American Poetry: The Jacob's Ladder

The Jacob’s Ladder

By Denise Levertov

The stairway is not

A thing of gleaming strands

A radiant evanescence

For angels’ feet that only glance in their tread, and need not

It is of stone

A rosy that takes

A glowing tone of softness

Only because behind it the sky a doubtful a doubting

Stairway of sharp

Angles, solidly built

One sees that the angels must spring

Down from one step to the next, giving a little

Lift of the wings

And a man climbing

Must scrape his knees and bring

The grip of his hands into play. The cut stone

Consoles his groping feet. Wings brush past him

The explicate

The first stanza: people have high dreams to reach, at first they are so optimistic, when they are trying to realize that, sooner they feel hard to try again. In the other hand it’s not easy to reach it until they feel pessimistic.

The second stanza: further in the courage, lots of uncertainty appears. When thinking they are success in fact that was just not in a long term.

The third stanza: passing lots of hindrances doesn’t make their way to reach their dream easier even worsen. To solve that they hope any helps from anyone who have reached what they want to reach.

The last stanza: finally, the one and only person still stand to try even if everything was so difficult until make him down or frustrated either, he should go on. While he’s trying, he also gets for his destiny as what he wants.

Conclusion

This poetry describes that everyone has dreams to be success in their life and get happiness in their life and everyone has their own way to succeed their happiness life. Even it is so difficult to run, they should be trying it. The main way is by dreaming, optimistic and having effort to courage, to success that real happiness. They need also hands of other instead of their own surviving. This poem as if asks us for trying to get the real destiny of life by combining our dream our effort and our relationship with any companions around us.

Javanese Poetry: LINTANG-LINTANG

Lintang-Lintang

Lintang-lintang abyor in tawang
Cumlorot sliweran nalika alihan
Kumleyang mencok ing socamu asihku
Cahyane gumebyar sunare gilar-gilar
Ing telenge atimu sliramu tansah dakantu

Lintang-lintang alihan
Cumlorot telu ana pundhakku
Kawitan lintang abang lintang perang
Kapindho lintang mirunggan lintang kamanungsan
Pungkasan lintang kumukus lintang kudurakan

---

The Stars

The stars rush in the sky
Shimmer pacing when they fly
Flying settle in my dear's eyes
Brighten light 'til sight hides
In the depths of the heart, you always try

The stars moved forward
The three shimmered at my shoulder yard
The first star the red war star
The second the unusual humanity star
The last the shooting wicked star


The explication:

Ardhi has explored this Javanese poetry from Krumpuls.Org. And finally this is a very beautiful challenge since the translation from Javanese into English, he could make rhymes without exchanging the meaning itself. Poetry in Javanese is called "Geguritan" and so do "Lintang-Lintang". This poetry describes the mortal illusions with "stars". Every human being are common to have three types of mortal illusions in their life which relate to anger, humanity solidarity and also evil side to control others combined together.

American Poetry: DREAM-LAND

Dream-Land
(Edgar Allan Poe-1844)

By a route obscure and lonely,
    Haunted by ill angels only,
    Where an Eidolon, named NIGHT,
    On a black throne reigns upright,
    I have reached these lands but newly
    From an ultimate dim Thule --
    From a wild weird clime that lieth, sublime,
          Out of SPACE -- out of TIME.

    Bottomless vales and boundless floods,
    And chasms, and caves, and Titan woods,
    With forms that no man can discover
    For the dews that drip all over;
    Mountains toppling evermore
    Into seas without a shore;
    Seas that restlessly aspire,
    Surging, unto skies of fire;
    Lakes that endlessly outspread
    Their lone waters -- lone and dead, --
    Their still waters -- still and chilly
    With the snows of the lolling lily.

    By the lakes that thus outspread
    Their lone waters, lone and dead, --
    Their sad waters, sad and chilly
    With the snows of the lolling lily, --
    By the mountains -- near the river
    Murmuring lowly, murmuring ever, --
    By the grey woods, -- by the swamp
    Where the toad and the newt encamp, --
    By the dismal tarns and pools
            Where dwell the Ghouls, --
    By each spot the most unholy --
    In each nook most melancholy, --
    There the traveller meets aghast
    Sheeted Memories of the Past --
    Shrouded forms that start and sigh
    As they pass the wanderer by --
    White-robed forms of friends long given,
    In agony, to the Earth -- and Heaven.

    For the heart whose woes are legion
    'Tis a peaceful, soothing region --
    For the spirit that walks in shadow
    'Tis -- oh 'tis an Eldorado!
    But the traveller, travelling through it,

    May not -- dare not openly view it;

    Never its mysteries are exposed
    To the weak human eye unclosed;
    So wills its King, who hath forbid
    The uplifting of the fringed lid;
    And thus the sad Soul that here passes
    Beholds it but through darkened glasses.

    By a route obscure and lonely,
    Haunted by ill angels only,
    Where an Eidolon, named NIGHT,
    On a black throne reigns upright,
    I have wandered home but newly
    From this ultimate dim Thule.

Explication:

Dream-Land is exploring on a land which is still abstract for human being's mind. Ardhi considers this poetry as Edgar Allan Poe's expression about remembering of death. It is showed on the repetition of first stanza to the last stanza. Route which is obscure and lonely means, everyone should face the death by themselves. Eidolon which describes by Poe as "NIGHT" relates to the soul of afterlife and Thule refers to such a place does exist similar with neverland. 

     The second and the third Stanza tell the "journey" of an Eidolon to find the Dream-Land. For a soul which is not a well prepared for the death, They will find a Dream-Land such a terror or horror place (aghast). But for those whom prepare their heart in trust about death, they could find the Dream-Land such an El-Dorado or a kind of golden Kingdom.

