WHEN I WAS YOUNG

WHEN I WAS YOUNG

  

When I was young

Love was everywhere.

Songs of love filled the air,

From birds singing to radios playing.

 

We danced to our favourite songs

We loved to sing along.

 

Where have all the time and years gone?

It truly was only yesterday.

 

Is it the last call for lonely hearts?

We say, not for us.

 

Our hearts are forever young,

Dancing and singing forever to love songs.

 

This poem was written by Paula Goldsmith

 

Young at heart is a phrase that describes a person as having traits associated with young people, such as hopefulness, optimism, energy, or enthusiasm.

 Being young at heart can surely be a coveted quality to some grown-ups who despite being old still feel that a lot of life still remains in them.

 Older adults who feel young at heart may not only live longer but may also have more life satisfaction, lower dementia risk, reduced depression symptoms, and better health in the future. Interestingly, how people feel about their age has been changing over time.

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VILLAGE ON THE RHONE

 

VILLAGE ON THE RHONE

Beside the placid waters of the Rhone

A classical village rises to meet the sky,

The magnificent steeple an inverted cone

Hoists a Saint Anthony’s cross to passersby.

 

The placid waters of the Rhone reflect

Tightly crowded flats along the banks

While gondola-like barges quietly bisect,

Creep behind a steamer in solemn ranks.

 

Beyond the placid waters of Rhone

Behind where the hamlet cannot expand

Where artist has never dimensionally gone

Are meadows and fertile stretches of land.

 

Above the placid waters of the Rhone

And the village so central to this scene

A cerulean sky lends a peaceful overtone

With wispy clouds, a sight not often seen.

 

 

This poem was written by L Milton Hankins

 

 A village is a small settlement usually found in a rural setting. It is generally larger than a "hamlet" but smaller than a "town." Some geographers specifically define a village as having between 500 and 2,500 inhabitants. In most parts of the world, villages are settlements of people clustered around a central point.

 Villages are mostly situated far from the hustle and bustle of urban civilization. The beauty of nature can be experienced in a village as it is surrounded by trees, flowers, mountains, streams, and farmlands. There is no pollution in the village and one can feel the freshness in the breeze.

 Villages are known for their beautiful natural surroundings. They remain unperturbed even today when there is so much of chaos and competition around. People in villages lead a simple life and are content with whatever little they have.

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UNDER THE VIOLETS

 

 UNDER THE VIOLETS

Her hands are cold; her face is white;
No more her pulses come and go;
Her eyes are shut to life and light; --
Fold the white vesture, snow on snow,
And lay her where the violets blow.

But not beneath a graven stone,
To plead for tears with alien eyes;
A slender cross of wood alone
Shall say, that here a maiden lies
In peace beneath the peaceful skies.

 

And gray old trees of hugest limb

Shall wheel their circling shadows round

To make the scorching sunlight dim

That drinks the greenness from the ground,

And drop their dead leaves on her mound.

 

When o'er their boughs the squirrels run,

And through their leaves the robins call,

And, ripening in the autumn sun,

The acorns and the chestnuts fall,

Doubt not that she will heed them all.

 

For her the morning choir shall sing

Its matins from the branches high,

And every minstrel-voice of Spring,

That trills beneath the April sky,

Shall greet her with its earliest cry.

 

When, turning round their dial-track,

Eastward the lengthening shadows pass,

Her little mourners, clad in black,

The crickets, sliding through the grass,

Shall pipe for her an evening mass.

At last the rootlets of the trees

Shall find the prison where she lies,

And bear the buried dust they seize

In leaves and blossoms to the skies.

So may the soul that warmed it rise!

 

If any, born of kindlier blood,

Should ask, What maiden lies below?

Say only this: A tender bud,

That tried to blossom in the snow,

Lies withered where the violets blow.

 

 This poem was written by Oliver Wendell Holmes

 

 "Under the Violets" is a deeply moving poem that explores a range of themes, from death and memory to friendship and the cycle of life. It's a testament to Holmes' skill as a poet that he is able to convey such complex ideas with such elegance and simplicity.  The poem "Under the Violets" remains a powerful reminder of the beauty and fragility of life.

 Written in 1868 "Under the Violets" is a beautiful and poignant elegy for the poet's friend, Caroline. The poem opens with the line, "Her hands are cold; her face is white; / No more her pulses come and go," setting the mournful tone right from the start. Throughout the poem, the speaker mourns Caroline's passing, eventually concluding that she now lies "under the violets."

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TWO ORDINARY PEOPLE

     

TWO ORDINARY PEOPLE

You were no Cinderella at the ball,

But, then, I was no prince charming, I recall

Just two ordinary people

Who fate and chance had brought together,

But by the time the dance was through,

We’d found romance, and we both knew

That for two ordinary people

It was like a fairy tale was coming true.

 

Ensuing years have proved that life is not a dream.

And all that glitters is not gold as it once seemed.

But when two ordinary people

Vow to join their lives together,

Then all the ordeals they’ll withstand

If they face them hand in hand

That’s how two ordinary people

Make the magic work without a magic wand.

I’m not a prince and you are not my princess bride

And I couldn’t  slay a dragon if I tried

We’re just two ordinary people

Who kept a vow and stayed together,

But when it’s blessed by true love’s kiss

Ordinary can be bliss,

And when I think of me and you

I know some fairy tales come true

And even ordinary people

Can have a happily ever after ending, too.

