tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7872819010848426693.post2612142172486486179..comments2024-03-28T02:46:03.227-04:00Comments on The Historical Society: “If We Must Die,” A Poem We All Should KnowRandallhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16755286304057000048noreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7872819010848426693.post-34599376231592774222013-03-14T10:36:44.043-04:002013-03-14T10:36:44.043-04:00Oh my.
I just looked him up. Eric wasn't kidd...Oh my.<br /><br />I just looked him up. Eric wasn't kidding about the deficiencies of his style.<br /><br />From "The Slacker:"<br /><br />"The saddest sort of death to die<br />Would be to quit the game called life<br />And know, beneath the gentle sky,<br />You'd lived a slacker in the strife.<br />That nothing men on earth would find<br />To mark the spot that you had filled;<br />That you must go and leave behind<br />No patch of soil your hands had tilled."<br /><br />Ouch. A Claude McKay he was not!hcrhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07334093881332383848noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7872819010848426693.post-14439476973255600632013-03-14T10:33:02.950-04:002013-03-14T10:33:02.950-04:00What makes this poem so incredible, I think--aside...What makes this poem so incredible, I think--aside from the language, of course-- is that, as John says, it speaks to the specifics of black life in 1919, but also speaks more generally to any persecuted group in any country in any era. It's historical and mythical, at the same time.<br /><br />FWIW, Lisa, I have no idea who Eric's Edward Guest is! I don't think I've ever even heard of him. I'll have to look him up. Along with Charlie and the MTA, this is turning into popular cultural week for me!hcrhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07334093881332383848noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7872819010848426693.post-49033799793215795722013-03-14T09:35:19.797-04:002013-03-14T09:35:19.797-04:00Sadly, the very ghettos, where for a time African ...Sadly, the very ghettos, where for a time African culture developed, thrived, and brought hope, became the seedbeds for more riots as African Americans continued to be shut out of the American family and economy. A poem from the past that continues to ring more true today than it should.John Mulhollandnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7872819010848426693.post-39069348945818898392013-03-14T06:53:58.627-04:002013-03-14T06:53:58.627-04:00I am ashamed to say I didn't know this poem. ...I am ashamed to say I didn't know this poem. My world is now better. It is also really moving to know the context, of course. There are probably lots of works of art that become much more poignant through knowing their context..... I'm going into my day inspired.Lisa Clark Dillerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00155783885263417225noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7872819010848426693.post-15088679850524490412013-03-13T09:12:03.844-04:002013-03-13T09:12:03.844-04:00Great poems, Heather. Really powerful and memorab...Great poems, Heather. Really powerful and memorable. Thanks for sharing. The irony was, maybe, that contemporary Americans were more likely to read and recite the work of poets like Edgar Guest (the “People’s Poet”). I found one of his hundreds (thousands?) of works quoted in a 1920 textile factory newsletter, obviously intended to “influence” immigrant workers: “Said Dan McGann to a foreign man who worked at the self-same bench/ “Let me tell you this,” and for emphasis he flourished a Stillson wrench/“Don’t talk to me of the bourjoissee, don’t open your mouth to speak/ Of your Socialists or your Anarchists, don’t mention the Bolsheveek. . . .” Etc. You get the idea. It’s the difference between literary fiction and the best-seller list, what we hope people will read and remember and how they actually behave. Thanks for keeping the good stuff alive!Eric B. Schultzhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03169391149462048777noreply@blogger.com