problem with a poetry

[claude]

hi,buddies, i'v happened to read below article in an english learning forum,i can not catch its exactly meaning, actually, i wonder whether it is native english. so i relay it here to consult you guys for help,can you explain the exact meaning for me? any help will be appreciated.

"From no creature,like children trembling in the dark, we sit and all are afraid. And all our fears are empty like things children imagine in the dark.

"From Harries, the ice melts. And spring comes followed by summer soon to die. For after her comes autumn and then back to winter when nothing moves.

"From specters,if a wish for thing and a thing passed hoping for should come to a man. Will he not welcome it the more. Therefore it is more welcomed to meat and gold. At less beer brings back my desire of old."

"All of these means that we like the insects must die. Death must come to all living creatures. If they were conferred anywhere, it is in the truth, ending the act of these words."

 

[RonBee]

Re:

• From no creature,like children trembling in the dark, we sit and all are afraid. And all our fears are empty like things children imagine in the dark.

I don't understand the "From no creature" part, but I think the rest of it means that "we" are afraid of things that are nameless and formless and imaginary.

Re:

• From Harries, the ice melts. And spring comes followed by summer soon to die. For after her comes autumn and then back to winter when nothing moves.

Every season lives and then dies, followed by the next season, and it continues that way in a never-ending cycle.

Re:

• From specters,if a wish for thing and a thing passed hoping for should come to a man. Will he not welcome it the more. Therefore it is more welcomed to meat and gold. At less beer brings back my desire of old."

I can't make much sense out of that. I think the last sentence is supposed to be At least beer brings back my desire of old. I think that has something to do with sexual desire. Mostly, it is hard to tell what that person is trying to say.

Re:

• All of these means that we like the insects must die. Death must come to all living creatures. If they were conferred anywhere, it is in the truth, ending the act of these words."

The first part is self-explanatory: death must come to all living creatures. The rest is a mystery to me.

 

[claude]

Thanks. I know what this poetry says from your illustration, Thank you.

 

[Casiopea]

"From no creature,like children trembling in the dark, we sit and all are afraid. And all our fears are empty like things children imagine in the dark.

We are afraid of 'creatures' because they hunt us for food. We know of them; death, however, we know not, and yet it, too, scares us. Why?

"From Harries, the ice melts. And spring comes followed by summer soon to die. For after her comes autumn and then back to winter when nothing moves.

Spring is birth; summer is youth; autumn is middle-age, and winter is old age and death. Life is a cycle. Death is a natural part of life. Don't fear it.

"From specters, if a wish for things and a thing passed hoping for should come to a man. Will he not welcome it the more. Therefore it is more welcomed to meat and gold. At less beer brings back my desire of old."

'specters' are ghostly figures; If we knew what death was like, we wouldn't be afraid of it; we'd welcome it. Death is the soul's salvation, which is more welcome to the soul than is the body's salvation: meat and gold; when drunk, I have no fears. When sober, I fear death.

"All of these mean that we like the insects must die. Death must come to all living creatures. If they were conferred anywhere, it is in the truth, ending the act of these words."

Everything decays (one of the laws of thermodynamics). One exception to that law is literature, poetry, words. These live long after one has died. Shakespeare is proof of that!

 

[RonBee]

"From no creature,like children trembling in the dark, we sit and all are afraid. And all our fears are empty like things children imagine in the dark.

We are afraid of 'creatures' because they hunt us for food. We know of them; death, however, we know not, and yet it, too, scares us. Why?

Please tell me what "From no creature" means there.

"From Harries, the ice melts. And spring comes followed by summer soon to die. For after her comes autumn and then back to winter when nothing moves.

Spring is birth; summer is youth; autumn is middle-age, and winter is old age and death. Life is a cycle. Death is a natural part of life. Don't fear it.

Please tell me what "From Harries, the ice melts" means. Did your entire interpretation come from the text?

"From specters, if a wish for things and a thing passed hoping for should come to a man. Will he not welcome it the more. Therefore it is more welcomed to meat and gold. At less beer brings back my desire of old."

'specters' are ghostly figures; If we knew what death was like, we wouldn't be afraid of it; we'd welcome it. Death is the soul's salvation, which is more welcome to the soul than is the body's salvation: meat and gold; when drunk, I have no fears. When sober, I fear death.

I sitll can't make sense out of that first sentence. However, here's how I see the rest:

• Will he not welcome it the more? Therefore, it is more welcome than meat and gold. At least beer brings back my desire of old.

What do you think?

"All of these mean that we like the insects must die. Death must come to all living creatures. If they were conferred anywhere, it is in the truth, ending the act of these words."

Everything decays (one of the laws of thermodynamics). One exception to that law is literature, poetry, words. These live long after one has died. Shakespeare is proof of that!

My interpretation:

• All of this means that we, like the insects, must die. Death must come to all living creatures.

Despite your explanation, the last sentence remains a mystery to me.

Frankly, I don't think you got your interpretation from the text itself. I think perhaps you are familiar with the original. It is, I think, a translation, and a bad one.

:roll:

 

[Tdol]

I think Cas is filling in the gaps and bumps in a rather strained text. ;-)

 

[RonBee]

I think Cas is filling in the gaps and bumps in a rather strained text. ;-)

Yes, but she's not playing fair.

:wink:

 

[Casiopea]

From no creature,like children trembling in the dark, we sit and all are afraid. And all our fears are empty like things children imagine in the dark.

Please tell me what "From no creature" means there.

From no creature: Imagine you're lost in the woods and during the night you hear wolves, bears, and other creatures of the night howling in the darkness. You can hear them; they are hungry; You are afraid of them; they can take your life. Your fear is founded. On the other hand, death is something we cannot hear nor see, and yet we are still afraid of it. Our fear of death is not founded per se. It's is in the mind.