    When the last stanza is the repetition of the first one, it reminds the reader again that death should be faced by everyone by temselves.

Indonesian Poetry: "NOTABENE: AKU KANGEN"

Notabene: Aku Kangen
(WS. Rendra)

Lunglai - ganas karena bahagia dan sedih,

indah dan gigih cinta kita di dunia yang fana.

Nyawamu dan nyawaku dijodohkan langit,

dan anak kita akan lahir di cakrawala.

Ada pun mata kita akan terus bertatapan hingga berabad-abad lamanya.



Juwitaku yang cakap meskipun tanpa dandanan

untukmu hidupku terbuka.

Warna-warna kehidupan berpendar-pendar menakjubkan

Isyarat-isyarat getaran ajaib menggerakkan penaku.

Tanpa sekejap pun luput dari kenangan padamu

aku bergerak menulis pamplet, mempertahankan kehidupan.


------

P.S: I Miss You

Limp - ferocious as happy and sad,

Beautiful and persistent of our love in the mortal world.

Your life and my life betrothed by sky,

and our children will be born on the horizon.

There also we will continue to stare at each other for centuries.


My Lady so pretty even without makeup

you open up my life.

The colors are amazing glowing life

Magical vibration cues to move my pen.

Without a splashed time you will be spared the memories


I was moved to write pamphlets, sustain life.


Explication:

This poetry was created by an Indonesia poet: WS. Rendra in Kotabumi, Jakarta, March 24, 1978. Overall, this poetry reflects about relationship among man and woman who bring the love as a worship. Anything happens during a relationship must be considered into trust to God. As if the writer wants a destiny that each thing he feels is a "gift". By bringing love with worship, it will create a person not to concern with "the glowing life" since the love has been glowed himself. Meanwhile, running some material (write pamphlets, it's related to working. red) for a living is a necessary thing to "sustain life" for the love itself.

French Poetry: DIMANCHE MATIN

Dimanche Matin
(Emile Verhaeren)

Oh! les éveils des bourgades sous l'or des branches,
Où courent la lumière et l'ombre -- et les roseaux
Et les aiguilles d'or des insectes des eaux
Et les barres des ponts de bois et leurs croix blanches.

Et le pré plein de fleurs et l'écurie en planches
Et le bousculement des baquets et des seaux
Autour de la mangeoire où grouillent les pourceaux,
Et la servante, avec du cru soleil aux manches.

Ces nets éveils dans les matins! - Des mantelets,
De bonnets blancs et des sarraus, par troupelets,
Gagnaient le bourg et son clocher couleur de craie.

Pommes et bigarreaux! - Et, par-dessus la haie
Luisaient les beaux fruits mÛrs, et, dans le verger clair,
Brusque, comme un sursaut, claquait du linge en l'air

---

Sunday Morning

Oh! awakenings of the villages under the gold branches,
Where to run the light and shade - and reeds
And gold needles water insects
Bars and wooden bridges and white crosses.

And the meadow full of flowers and stable boards
And jostling tubs and buckets
Around the manger swarming swine,
And the maid, with raw sun sleeves.

These net awakenings in the morning! - The mantles,
White hats and coats, for troupelets,
Earned the town and colored chalk steeple.

Apples and cherries! - And, over the hedge
Gleamed beautiful ripe fruit, and, in the light orchard
Brusque, as a start, slammed the machine in the air yard

Explication:

Wow... this "Sunday Morning" is a marvelous jigsaw thus it makes Ardhi a bit hard for juggling each word of it. At. the first stanza, it shows the atmosphere of purity. It shows the mindset of a person who clear and optimistic. Semiotic-ally it can be showed from the phrase "wooden bridges" and "white crosses", as if there's a lot of hope to find out.

     Going to the second stanza, many "and"s here are showing about how thankful the author is. Since many blessings that the author gets and it comes continuously. 

     The third stanza explored which happiness has come from the very early morning. Preparing suits to run activities. Activities have been described as "troupelets", a kind of Israeli traditional dance. Indeed, seizing the time of each activity could be meaningful (earned the town and colored chalk steeple).

     Simple, yes the last stanza teaches us to keep optimistic and spread spirit of happiness like shown in "slammed the machine in the air yard" as if everybody could breath the air of the spirit itself.

This poem was written by Emile Verhaeren in 1883. taken from the book "Les Forces tumultueuses et autres poemes". Ardhi had bought this book at the event "Les Printemps Des Poetes" at Francais Institut - Yogyakarta, 2007.

Netherlands Poetry: IN DE TUIN

In De Tuin
(J. Greshoff)

In de beveiliging
Der paarse schaduwing
Zit zingende het kind
te spelen met de wind

Mijn boom ritselt zo vrouwelijk
Ik zit er zo vertrouwelijk
Te zingen in de wind
Tot God, misschien, mij vindt

-----

In The Garden

In the protecting
The purple shading
Singing about a kid
Playing with the wind

My tree rustles as feminine
I sit there confidentially
Singing in the wind
God, perhaps, find me


Explication:

The poetry is taken from "Bloemlezing Gedichten" (A Poetry Anthology) by J. Greshoff, a Dutch poet and journalist who died in 1971. Thru this petry, Ardhi explicates it as the situation of "insecurity and loneliness". The word "beveiliging" which means security or protection shows as if it is something expected from the author to get of "The Garden".

     Yes, "The Garden" should protect "The Kid" who has the story here, whereas the kid felt "The Purple Shading", something which makes him insecure while he tries to enjoy himself in the loneliness (playing with the wind).

     "The Kid" describes his "Tree" in the garden just like a mother with a feminine touch to make him comfort. Thus, by trying to feel the comfort feeling, he suggests himself to be calm while praying God will always protect him and show him into the right path. Somehow "The Kid" in this written art could be a man with an unstable mentally situation.