It caused for some reflection upon my life and how i separate myself from my writing quite severely. I may be critical of my work but don’t usually apply that same criticism to myself. I realized a need to be the opposite If I do give of myself, I give in scattered portions, never a whole. Never.
The words are a bit distant and I don’t let the reader in to who I am, which in turn could be who the reader is. The cryptic and internal nature of what and how I write is a way of not allowing access to me. What we search for in reading poetry or a book, or listening to music is to find a piece of ourselves in that work. To know that we aren’t alone in who we are and what we feel. My feeling is that I’ve been detached from all of that from the very beginning. My writing has revealed itself to be selfish. I guess that’s an indicator of who I am if I dig deep…or if I simply pull away the thin top layer.
Robert Laurence Binyon had a long and successful career in English arts and letters, managing to produce almost a book a year in the span between 1894 and 1944. His father, Frederick Binyon, was a clergyman, and his mother, Mary, was the daughter of Robert Benson Dockray, resident engineer of the London and Birmingham Railroad. Binyon showed an early interest in art and poetry. After attending St. Paul’s School, he attended Trinity College at Oxford, where his poem “Persephone” was awarded the Newdigate Prize. In 1890 he took a first-class degree in classical moderations, and in 1892, a second-class degree in litterae humainoires. In 1890 he also published four poems in a volume called Primavera: Poems by Four Authors, which included the work of three other young Oxford undergraduates, one of whom was his cousin, Stephen Phillips, who would also achieve a measure of fame as a poet.
He published his first book of poetry in 1894 calledLyric Poems, and he followed this publication quickly with two books on painting,Dutch Etchers of the Seventeenth Century in 1895 and John Crone and John Sell Cotman in 1897. These two interests would govern his career, as he alternated between poetry and essays on the visual arts. He was also interested in Oriental art and culture: books such as Painting in the Far East (1908) and the book of poems The Flight of the Dragon (1911) reflect this interest. Ezra Pound was highly complimentary of the later work, and thought of Binyon as a pioneer in the Western appreciation of Chinese and Japanese art.
Binyon married Cicely Margaret Powell in 1904, and they had three daughters together. When World War I broke out, he became an orderly in the Red Cross, and managed to visit the front in 1916. He turned this experience into numerous books of verse that took the war as a subject. The Winnowing Fan, The Anvil, The Cause, andThe New World, published from 1914 to 1918, all dealt with the war as a noble cause, though his work became progressively less sentimental.
During his career, Binyon became interested in experimental versification. He had been influenced by John Masefield, who argued that verse should be spoken aloud, and, at Oxford, Robert Bridges had shared with him the complex rhythms of Gerard Manley Hopkins’s sprung verse, whose poetry could not yet be found in print. His experiments were not as radical, however. Mainly, he was skillful at manipulating verse within narrowly defined limits. Read more here.
Ypres
Source: The New World (1918)
I can really appreciate your thoughts about ‘giving in scattered portions’. Also thanks for introducing us to Binyon. I had not read him previously.
LikeLike
Sorry for the typos. My last sentences should read:
It’s so rewarding when the mist of chaos clears to reveal some small part of its order. Well played.
LikeLike
I love this. A brilliant expression of yin and yang. I am captivated by writing that make use of puzzles, math, numerology and nested patterns. What at first we define as chaos turns out to be patterns we’ve just failed to ken. It’s so rewarding when the most of chaos to reveal some small part of its of its order. Well played.
LikeLike
So cool to observe your development through the poetry. So admire how you have both used this month for so much more than just writing poetry! Way to go! I wonder if, as artists, we ever really stop the introspection process? Each step a step forward, a movement of growth – a ‘peeling back’ of a layer. Like the onion though, once you have peeled back all the layers, what is there left? 🙂
You guys must have had some interesting and insightful discussions this month! I can relate to your writing the words for the words sake, Jason – sometimes that can be fun! 🙂 Look forward to more of your poetry – once rested! (and hope you have now had some sleep!). Go well, my friend, and hopefully chat soon…
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you, Rob. Writing is an extension of our lives, our very souls, so treat it as something exterior or other than is a disservice to ourselves but to those reading. We may be experiencing or have experienced something that another person is struggling with or may encounter very soon and we can be a guide. They, in turn, can possibly guide us. All of that can inform the writing, which can then inform your life and so on. One big wonderful circle of learning, exploration, introspection. Speaking of introspection, I feel that at the point you stop, you are no longer human. Life is a constant perfecting of character. You should never feel that you are completely enlightened or knowledgable. There is always something new to learn about oneself, craft, surroundings. This is the onion of infinite layers, friend. 🙂
We did have breakthroughs, epiphanies, meltdowns, replenishments, our name it! Definitely will be chatting soon but first my literary muscles need a rest haa!!!!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thanks for your reply Jason! Feel we are on the same page – sharing, learning, all together and never-ending – enriching each others lives and being! So true – and so pleased to share with you guys – on the literary and deeper levels.
As for the onion – love the infinite layers – of our humanness and our souls! Once all peeled back then there is the great nothing – however, from nothing comes everything, yes? Still not quite got that one myself, so think I’ll stick with the infinite layers! Beyond that is beyond me right now! 🙂
Wish you both a good rest and look forward to being in touch as and when!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Just a technical point but I don’t get all your posts in my reader? Not sure if this is due to more than 15 tags/categories of if there is another reason?
LikeLiked by 1 person
could be the tags. you just jogged my memory about something I read with regards to this last week. I’ll keep it in mind going forward 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
Reblogged this on Sensory .
LikeLike
wow to this. you have let the reader in now! this was a great exercise to do so. I also didn’t know this type of poetry before now. It is a wonderful style! I think I like the second one you wrote best because with just a fee words, it expresses so much more than the longer. I have enjoyed all of your blog entries and I will look forward to seeing you evolve too!
LikeLiked by 1 person
yes, it’s called deux langue (two languages in French) The idea is to write home that makes sense and either will have the same meaning or two different meanings when read both forward and backwards. Punctuation can be changed, in order to give different meaning or emphasis, however, all of the words must be exactly the same . I agree with you in that the second one was more focused. it dis come to me after the introspection I did and netted a better result. I will definitely be evolving and I thank you for taking the time to read my blog! I hope to continue to see more from you, as well!
LikeLiked by 1 person
This introspection and openness, I love. And, your photography is flawless!!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you! The path to introspection can be bumpy and is never ending but having the perfect travelling partner makes all the difference in the world 😉
LikeLiked by 1 person
yes, yes, that’s true 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person