~ POETRY ALERT ~ POETRY ALERT ~ POETRY ALERT ~ POETRY ALERT ~

NEW POETRY ALERT ADDED ON AUGUST 29, 2020

When we spot poetry in a movie, book, podcast and/or any other type of published work, we will let you know!

October 26, 2020

I'll admit, we didn't watch "The Sopranos" when it originally aired.  Years later, we thought we'd try it -- and  it turns out we accidentally streamed Season 3, Episode 1 thinking it was the first episode, and it just didn't do anything for us. So we didn't watch anymore. 

Now this year -- since we've been at home more thanks to the Trump Virus -- we thought we'd give the series another chance.  This time around, Season 3, Episode 1 made sense to us since we did, in fact, watch all of Seasons 1 and 2.

Tonight, we finished Season 3, Episode 2, and at one point, Anthony Soprano Jr. is in his bedroom doing homework, and he has to analyze Robert Frost's poem "Stopping By Woods On A Snowy Evening."  The young Mr. Soprano struggles with the poem, and his sister comes into his room and offers some help.   

By Robert Frost:

Whose woods these are I think I know.   
His house is in the village though;   
He will not see me stopping here   
To watch his woods fill up with snow.   

My little horse must think it queer   
To stop without a farmhouse near   
Between the woods and frozen lake   
The darkest evening of the year.   

He gives his harness bells a shake   
To ask if there is some mistake.   
The only other sound’s the sweep   
Of easy wind and downy flake.   

The woods are lovely, dark and deep,   
But I have promises to keep,   
And miles to go before I sleep,   
And miles to go before I sleep.

October 1, 2020

Episode 2 of Season 11 of the Simpsons has a reference to "I Wandered Lonely As A Cloud," by William Wordworth.

In the episode titled "Brother's Little Helper," Bart is diagnosed with ADHD, so his parents try the drug "Focusyn" to help him gain focus in school -- and the drug helps -- at first. 

In a scene in Ms. Krabappel's classroom when she is about to start a lesson on poetry, all of the children except Bart rush to the windows to see two "naughty dogs" in the schoolyard (no -- it's not what you think).  Ms. Krabappel is stunned to see Bart still in his seat.

Bart yells to his classmates, ‘C’mon people, this poetry isn’t going to appreciate itself!’ 

The scene is short, and only a couple of lines of Wordsworth's poem are read, but hey -- it's poetry.

Any by the way, below is "I Wandered Lonely As A Cloud  ~ AND ~ two other of my favorite poems about daffodils.
​

By William Wordsworth:

I wandered lonely as a cloud
That floats on high o'er vales and hills,
When all at once I saw a crowd,
A host, of golden daffodils;
Beside the lake, beneath the trees,
Fluttering and dancing in the breeze.

Continuous as the stars that shine
And twinkle on the milky way,
They stretched in never-ending line
Along the margin of a bay:
Ten thousand saw I at a glance,
Tossing their heads in sprightly dance.

The waves beside them danced; but they
Out-did the sparkling waves in glee:
A poet could not but be gay,
In such a jocund company:
I gazed—and gazed—but little thought
What wealth the show to me had brought:

For oft, when on my couch I lie
In vacant or in pensive mood,
They flash upon that inward eye
Which is the bliss of solitude;
And then my heart with pleasure fills,
And dances with the daffodils.
​

By Emily Dickinson

The Skies can't keep their secret!
They tell it to the Hills –
The Hills just tell the Orchards –
And they – the Daffodils!

A Bird – by chance – that goes that way –
Soft overhears the whole –
If I should bribe the little Bird –
Who knows but she would tell?

I think I won't – however –
It's finer – not to know –
If Summer were an Axiom--
What sorcery had Snow?

So keep your secret – Father!
I would not – if I could,
Know what the Sapphire Fellows, do,
In your new-fashioned world!

By E. E. Cummings:

in time of daffodils(who know
the goal of living is to grow)
forgetting why,remember how
in time of lilacs who proclaim
the aim of waking is to dream,
remember so(forgetting seem)
in time of roses(who amaze
our now and here with paradise)
forgetting if,remember yes
in time of all sweet things beyond
whatever mind may comprehend,
remember seek(forgetting find)
and in a mystery to be
(when time from time shall set us free)
forgetting me,remember me

August 29, 2020

I'm currently reading Ibram X. Kendi's Stamped from the Beginning, The Definitive History of Racist Ideas in America.  Kendi described the format of the book in his prologue as follows:

"Stamped from the Beginning narrates the entire history of racist ideas, from their origins in fifteenth-century Europe, through colonial times when the early British settlers carried racist ideas to America, all the way to the twenty-first century and current debates about the events taking place on our streets.  Five main characters, in particular will serve as our tour guides as we explore the landscape of racial ideas through five periods in American history."

