tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4445844569294316288.post5161645666771383594..comments2024-01-28T03:56:39.351-08:00Comments on TOM CLARK: Emily Jane Brontë: "The night is darkening round me"Unknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger9125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4445844569294316288.post-46575392944372710842011-01-05T22:33:07.059-08:002011-01-05T22:33:07.059-08:00Thanks very much Don, my friends are teaching me a...Thanks very much Don, my friends are teaching me about this one as we go.<br /><br />Yes, that repetition, the intensity of the iterative expression, must lie at the heart of things here.<br /><br />This poem has appeared in a few anthologies over the years, with that "conventionalized" punctuation which reduces all poetry to the one-shape-suits-all level of a copy-editor's style manual.<br /><br />I found that the wild urgency -- that iterative heartbeat of the "cannot"/ "will not" -- comes to the fore much better in the original draft version, which I've reproduced here.<br /><br />(I've always found the habit of "modernizing" punctuation to be implicitly patronizing, an unconscious admission on the part of the present that it assumes its narrow little way is the only way, and that the past is/was somehow benighted... whereas in truth, it's just as likely to be tother way round.)TChttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05915822857461178942noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4445844569294316288.post-31488388924862191982011-01-05T12:38:47.468-08:002011-01-05T12:38:47.468-08:00The meter of this poem is so powerful ... the repe...The meter of this poem is so powerful ... the repetition of <br /><br />"And I cannot cannot go" <br /><br />so gripping in so few words. Again the repetition of the last line, with the variance of will<br /><br />"I will not cannot go"<br /><br />Very fine.Issa's Untidy Huthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07352841590717991698noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4445844569294316288.post-59143929766193757292011-01-05T08:28:53.822-08:002011-01-05T08:28:53.822-08:00Thank you very much, Scarlotta, you've put thi...Thank you very much, Scarlotta, you've put this much better than I could have.<br /><br />Some of that wildness must have been a native strain in Emily's spirit, as well.TChttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05915822857461178942noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4445844569294316288.post-906332571603159202011-01-05T07:28:35.048-08:002011-01-05T07:28:35.048-08:00But - speaking as one familiar with these moors, H...But - speaking as one familiar with these moors, Haworth and indeed, the Brontes, from early childhood, I truly feel that Emily is not depressed but is speaking passionately.<br /><br />Although the night is darkening around her and the wild winds blow, she is possessed - as always - by the 'magic' of the moors. It grips her spirit, and though she will be in some discomfort should she remain out there, she cannot - will not - leave.<br /><br />Something I wholly empathise with. The wild beauty of some of the Northern (and Irish) landscape often moves me thus.<br /><br />I've just discovered your blog and am quite delighted at what I find - thank you - I will enjoy reading through!Scarlottahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05218998176755281350noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4445844569294316288.post-50538447550527935192011-01-05T00:50:44.460-08:002011-01-05T00:50:44.460-08:00Curtis, I was struck by the fact Friedrich's p...Curtis, I was struck by the fact Friedrich's painting was produced only a bit more than a year after Brontë's poem.<br /><br />Of course CDF's Giant Mountains are a few miles (and a few dimensions) away from the West Riding of Yorkshire.<br /><br />But when you throw in the bleak living conditions in the Brontë household, so conducive to pulmonary and other troubles, and the seasonal affective disorder factor, West Midlands, wind blowing, snow already falling, another hard winter coming on... <br /><br />Who can blame the poor girl, for feeling a bit low.<br /><br />(Sometimes one simply cannot go.)TChttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05915822857461178942noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4445844569294316288.post-46964872580013051222011-01-04T08:42:06.703-08:002011-01-04T08:42:06.703-08:00Your pairing and presentation of Bronte's poe...Your pairing and presentation of Bronte's poem and the Friedrich are really exquisite. Briefly researching "the English disease" was fascinating also. Many more corridors than I would have expected.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4445844569294316288.post-16798682800708882152011-01-04T07:04:58.802-08:002011-01-04T07:04:58.802-08:00Perhaps this will help.
(The "ripple effect&...Perhaps <a href="http://tomclarkblog.blogspot.com/2011/01/bashos-frog.html" rel="nofollow">this</a> will help.<br /><br />(The "ripple effect"?)TChttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05915822857461178942noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4445844569294316288.post-60314661362216880672011-01-04T06:28:50.424-08:002011-01-04T06:28:50.424-08:00I think it's known as "the English diseas...I think it's known as <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Melencolia_I_%28Durero%29.jpg" rel="nofollow">"the English disease"</a>.TChttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05915822857461178942noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4445844569294316288.post-37362857856344204252011-01-04T06:07:05.399-08:002011-01-04T06:07:05.399-08:00This and the next poem are so touching! (and depre...This and the next poem are so touching! (and depressing in some ways)<br />I hope sunny California will be sunny again soon. Though, melancholy is always more touching and contagious than happiness, at least for me.Juliahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16419101761966668410noreply@blogger.com