Article Contributed on: 4/26/2006 9:02:59 AM
It's unfortunate to read Dover Beach before going to work and
even worse to read it three times but that's what I did today and
now my throat closes trying to push down my tears so I won't run my
mascara and have to do my makeup all over again and be late for
work! Blast Matthew Arnold. Such is the power of poetry!
Ted Kooser, in his wonderful book " The Poetry Home Repair
Manual," reminds us "the more poems we read the deeper our
knowledge of the world."
And this morning, Matthew Arnold through his perfect words,
gave me a glimpse of the world beyond my suburb, taking me to the
shores of England in "Dover Beach":
Listen! you hear the grating roar
Of pebbles which the waves draw back, and fling,
At their return, up the high strand,
Begin, and cease, and then again begin,
With tremulous cadence slow, and bring
The eternal note of sadness in.
Simply reading this poem, opens my eyes to my own world, so
that today, on this crisp Colorado morning, I notice the bright
pink crabapple blossoms that survived yesterday's spring snow,
flushed with color, hiding among the fresh green leaves that
shielded them against the cold and snow. Thank you Mr. Arnold, Mr.
Kooser and all the poets who teach us to see what is right before
us.