The five "tour guides" are Cotton Mather, Thomas Jefferson, William Lloyd Garrison, W. E. B. DuBois and Angela Davis.

In Chapter 8, the second chapter of Part II of the book (focused on the life and times of Thomas Jefferson), Kendi includes a brief history of poet Phillis Wheatley.  Wheatley's Poems on Various Subjects was "the first ever (published)  by an African American woman and the second by an American woman."

Way back when, when I was in college, I read a few selections by Wheatley in a class on American poetry, but we did not really delve into her history. 

For example, I had no idea that in 1772 a jury of "the most respectable characters in Boston" -- all white men of course -- had been assembled to judge whether Phillis Wheatley had actually written her poetry.

SPOILER ALERT:  The reputable Bostonians concluded, "We whose Names are under-written do assure the World, that the Poems specified in the following Page, were (as we verily believe) written by Phillis, a young Negro Girl...."

If you know little to nothing of Phillis Wheatley, definitely take a look at Stamped from the Beginning and/or do some quick searches into her life and work.

August 14, 2020

Before I get to the poetry alert (over there on the right), please take, take the quiz below -- and be honest.

1. When did you first learn about the Green Book?

a. Huh? What's the Green Book?
b. When the movie "Green Book" was released.
c. Long before the movie was released.

2. When did you first learn about the Black National Anthem?

a. There's a Black National Anthem?
b. In July when Twitter was all a-flutter because the NFL announced plans to play Lift Ev’ry Voice & Sing before every game during the first week of its season.
c. Long before the NFL/Twitter controversy.

3. When did you first learn about Juneteenth?

a. June the what?
b. Back in June when Trump announced plans for one of his Klan rallies in Tulsa on Juneteenth.
c. Long before Trump's announced Klan rally.

4. When did you first learn about the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre?

a. The Tulsa Race what?
b. This past year when I watched Episode 1 of HBO's "Watchmen."
c. Long before HBO's "Watchmen" premiered.

5. When did you first learn about Emmett Till?

a. Who is Emmett Till?
b. When I read John Lewis' final essay, "Together, You Can Redeem the Soul of Our Nation," published shortly after his death in July 2020.
c. Long before the New York Times published John Lewis' essay.

6. When did you first learn about the Red Summer?

a. The Red What?
b. Seriously. The Red What?
c. I know of the Red Summer of 1919

I just finished Cameron McWhirter's Red Summer:  The Summer of 1919 and the Awakening of Black America."

Red Summer is truly an incredible and powerful book about a shameful and dark period in our history, parallel in many ways to our current disgraceful  times since a racist in the White House helped to define both time periods, Woodrow Wilson in 1919 and Klansman Donald Trump in 2020,  "Yet," as McWhirter points out, "despite the Red Summer's importance, most Americans have no idea of the crucible of 1919, despite its importance in shaping modern race relations." 

If I have time soon, I'll write more about Red Summer in my plog (poetry blog).  For now, I just wanted to include a "poetry alert" about page 262, when McWhirter noted the following:

"The Red Summer also launched an infectious artistic energy among younger Black Americans.  Teenager Langston Hughes kept a notebook in 1919 to sketch or write down his musings, including these undated lines:

If you strike a thorn or rose,
          Keep a-goin’!
If it hails, or ef it snows,
          Keep a-goin’!
’Taint no use to sit an’ whine,
When the fish ain’t on yer line;
Bait yer hook an’ keep
          On tryin--
Keep a-goin’!"

McWhirter's book implies that Langston Hughes wrote the poem, and his section of notes includes this about "Keep a-Goin":  "Langston Hughes notebook, 1919, JWJY (James Weldon Johnson & Grace Nail Johnson Papers. New Haven: Yale Collection of American Literature, Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library), Box 511, Folder 12685."  However,  the poem "Keep a-Goin" was written in 1900 by Frank Lebby Stanton, HERE (interestingly, Stanton used the word "Ef" instead of "If" in the first and third lines).  

This poem caught my eye, though, because I knew it as the song "Keep a-Goin" sung by the character Haven Hamilton, portrayed by Henry Gibson, in Robert Altman's film "Nashville," one of my favorite movies.  I seemed to think that Gibson took credit for writing the lines, but maybe I'm wrong?  I found this on Wikipedia, "During the 1960s, Gibson had appeared on The Dick Van Dyke Show reading the poem "Keep a-Goin'", which he later turned into a song in the Robert Altman movie Nashville (1975). Notably, he was nominated for a Golden Globe Award for his portrayal of Haven Hamilton in the film and won the National Society of Film Critics award for the role."  I also found this at AllPoetry.com:  "Henry Gibson took 'credit' for writing the lyrics to this song "Keep a Goin'" in the Robert Altman film NASHVILLE. However there is sufficient evidence that this poem was written by Stanton and published before the making of the film."

June 24, 2020

As the title of the podcast “The History of Literature” foretells, host Jacke Wilson “journeys through the history of literature, from ancient epics to contemporary classics” with each new installment. 
 
