his whole life. That's where greed for gold will get you. And he'll just go on searching forever and never find it. But then I began to realize...he spent his life singing a song and seeking. And the shade tells him to go boldly on. Isn't that what we should all do? Seek our own Eldorado? It's become so trite to say that the joy is the journey, not the destination. But riding boldly on, singing the song, is Eldorado.
Great poem by a great poet. I had forgotten about this one, but I do remember reading it back in my younger days and, like you, thinking it almost tragic.
ReplyDeleteGreat choice & a great reason why, Poe is figuring a lot in this Hop, but with The Raven, so it's nice to see another example why he's a great writer.
ReplyDeleteDelayed Action
Korf invents some jokes of a new sort
That only many hours later work
Everybody listens to them, bored
Yet, like some still fuse glowing in the dark
You wake up suddenly that night in bed
Beaming like a baby newly fed .
Christian Morgenstern
Great answer Susan. I'm not all that interested in poetry, and it's never really been something that I seek out-I guess because I don't understand it. But I am enjoying many of the poems that people are selecting for the blog hop, including yours. I've never read any Poe, thanks for getting me to start.
ReplyDeleteI was fascinated with El Dorado when I young as well. Even still, thinking about it can set me into daydreams. :)
ReplyDeleteI love poetry. It has me under its spell.
ReplyDeleteHere's my post: http://readerbuzz.blogspot.com/2010/12/literary-blog-hop-favorite-poem.html