and Now for the First of Logos.
Poetry through time
What makes a piece of work survive that test of time? What makes a piece turn from a work of art into a classic that is held in reverence still today, possibly hundreds of years since it’s creation.
What makes the Mona Lisa one of the most viewed pieces of art in the world still today. What makes classic poetry still recitable by memory for the generations of today, many years after the author first penned the prose.
The answer is simple.
and that was the answer.
Simple.
Simplicity. The ability of the artist to capture their surroundings, what their eyes see, what their soul feels, what they touch, taste, hear and think about and then turn it to paper and reproduce that “moment” for eternity in a simplistic form that translates and is relatable to by the masses.
The Mona Lisa is a classic because of it’s stunning simplicity. The painter has simply captured a moment in time an translated it to canvas in a language that is appealing and understandable by the masses.
If Da Vinci had put a bowl of fruit in her hands, jewels around her neck, flowers in the field, the sun in the sky, a house or barn in the background, what would we be looking at? What story would he be telling? What would be the focus and meaning behind what he had to say?
It gets lost in translation. The more “waxing lyrical” or “waxing poetic” a piece has, the more the base message is obscured. I am sure you can see the analogy by now to writing stories and especially poetry.
Classic pieces of poetry survive because of their simplicity and the ability of the author to relate a “moment” in form that everyone will understand. When you look at classic poetry that has survived you will see it is musical and for the most part, brilliant in it’s simplicity.
I will keep this blog simple today. Today for the first time I am going to introduce you one such simplistic writer who’s work has survived that test of time and has been translated into ever language known to man.
Simplicity, quatrains and esoteria.
I know his work was in French so it makes that bit more difficult to showcase Nostradmaus but what I want to showcase is the sheer brilliance that is the man. He used his gift in such a closed minded time to last many lifetimes and reached out to many minds. Nostradamus was born in a time of closed religion and political thoughts. He was a brilliant man and saw the world as the great brilliant artists have throughout time. A left of centre, from the outside looking in, curious vista.
Because of the ability to look at the world from different eyes, he was able to take it one step further and to actual see and project where things would lead. It was common sense really. Pure logic or logos.
If someone gets married to someone I know to be distrustworthy and a sleep around then I could pretty much guarentee a broken heart quatrains for the gentleman concerned will be a case of life imitates art within a few short years.
But because of the time he lived, he could not blog his thoughts on the world at large. So he used his gift of the word, the gift of Logos to share his visions and drems and views of times ahead. He used simple poetry or quatrains. A simple four lined stanza, rhyming it to tell a story in a way that left the viewer guessing and surmising what he was talking about.
At the time his meaning was not clear. That became clear in time. What is clear is that this man had a gift and he used that gift to share with us today a piece of magic that was Nostradmuses world.
Ryhming Poetry with simplicity
Poetry is balance. It must have a flow and form that is pleasing to the mind in order for the reader to feel the emotion behind the written word. It is not just a matter of ryhming the last words of the second and fourth lines. All other material must fit. There must be a story or feeling conveyed by the words and there must be a musical sound or lilt to the pattern of words as they are said. There are rules in the poetry world. Once again. I don’t do rules so I will share my own personal poetic rules.
dum dum dum dum dum
— is flat
da da da da da
— is flat
but it will work with
dee dum dee dum dee dum dee dum.
— is musical
It will not work if the story does not make sense or if it contains a waxed poetic fluffball of outside influences.
Keep it simple.
The Challenge
What I would like to see today is for everyone to use their gifts and really step outside their comfort zone. Not just their gifts of the word but their gifts of the dream. I would like you to sit a minute and to think how it could be in the future and if you were nostradamus today, what would you write, What would be your quatrains for tomorrow’s world.
Share them here. Here is two examples of quatrains I have written today. The difference between them is simple. One is good and one isn’t. Although they both tell the story I wish to tell, One has maximized the use of words and feelings and the ohter is just a bunch of words put together that happen to rhyme but not flow. I don’t want a discussion or argument over what I wrote, the actual subject matter. I am just using it as an example.
with golden rains and raging beasts
of fools sand and mighty terrors
they will wish the wheel rolled east
if obama wins preselection
there is one path you know
there will be an assassination
into the white house a clinton will go
Which one works for you?
So
What do you think?
Resources for Further Reading
Nostradmaus.org — All Quatrains Listed
What is a Quatrain — Wikipedia