Episode 1 (from October 2015) tackled the Epic of Gilgamesh, and recent episodes have focused on Henry David Thoreau (“On Civil Disobedience,” of course), works by Alice Munro, and William Faulkner’s short story “A Rose for Emily.”  Sprinkled throughout the series are special episodes centering on topics such as “Great First Chapters,” “Great Literary Endings,” “The Top 10 Books You Don’t Need to Read,” and other fun looks at books such as “The Greatest Books with Numbers in the Title.”
 
Poetry Alert:  Episode 120 from November 2017 is entitled “The Astonishing Emily Dickinson," click HERE.

Many of the series’ special episodes also feature the president of the “Literature Supporters Club” whose online persona is known as “Mike Palindrome.” In the most recent offering, the episode released on Monday, June 22, President Palindrome joined host Jacke Wilson for the “Literary Battle Royal 2:  The Cold War (US vs. USSR)”  (and just FYI:  their first “Literary Battle Royale,” from May 11, 2017, pitted England vs. France – and let’s just say that clash ended in a literal, er, literate blood bath). 
 
In the Cold War edition of their “Battle Royale,” President Palindrome appointed literary “generals” for the USSR, and Wilson selected “generals” for the USA. The episode, HERE, begins with some general banter (pun intended?) and a few responses to listeners’ emails.  The actual “battle” begins at 20:37 into the show, and General Emily Dickinson reports for duty shortly after 45:45.  “Dickinson is a secret weapon," said Wilson.  Wow -- just wait until he finds out about Emmett Lee Dickinson!

My Wars are laid away in Books –
I have one Battle more –
A Foe whom I have never seen
But oft has scanned me o'er –

               ~ General Emily Dickinson, US Army, 1st Infantry Division, "the Fighting Poets"

May 12, 2020

POETRY ALERT:  I was listening to Episode 3, "George's Gift," of the podcast "Root of Evil," the companion podcast to TNT's limited series "I Am the Night."  The series was inspired by the true story of the Hodel family, and the possible involvement of Dr. George Hodel in the brutal murder of Elizabeth Short, also known as the Black Dahlia, More than 70 years later, the Black Dahlia case remains America’s most infamous unsolved murder. 

At the end of the third installment of the podcast, sisters Rasha Pecoraro and Yvette Gentile, the great grand daughters of George Hodel, talk about poet Robinson Jeffers and some of his works that have an interesting connection to the story.  To avoid any spoilers, I will not mention the names of Jeffers' poems discussed or even link to them. If you listen to the podcast, you'll understand why.  ; )

Below far left: Poet Robinson Jeffers.  Below left:  The "Root of Evil" podcast logo.  Below right:  Elizabeth Short, known as the Black Dahlia.  Below far right:  A promotional poster for TNT's limited series "I Am the Night."

May 8, 2020
The origins of our alerts, and our first "Poetry Alert."

From Angstrom Dickinson:  I couldn't sleep last night.  Rather than toss and turn, I got up, ate a bowl of granola, and tweeted, "Does granola help cure insomnia?  I'll let you know in the morning." 

Well, I can now answer that question. 

No.  Granola does not help cure insomnia. So early into the morning  I finished my bowl of granola and streamed an episode of "The Simpsons."  When the show featured a poem by Robert Frost, I had a brainstorm:  Why not add a page to our site to post "poetry alerts" when we come across TV shows or movies that feature a poem or information about a poet?

Now I'm not talking about an alert for a movie or TV show with a primary focus on a poet and/or their poems -- like "A Quiet Passion" or "Wild Nights with Emily."  Both of those movies are about Emily Dickinson, so -- obviously -- they are about the poet and her poetry. No alert is necessary.

But what about a movie like "In Her Shoes."  Have you seen it?  The movie is about the relationship between two sisters and their grandmother -- but it also features E. E. Cummings' "i carry your heart with me(i carry it in."  Therefore, it would warrant a POETRY ALERT!

POETRY ALERT:  (Continued from the very top of the page) So back to last night -- in the middle of night.

As I chowed down my granola (with hopes that it would, indeed, cure my insomnia), I streamed Episode 13 of Season 4 of "The Simpsons." The episode, "Selma's Choice," focuses on Marge Simpson's sister Selma who decides she wants to have a baby to fulfill her late aunt's wish that she not spend her life alone.

The reading of the will after Aunt Gladys' funeral features Robert Frost's "The Road Not Taken" ("Two roads diverged in a yellow wood").  Well -- sort of.  Frost's poem begins, and hilarity ensures.

Pictured at the right:  "The Simpsons" at Aunt Gladys' funeral.

IF & WHEN WE COME ACROSS POETRY FEATURED IN OTHER MOVIES OR TV SHOWS, WE'LL ISSUE A "POETRY ALERT."
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