Tuesday 4 September 2012

Contribution from Lamisa


Sir,

Usually when I look at a very long poem, I get frightened. I then read the first two or three lines, and if I don't find it interesting, I don't read it. The other day, when I was reading 'In Praise of a Limestone', the same thing happened; I got scared just by looking at it, and I did read it, but forcefully, without any interest. 

Today, I attempted to read 'The Love Story of J. Alfred Prufrock' by T.S. Eliot. When I first looked at it, my initial reaction was, "Urgh, another very long poem!" I did feel terrified. My reaction after reading the first three lines, "Hmm, this may not seem so bad." I actually did feel like reading on. My reaction after finishing the poem, "Beautiful!" I absolutely loved the poem! The language was very easy to understand, and while I was reading the poem, I could actually visualize what the poet was saying, which doesn't often happen to me in the case of poems, so I decided it must be a very well-written poem. The style of the poem had an effect too; a part of it was rhythmic, and I found that the repeated lines had a great effect on the reader (me, in this case) too. I then went on to read four more short poems: 'I Carry Your Heart With Me' by E.E. Cummings, 'The Road Not Taken' by Robert Frost, 'A Dream Within a Dream' by Edgar Allan Poe and 'There is Another Sky' by Emily Dickson. It felt a bit ironic to me while I was reading 'A Dream Within a Dream' since just last night, I literally had a dream, within a dream...!

I never liked reading poems before. I found them very boring. When I was in 5th grade, they would make us memorize poems in school, and make us give tests on them, which is why I guess I disliked them even more. Plus, I didn't even understand half the stuff. But now I do. And now, I absolutely love reading poetry. Well, most, with a few exceptions, of course. I find them the most beautiful pieces of literature. I remember you read to us 'Porphyria's Lover' in class, and I really liked it. I then came home and read it again and I liked it so much I even told my mom about it (I usually don't tell my mom about stuff which I read unless I really loved it, or unless I'm trying to prove my point).
 
I really wanted to read something by Tariq Ali himself, but I couldn't find anything online! It was either stuff about him or reviews on his books and essays, rather than the actual works by him, which is what I was really looking for. 

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