Celestial Nighthawk

By -

Hey world!

Recently I was closing my curtains quite late and I glimpsed a particularly bright constellation, the only constellation that I really know and recognise in the night sky: Orion.

Ever since I was little I have always looked for him on a starry night. No matter where I have been, I always find his belt which is easy enough because they are three in a row. I find it comforting when I can look up and see him anywhere in the world, he is like my celestial guardian.

There are several different stories of Orion the hunter. My favourite one is perhaps the most sanitised version as there are several myths about Orion being a rapist. However,  I am willing to overlook this for the purposes of poetry. There is, after all, not just one story. It is open to interpretation.
 Artemis, the goddess of hunting, fell in love with the hunter and, to stop her from giving up her vows of chastity, her brother Apollo dared her to hit a small target in the distance with her bow and arrow. Not knowing that the target was Orion, who was enjoying a swim, she hit it in a single shot, killing her would-be lover. Devastated by his death, she placed Orion among the stars. It seems that the Greek and Roman Gods were very fond of placing people and animals in the sky as a form of eternal preservation. I think that is a beautiful concept. 

It was such a crisp and stunning clear winter night, I was immediately inspired, so, as is my habit, I wrote a poem. It is called Celestial Nighthawk:





Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Negative Capability (2) Ode To A Grecian Urn Analysis

By -
Image
Hey world, Following on from the previous post where I discussed Keats's theory of Negative Capability and what exactly it meant, I am now going to look at and analyse seemingly the only poem of his where critics agree that we can observe the application of his theory. Critics suggest that his 'Ode to a Grecian Urn' is the best available example of the poet actually exercising the elusive 'negative capability' of which he wrote. The reader can see this in the way he poses questions to the 'silent form', interrogating whatever meaning it might convey rather than communicating his knowledge of the subject. Knowledge is just the notion that Keats urges us to forget about when considering the concept of negative Capability. Remeber- '... a life of sensation rather than thought.' Thou still unravish'd bride of quietness, Thou foster-child of silence and slow time, Sylvan historian, who canst thus express A flowery tale more sweetly than...
Read more

The Old Fools-Phillip Larkin

By -
Image
January 13th, 2019 Hey world, Happy New Year! To celebrate the opening of the new year and all the hopes and aspirations that accompany it, I thought I would pick a nice cheerful poem about senile old people who are, for lack of a better phrase, slowly losing their marbles: ‘The Old Fools’ by Philip Larkin. Philip Larkin is renowned for his honest, intimate, lyrical and often foul-mouthed verse, the latter description bringing his famous poem ‘ This Be The Verse ’ to mind. He is also renowned for being a bit of a pessimist. Using his own poetic technique he conveys his own discontent with his existence, but he does so with elements of humour and profanity. I have blogged about Larkin before on his poem ‘The Trees’ which is one of my favorites, so if you haven’t seen that post make sure to check it out before continuing. Before Christmas someone gave me a collection of poetry which included Philip Larkin’s collection of poetry High Windows, which was the fourth volume...
Read more

Robert Frost- Nothing Gold can stay: A reflection

By -
Image
Hey world, So. It's September, Autumn has come at last, (my favourite season), and it's time for the trees to be set alight by the dying sun...and an appropriate reflection. 🍂 In honour of this crisp season, I have decided to blog on Robert Frosts 'Nothing Gold Can Stay.' Nature's first green is gold, Her hardest hue to hold. Her early leaf's a flower; But only so an hour. Then leaf subsides to leaf, So Eden sank to grief, So dawn goes down to day, Nothing gold can stay. When I first read this I was slightly confused. This poem is deeper than I thought. You have to dig it up. Get your hands into it, get it under your nails. Eventually after crunching over it in my mind I decided it was saying that nothing lasts forever. But again I questioned this. See, I like to think that some things do last forever, things like love, kindness, and hope. I like to think that love lives on even after death or separation, echoing through time forever. But I know, that in realit...
Read more