I’m finding a collection of essays by Yeats (so far the only poet I’ve found that I consistently enjoy), really interesting.
I thought one day—I can remember the very day when I thought it—’ If somebody-could make a style which would not be an English style and yet would be musical and full of colour, many others would catch fire from him, and we would have a really great school of ballad poetry in Ireland. If these poets, who have never ceased to fill the newspapers and the ballad-books with their verses, had a good tradition they would write beautifully and move everybody as they move me.’
Then a little later on I thought, ‘ If they had something else to write about besides political opinions, if more of them would write about the beliefs…, or about old legends…, they would find it easier to get a style.’
Then, with a deliberateness that still surprises me, for in my heart of hearts I have never been quite certain that one should be more than an artist, that even patriotism is more than an impure desire in an artist, I set to work to find a style and things to write about that the ballad writers might be the better.
-W.B. Yeats, What is ‘Popular Poetry’?
This sounds remarkably similar to Tolkien writing his Middle Earth history so as to provide England with the ancient mythology it was sorely missing.
Aaron Copeland tried to write distinctly ‘American’ music to escape the gravitation pull of Europe.
I think we all long to make our mark on history and be somewhat distinct on this earth. This desire can extend beyond ourselves to our friends, community, and even nation (patriotism). Sci-fi explores this as the race of man making it’s mark on the universe. I think This has more religious implications than at first glance.
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November 16th, 2009 at 4:10 AM
Are you following that BHT discussion on novels? Pastors should read fiction, etc. Eugene Peterson would have the first two years of seminary be literature.
I’d push it further: pastors should be required to read poetry, but not the “Casey At The Bat” kind. We’d get fewer meandering introductions, fewer 5 minutes of content crammed into 45 minutes on the clock.
I love Yeats. He loves the line. His ear is shaped like a lyric.
November 16th, 2009 at 12:37 PM
Yes on the BHT discussion.
I get spoiled living in Moscow, home of Leithart and the Wilson’s folks. They are all huge on classic lit here.
Just about any discussion includes some reference to Chesterton, The Brother’s Karamazov, Jane Austen, or Flannery O’Connor, or possibly all of the above.
I feel like I was robbed by my education. I am only now in the past few years beginning to work through some of the classics or learn any poetry at all. The baptist tradition I grew up in certainly didn’t encourage reading anything except James Dobson approved schlock. Fortunately, CSL and Tolkien were around the house. Later, the pentacostal tradition I was in encouraged all your reading to be the Bible with Strong’s Concordance as the only other necessary tome. I tell, ya, when you’re in the vacuum of Bible + Concordance with no church history, no world history, no context of classic literature, people come up with some pretty weird bible studies.
As for pastor’s cramming 5 minutes of material into 45: too right. Blows your mind.
I have to stay I was introduced to Yeats via Loreena McKinnet’s settings of “The Two Trees” and “Stolen Child”. But unlike Tennyson, whom she also set to song, Yeat’s other stuff turned out to actually be really beautiful much of the time.
November 18th, 2009 at 7:32 PM
I had no idea you were in Moscow, Idaho. Duh. Suppose the domain name should have been a clue. Just this evening watched the video of DW’s sermon he posted on Mablog.
I grew up SBC. We not only had no literature, we had no CSL or Tolkein. There, I out-ghettoed you.
Speaking of ghetto: I’m not familiar with Ms. McKinnet.
November 18th, 2009 at 9:30 PM
Ha ha! Out-ghetto me you have.
As for Ms. LMK…
Ignore the slideshow and poor quality:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qsYINRjr9dw