2 hrs ago·edited 2 hrs agoLiked by The Druid Stares Back
Does Orpheus himself count? Maybe he could make like he does in *Hadestown* and put the world back into tune and all. I also wrote somewhere that his superpower (according to some accounts, at least) would be the best one to have: sing a song that makes the bestial and predatory energies go to sleep. Don't hurt the people who are thusly possessed—just make them go to sleep.
I don't know Aeschylus' poems, but I remember reading a quote attributed to him many years ago that went:
"Even at night, in our sleep, the pain that cannot forget falls drop by drop upon the heart until, against our will, comes Wisdom, through the awful grace of God."
That quote speaks to us as much as it did to those alive when it was written. He still remains a strong candidate for the poet we need, in my opinion.
'The problem is that nobody reads poetry in these desolate times.' You are right. State schools don't teach poetry (I write from the UK) and students don't read because they are on their smart phones all the time. We live in an age of general illiteracy.
And yet my late father in law, born in 1913, a poor man who left school aged 14 to go to work, could still quote Masefield and Kipling from his schooldays when in his 80s.
I would introduce students to Kipling: brilliant rhymes, vigorous ballads, a wide range of voices. Make them learn 'If' by heart!
Does Orpheus himself count? Maybe he could make like he does in *Hadestown* and put the world back into tune and all. I also wrote somewhere that his superpower (according to some accounts, at least) would be the best one to have: sing a song that makes the bestial and predatory energies go to sleep. Don't hurt the people who are thusly possessed—just make them go to sleep.
it's worth a shot
I don't know Aeschylus' poems, but I remember reading a quote attributed to him many years ago that went:
"Even at night, in our sleep, the pain that cannot forget falls drop by drop upon the heart until, against our will, comes Wisdom, through the awful grace of God."
That quote speaks to us as much as it did to those alive when it was written. He still remains a strong candidate for the poet we need, in my opinion.
I love the which poet to do we need question!
IF the polis can be saved, maybe Sophocles- Antigone seems to resonate with our situation.
If the polis can't be saved, we need to try to save our mead-hall and kill Grendel's mother anyway, so the Beowulf poet.
'The problem is that nobody reads poetry in these desolate times.' You are right. State schools don't teach poetry (I write from the UK) and students don't read because they are on their smart phones all the time. We live in an age of general illiteracy.
And yet my late father in law, born in 1913, a poor man who left school aged 14 to go to work, could still quote Masefield and Kipling from his schooldays when in his 80s.
I would introduce students to Kipling: brilliant rhymes, vigorous ballads, a wide range of voices. Make them learn 'If' by heart!