 

This poem was written by Jim Slaughter

 

 

Happily ever after - a situation in which someone is happy and satisfied for the rest of their life, especially in a romantic relationship.  This means maybe you are destined to settle down in your comfortable nest, happy ever after.

 

Spend the rest of one's life in happiness, as in romantic novels, the hero and heroine end up marrying and then live happily ever after. This hyperbolic phrase ends many fairy tales.

 

Happily Ever After  - This cliché ending line to countless fairy tales originated with The Decameron, penned by Italian writer Giovanni Boccaccio in the fourteenth century. A translation of the work from the 1700s gave us the line, “so they lived very lovingly, and happily, ever after” in regard to marriage.

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SHE WALKS IN SILENCE

   

SHE WALKS IN SILENCE

 

She walks in silence, like a lapping wave

Drowned in chastity and flooded with rave

Holding dear and tight her very beauties

Denying all her gems and rubies

Her powers disabled under the spell

The flame in wouldn’t break out of its shell.

 

Tempted to trace a humming call of fate

Allured but reluctant to take the bait

The strings of her heart lost their pitch and tone

The clutches of mind hurting to the bone

Untraceable are the paths to no end

Unable to soul unself and ascend

 

She walks in silence, like a gliding breeze

Fervent rising prayers brought her to her knees

Seeking the blessings of grace, peace and love

If only her pain she could rise above

Nameless beauty would dissolve in her womb

Her wounds.. sins she would carry to her tomb.

 

Inspired by “She Walks in Beauty” Lord  Byron (George Gordon)

 

This was written by Besma Riabi Dziri

 

 

 "She Walks in Beauty" is a short lyrical poem in iambic tetrameter written in 1814 by Lord Byron, and is one of his most famous works.

 

'She Walks in Beauty' describes a speaker's feelings of infatuation, and love-struck awe at the powerful beauty of a woman. The poem does not depict a romantic relationship, or a relationship at all, but rather comprises an illustrious display of obsessive love, and wonder.

 

While “She Walks in Beauty” primarily focuses on physical beauty, it also explores the relationship between inner beauty and outer beauty. It portrays these concepts as closely interconnected. Indeed, the woman's outer appearance is read as a sign of her inner serenity, peacefulness, and innocence.

 

Essentially, the speaker is describing how the beauty of the place where the woman expresses her thoughts (i.e., her face) indicates the purity of the place where the thoughts themselves dwell (i.e., her mind). In this regard, the woman's face symbolizes a relationship between beauty (exterior) and virtue (interior).

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HOW I GOT TO READ A SHORT NOVELLA AND FALL IN LOVE WITH IT

   

  

 

One fine day my uncle was clearing his old wooden boxes in which he had many of his books. From it, he took out a book and gave it to me. It was an old book and a bit torn in the corners. Even the papers became dull and some stains were also there. I didn’t like the book with its appearance and was sad that he gave me such an old, toned book to read. “Can’t he buy me a new book?”  I thought and kept it aside not to touch.

The book lay separately from my small collection of books which I had in those days. After many months when my uncle’s friends visited our house, in between their talks I happened to overhear the discussion about the book FAREWELL MY FRIEND AND THE GARDEN by Rabindranath Tagore.

One of his friends recited :

“Blow gently over my garden

Wind of the southern sea

In the hour my love cometh

And calleth me.

And they had a fun time till they finally dispersed.

The next day when I opened my book shelf to take out some stationery, This book caught my eye. Its outer appearance disturbed me a lot. But I finally thought to just check out its pages and wanted to know what it was all about.

At that time I only  know that Rabindranath Tagore was a Nobel Laureate who wrote GItanjali and little more was known about KABULIWALLA as it was part of our studies. Nothing more about his other works, writing styles, greatness, or his contribution to English Literature.

The book contained two novellas = one was FAREWELL MY FRIEND with 106 pages, and the other was MALANCHA OR THE GARDEN  with 50 pages along with the Translator’s note in 2 pages. The book was translated from the Bengali by Krishna  Kriplani and published by Jaico Publishing House, Bombay

For this also I was disappointed that why two novels were combined into a single book.  With many issues with the book, I started reading it slowly and went with it in a smooth flow.

 The main character in Farewell my Friend is Amit Rai. He was a barrister, he doesn't practice much law, or any other profession -- though he does dabble in poetry.

He has two sisters. When everyone leaves the city in the summer he does too -- but he heads to Shillong instead of Darjeeling. But it is here he encounters a young, well-educated, and well-read woman working as a private tutor, Labanyalata, and falls in love with her.

Farewell My Friend is a distinctly -- and amusingly -- literary novel. Tagore's playful use of his own poetry and self is charming and adds a nice twist. And it is a very amusing read.

Finally an affecting love story -- and ultimately a lost love story.

  In this book, Translator Kripalani admits to the difficulty of capturing and rendering "the artistry of the author's style" in English in a Translator's Note.

I enjoyed reading the book and immediately I decided to put a cover to the book with an advertisement sheet from the newspaper which was available next to me. and stick the torn pages. I quietly thanked my uncle and his friends for introducing me to such a nice book.

Then I made up my mind not to focus on the outer appearance of the book and reminded myself of the metaphorical phrase – DON’T JUDGE A BOOK BY ITS COVER.

 Till to date, this book is with me along with my collection and I’m proudly using it for TBR blog post today.  Farewell my friend is an enjoyable and touching short read.

 

 

(This blogpost is part of BLOGCHATTER’S #TBR challenge prompt for the month of APRIL :  A NOVELLA YOU LOVE)