Classic and Contemporary Poetry
FRAGMENT OF A JARGONIAD, by ALFRED DENNIS GODLEY Poet's Biography First Line: Arise, my muse, and ply th' extended wing! Last Line: And candidates in mods. Do english for unseen! Alternate Author Name(s): Godley, A. D. Subject(s): Scholarship & Scholars | ||||||||
ARISE, my Muse, and ply th' extended Wing! It is of Language that I mean to sing. Thou mighty Medium, potent to convey The clearest Notions in the darkest Way, Diffus'd by thee, what Depth of verbal Mist Veils now the Realist, now th' Idealist! Our mental Processes more complex grow Than those our Sires were privileged to know. In Ages old, ere Time Instruction brought, A Thought or Thing was but a Thing or Thought: Such simple Names are now forever gone -- A Concept this, that a Noumenon: As Cambria's Sons their Pride of Race increase By joining Ap to Evan, Jones, or Rees, A prouder Halo decks the Sage's Brow, Perceptive once, he 's Apperceptive now! Here sits Mentality (that erst was Mind), By correlated Entities defin'd: Here Monads lone Duality express In bright Immediacy of Consciousness: O who shall say what Obstacles deter The Youth who'd fain commence Philosopher! The painful Public with bewilder'd Brain For Metaphysic pants, but pants in vain: Too hard the Names, too weighty far the Load: Language forbids, and Br-dl-y blocks the Road. From Themes like these I willingly depart, And pass (discursive) to the Realms of Art. Ye Muses nine! what Phrases ye employ, What wondrous Terms t' express aesthetic Joy! As once in Years ere Babel's Turrets rose Contented Nations talk'd the self-same Prose: As early Christians in the Days of Yore Took what they wanted from a common Store: So different Arts th' astonished Reader sees Pool all their Terms, then choose whate'er they please. 'Mid critick Crews (where Intellect abounds) Sound sings in Colours, Colours shine in Sounds: When mimick Groves Apelles decks with green, Or Zeuxis limns the vespertinal Scene, Staccato Tints delight th' auscultant Eye And soft Andantes paint the conscious Sky: Nor less, when Musick holds the list'ning Throng, How crisply lucent glows th' entrancing Song! Each loud Sonata boasts its lively Hue, And Fugues are red, and Symphonies are blue. Not mine to deem your Epithets misplac'd, Ye learned Arbiters of publick Taste! Yet such th' Effect on merely human Wit, That Esperanto is a Joke to it. Hail, Terminology! celestial Maid! Portress of Science, Guide to Art and Trade! I see Democracy -- an ardent Band Who fain would read yet wish to understand -- Compell'd that Goal in alien Tongues to seek, Fly for Relief to Necessary Greek, Claim as their Right (advised by Mr. Snow) The sweet Simplicity of s h ts, -- While Dons con English till they're pale and lean, And Candidates in Mods. do English for Unseen! | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...GILES JOHNSON, PH.D by FRANK MARSHALL DAVIS ADDRESS TO THE SCHOLARS OF NEW ENGLAND by JOHN CROWE RANSOM VERSES, READ AT MY INITIATION INTO THE O.K. by GEORGE SANTAYANA VERSES, SUNG AT MY INITIATION INTO THE PUDDING by GEORGE SANTAYANA FOR BILL NESTRICK by FRANK BIDART THE SCHOLAR GIPSY by MATTHEW ARNOLD A GRAMMARIAN'S FUNERAL by ROBERT BROWNING THE SCHOLARS by WILLIAM BUTLER YEATS A DIALOGUE ON ETHICS by ALFRED DENNIS GODLEY A HANDBOOK TO HOMER by ALFRED DENNIS GODLEY A NEW DIALOGUE OF THE DEAD; ODYSSEUS AND ARISTOTLE by ALFRED DENNIS GODLEY |
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