From Harries, the ice melts. And spring comes followed by summer soon to die. For after her comes autumn and then back to winter when nothing moves.

Please tell me what "From Harries, the ice melts" means. Did your entire interpretation come from the text?

The word "Harries" has me baffled, too. There are two possible references that I can think of at the moment: 1) in Old Bengali 'harry', plural 'harries' refers to servants of the lowest class, especially water carriers; but why it'd be capitalized, I don't know. 2) 'harries' could be a play on words meaning Harpies -evil spirits, heat (?).

I'd like to know the reference, too. :shock:

From specters, if a wish for things and a thing passed hoping for should come to a man. Will he not welcome it the more. Therefore it is more welcomed to meat and gold. At less beer brings back my desire of old.

I still can't make sense out of that first sentence. However, here's how I see the rest:

• Will he not welcome it the more? Therefore, it is more welcome than meat and gold. At least beer brings back my desire of old.

I agree, yet, it's poetry so the rules of prose aren't so important. Mind you, we could be looking at a translation of the original. Futhermore, we don't know when it was written nor do we know who wrote it; moreover, there's the question as to whether Claude typed in the exact form; that is, there could be typos. We don't know.

All of these mean that we like the insects must die. Death must come to all living creatures. If they were conferred anywhere, it is in the truth, ending the act of these words.

Everything decays (one of the laws of thermodynamics). One exception to that law is literature, poetry, words. These live long after one has died. Shakespeare is proof of that!

My interpretation:

• All of this means that we, like the insects, must die. Death must come to all living creatures.

Despite your explanation, the last sentence remains a mystery to me.

It's a running theme in poetry.

Frankly, I don't think you got your interpretation from the text itself. I think perhaps you are familiar with the original. It is, I think, a translation, and a bad one.

I spent about an hour looking for the poem on-line but came up empty handed. The interpretation is mine, and it's based solely on the text at hand.

 

[Casiopea]

I think Cas is filling in the gaps and bumps in a rather strained text. ;-)

Yes, but she's not playing fair.

:wink:

:shock:

 

[Tdol]

Who needs fair? ;-)

 

[RonBee]

From no creature,like children trembling in the dark, we sit and all are afraid. And all our fears are empty like things children imagine in the dark.

Please tell me what "From no creature" means there.

From no creature: Imagine you're lost in the woods and during the night you hear wolves, bears, and other creatures of the night howling in the darkness. You can hear them; they are hungry; You are afraid of them; they can take your life. Your fear is founded. On the other hand, death is something we cannot hear nor see, and yet we are still afraid of it. Our fear of death is not founded per se. It's is in the mind.

Hm. Perhaps because I am not afraid of any creatures, that didn't occur to me.

• I'm not afraid of snakes or bears or sharks--not on my life.
  Not at all. The only "creature" I'm afraid of is my wife.
  ;-)

Here's how I would put it:

• We are not afraid of anything real, but like children trembling in the dark, we sit and are afraid. And our fears are formless, like things children imagine in the dark.

What do you think?

From Harries, the ice melts. And spring comes followed by summer soon to die. For after her comes autumn and then back to winter when nothing moves.

Please tell me what "From Harries, the ice melts" means. Did your entire interpretation come from the text?

The word "Harries" has me baffled, too. There are two possible references that I can think of at the moment: 1) in Old Bengali 'harry', plural 'harries' refers to servants of the lowest class, especially water carriers; but why it'd be capitalized, I don't know. 2) 'harries' could be a play on words meaning Harpies -evil spirits, heat (?).

I'd like to know the reference, too. :shock:

Wow!

All of these mean that we like the insects must die. Death must come to all living creatures. If they were conferred anywhere, it is in the truth, ending the act of these words.

Everything decays (one of the laws of thermodynamics). One exception to that law is literature, poetry, words. These live long after one has died. Shakespeare is proof of that!

My interpretation:

• All of this means that we, like the insects, must die. Death must come to all living creatures.

Despite your explanation, the last sentence remains a mystery to me.

It's a running theme in poetry.

I agree. It is a common theme in poetry--life and death. I guess you could throw in entropy. The third law of thermodynamics I'm not so sure about.
;-)

Frankly, I don't think you got your interpretation from the text itself. I think perhaps you are familiar with the original. It is, I think, a translation, and a bad one.

I spent about an hour looking for the poem on-line but came up empty handed. The interpretation is mine, and it's based solely on the text at hand.

Wow!



:wink:

 

[Casiopea]

From no creature, like children trembling in the dark, we sit and all are afraid. And all our fears are empty like things children imagine in the dark.

Here's how I would put it:

• We are not afraid of anything real, but like children trembling in the dark, we sit and are afraid. And our fears are formless, like things children imagine in the dark.

What do you think?

Sounds great. What about this?

[When death comes] We sit and are afraid, like children [in their beds at night] trembling in the dark whose fears come from [formless] creatures (i.e. ghosts, those thing hiding in the closet and under the bed).

From Harries, the ice melts. And spring comes followed by summer soon to die. For after her comes autumn and then back to winter when nothing moves.

Please tell me what "From Harries, the ice melts" means.

I'd like to know the reference, too. :shock:

Where did Claude find the poem?

 

[RonBee]

Here's how I would put it:

• We are not afraid of anything real, but like children trembling in the dark, we sit and are afraid. And our fears are formless, like things children imagine in the dark.

What do you think?

Sounds great. What about this?

[When death comes] We sit and are afraid, like children [in their beds at night] trembling in the dark whose fears come from [formless] creatures (i.e. ghosts, those thing hiding in the closet and under the bed).

That's good too.

 

[RonBee]

P.S. Say: "A Problem with a Poem"