Saturday, June 15, 2013

Prompt #150 – A Line or Phrase


Is there a line (or phrase) from a book, play, poem, movie, or song  that you’ve never forgotten,  a few words from a remembered source that has a special meaning for you?

  • Maybe the first line in a novel has stayed with you (for example, “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times…” from Charles Dickens’ A Tale of Two Cities).

  • Or perhaps a line from a song (for example, “All lies and jest, still, a man hears what he wants to hear and disregards the rest” from  Simon and Garfunkel’s “The Boxer”).

  • Or a famous line from a poem, such as Tennyson’s “Tis better to have loved and lost/Than never to have loved at all;”  Eliot’s “Not with a bang but a whimper;” or Frost’s “and miles to go before I sleep.” 

I’m sure you can see where I’m going with this.

1. Think about a line from a book, play, poem, movie, or song that means something special to you (that you carry with you) and write a poem based on that line.

2. Often book titles draw inspiration from poems such as Slouching Toward Bethlehem by Joan Didion (based on a line from Yeats’s “The Second Coming”); Steinbeck’s Of Mice and Men (from a line in Robert Burns’s “To A Mouse”); and Solzhenitsyn’s The First Circle from Dante’s The Divine Comedy. Along this line (pun intended), you may want to use a line from a poem (or part of it) as the title for your poem and work from that.

I couldn’t find any great example poems for this week’s prompt, so I hope some of you will post your poems or let me know if you come across any that fit the prompt! 


24 comments:

  1. This reminds of of the times a song plays though your mind over and over again all through the day. I know that's a bit different, but perhaps related.

    I really love the illustration at the top of this week's prompt.

    Thanks, as always!

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    1. Thanks, Jamie! Definitely related "thoughts." I especially like that image too.

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  2. Your prompts are always so detailed and filled with info and ideas. I especially like the simplicity of this one, though. Something a little different for a week in late spring. (But don't stop the more complex ones, please.)

    (I don't have a Google account. I hope this goes through for posting.)

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    1. Thank you, Darshi!

      Your kind words are much appreciated; and, yes, your comment came through just fine. If you use "Name" or "Anonymous," a Google account is necessary to post comments.

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  3. Home

    I belong
    We belong
    No exceptions
    Reggae center stage
    experiencing
    Together
    on the grass
    circling the center of town
    sharing
    and
    celebrating life
    Together

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    Replies
    1. Lovely! (What was the inspiration line or phrase?)

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    2. Was it a reggae song that inspired this? A lovely poem!

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    3. Thank you. I was just overcome with the emotional texture of the night and this is what came out. The whole scene filled my heart.

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  4. we just had our monthly artwalk and it was really wonderful

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  5. Stately, plump Buck Mulligan came from the stairhead, bearing a bowl of lather on which a mirror and a razor lay crossed. A yellow dressinggown, ungirdled, was sustained gently behind him on the mild morning air. He held the bowl aloft and intoned:
    "Introibo ad altare Dei.

    James Joyce (1882–1941), Irish author. Ulysses, ch. 1, "Telemachus," The Corrected Text, ed. Hans Walter Gabler, Random House (1986).

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    1. Jago! Oh, my goodness! I think Ulysses is the hardest book I ever tried to read. I still haven't read the whole thing!

      This is a great quote, so visual.

      Thanks for posting!

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    2. Jago, I'm so glad to see that you're back and posting again! Thank you for this!

      I read Ulysses many years ago and wonder if reading it again now would bring new perspectives.

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  6. Ho sceso, dandoti il braccio, almeno un milione di scale
    e ora che non ci sei è il vuoto ad ogni gradino.
    Anche così è stato breve il nostro lungo viaggio...

    I went downstair, giving you my arm, at least one million stairs
    and now that you are not here it's the emptiness at each step.
    Even so it was so short our long journey...

    Eugemio Montale

    ( and translation is mine, not so bad, I think!)

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    1. A superb translation of a powerful piece of writing.

      Thanks for posting!

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    2. I agree with Adele! You're a wonderful translator, and this is a very intriguing quote by Montale.

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    3. Is is ok to say: beautiful? or is that not enough?

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    4. I will hold
      those moments
      in your arms
      close
      and
      let the pain of parting
      fade
      with time

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    5. Two this week! I really like the simplicity and directness of your work.

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    6. Oops! Sorry I missed this one last week. Just found it.

      Remember the good, let the painful go. A good message expressed with a wonderful economy of words. Thanks for sharing, Risa!

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  7. "Grazie" for your gentle words: wonderful and superb!

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    1. Well-deserved. You add a lot to this blog with your thoughtful and thought-provoking comments.

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