Love & The Clothing
4-2-06 Every Choice Is A Destiny
There's a beautiful poem by Ted Hughes concerning his late wife Sylvia Plath. And there is only a mild pun in my phrasing. The title of the poem is "RED." But the real title of the poem should be' BLUE' in my opinion. I'm recalling the poem now to memory. I don't have it at hand. The very last word of the poem is blue. It's a lovely poem. It uses colors so Effectively. The poem is from Hughes' collection "BIRTHDAY POEMS." And all the poems are about Ted & his first wife Sylvia Plath who had taken her own life by sticking her head into the oven in her kitchen in her home on the outskirts of London---as I recall. In this last poem Ted mentions that Sylvia used to splash her canvases with white paint. Then she'd dump roses onto the white. More & more & more & more roses---to jam the painting with red. She plastered everything over with red, according to Hughes---furniture, walls, clothing. And Ted found this forboding. It signalled trouble ahead. Once he says she put a bluebird onto her white canvas and that was a powerful symbol of Freedom & Hope he notes. In reading this I felt the exact emotion Mr. Hughes is conveying. A lovely blue bird on a pure white canvas surely signifies Hope & Radiance & Love to me. What a forceful thing colors beautifully applied can be. Blue is the color of love-----a certain shade of pure sky blue and not the glaring kind. Reader, read this poem some day when you get into a library. Look up the book "BIRTHDAY POEMS" by Ted Hughes and find the poem 'RED' at the very end of that book of poems. It is a very healing poem. A truly Effective poem.
Dr. Johnnson the great sage of England's Augustan Age or The Age Of Reason once said to James Boswell: 'Grief, Sir, is a species of Excess.' I mention this now because this aphorism or homily has been running through my mind the past couple of days. By that statement Samuel Johnson was lining himself up with the Classical Doctrine sometimes known as The Golden Mean which I have mentioned in a previous Blog. It simply means that a truly wise person will avoid extremes & follow the middle course advocated by a life of Reason & sound judgment. Stay away from Excess is the 18th century over-interpretation of The Golden Mean. That's because 18th centuryists like 21st centuryists don't have to be told to stay away from Deficiencies---the other half of The Golden Mean. We automatically recoil from Poverty, Ignorance, & Disease----all of which are forms of Defect. Johnson in the above quote was warning aginst spending much time grieving the death of a loved one. He considered it to be a form of indulgence whereby weaker minds prey upon themselves by giving in to Passion as opposed to sound judgment based on Reason. Or, as we say nowadays: It's just a way of laying a guilt trip on yourself. MOVE ON! Quit sulking & sinking into the depravity of self-abuse.
The utter beauty & immediacy, the sensuousness of Ted Hughes' use of the individual colors red/ white/& blue in the poem 'RED' are unforgettable. Totally free of any political suggestions as you will find out the minute you read this simple & remarkable poem. In all events, maybe Dr. Johnson (1709-1784) & Ted Hughes (1930-2001, poet laureate of England) have more in common than being Englishmen. They both were active instruments in the perfection of the English language as well as voices of Inspiration and Intelligence. What more can we ask of an Author? Sylvia Plath on the other hand is more famous in America than either Johnson or Hughes. She died a suicide in London. But before she expired she left us her poems---including the remarkable book 'ARIEL.' I have no Romantic attitude however to suicide. I see no reason why I should.
RLG copyright, 2006
There's a beautiful poem by Ted Hughes concerning his late wife Sylvia Plath. And there is only a mild pun in my phrasing. The title of the poem is "RED." But the real title of the poem should be' BLUE' in my opinion. I'm recalling the poem now to memory. I don't have it at hand. The very last word of the poem is blue. It's a lovely poem. It uses colors so Effectively. The poem is from Hughes' collection "BIRTHDAY POEMS." And all the poems are about Ted & his first wife Sylvia Plath who had taken her own life by sticking her head into the oven in her kitchen in her home on the outskirts of London---as I recall. In this last poem Ted mentions that Sylvia used to splash her canvases with white paint. Then she'd dump roses onto the white. More & more & more & more roses---to jam the painting with red. She plastered everything over with red, according to Hughes---furniture, walls, clothing. And Ted found this forboding. It signalled trouble ahead. Once he says she put a bluebird onto her white canvas and that was a powerful symbol of Freedom & Hope he notes. In reading this I felt the exact emotion Mr. Hughes is conveying. A lovely blue bird on a pure white canvas surely signifies Hope & Radiance & Love to me. What a forceful thing colors beautifully applied can be. Blue is the color of love-----a certain shade of pure sky blue and not the glaring kind. Reader, read this poem some day when you get into a library. Look up the book "BIRTHDAY POEMS" by Ted Hughes and find the poem 'RED' at the very end of that book of poems. It is a very healing poem. A truly Effective poem.
Dr. Johnnson the great sage of England's Augustan Age or The Age Of Reason once said to James Boswell: 'Grief, Sir, is a species of Excess.' I mention this now because this aphorism or homily has been running through my mind the past couple of days. By that statement Samuel Johnson was lining himself up with the Classical Doctrine sometimes known as The Golden Mean which I have mentioned in a previous Blog. It simply means that a truly wise person will avoid extremes & follow the middle course advocated by a life of Reason & sound judgment. Stay away from Excess is the 18th century over-interpretation of The Golden Mean. That's because 18th centuryists like 21st centuryists don't have to be told to stay away from Deficiencies---the other half of The Golden Mean. We automatically recoil from Poverty, Ignorance, & Disease----all of which are forms of Defect. Johnson in the above quote was warning aginst spending much time grieving the death of a loved one. He considered it to be a form of indulgence whereby weaker minds prey upon themselves by giving in to Passion as opposed to sound judgment based on Reason. Or, as we say nowadays: It's just a way of laying a guilt trip on yourself. MOVE ON! Quit sulking & sinking into the depravity of self-abuse.
The utter beauty & immediacy, the sensuousness of Ted Hughes' use of the individual colors red/ white/& blue in the poem 'RED' are unforgettable. Totally free of any political suggestions as you will find out the minute you read this simple & remarkable poem. In all events, maybe Dr. Johnson (1709-1784) & Ted Hughes (1930-2001, poet laureate of England) have more in common than being Englishmen. They both were active instruments in the perfection of the English language as well as voices of Inspiration and Intelligence. What more can we ask of an Author? Sylvia Plath on the other hand is more famous in America than either Johnson or Hughes. She died a suicide in London. But before she expired she left us her poems---including the remarkable book 'ARIEL.' I have no Romantic attitude however to suicide. I see no reason why I should.
RLG copyright, 2006
posted by rlg at 6:57 PM
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