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.