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Bethlehem
| Critical Analysis #1 |
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Bethlehem |
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Ryan Member
since 1999-06-10
Posts 297Kansas |
Bethlehem These nights are the longest, cold with sorrow and lined with empty truths. Before the sun comes down upon the sea, a king will meet his father in a growing dusk, and everything will be as it was, but two thousand more souls have seen if their truths were lies. The tides will still come to wash away innocent kingdoms and the cars that came will go. And nothing will have really changed. She came to him, wanting to count the days and months remaining before her, so he lay the cards on the table. They spelled out a future, visible but hidden, like Eliot, in the words of birds that do not fly and cannot sing and will not speak, but only write of truths, and lies. He would not speak, so she called him a Godsend, and only he knew a truth. Before the sun comes down upon the sea, a king will meet his father in a growing dusk, and in a desert manger, far away, a baby will cry, and under the neon sky, two thousand more will die. I like too many things and get all confused and hung-up running from one falling star to another till i drop. This is the night, what it does to you. I had nothing to offer anybody except my own confusion. —Jack Kerouac |
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| © Copyright 2000 Ryan Williams - All Rights Reserved | |||
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J.L. Humphres Member
since 2000-01-03
Posts 201Alabama |
Ryan, I have not a clue about the idea behind this poem. I can't really tell what it is about, I have read it again and again. And that is precisely the reason that I think it is the best poem I have read in a long, long time. The opaqueness of it, the ambiguity is what really mesmerised me on the first read. I can picture a hundred different images all simultaneously...Good show poet!!! J.L.H. Jason I...I have seen the best minds of my generation... --Allen Ginsberg |
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Wordshaman Member
since 2000-01-17
Posts 110Illinois, USA |
Hmmm....a poem about nothing (as near as I can tell--can you rectify that thought process?) that holds a mood that I can't explain all the way through it. Nice. Wait...foolish Shaman...this is a story about pre-Jesus Bethlehem, the two-thousand souls are years...well, that's part of it. Explain yourself, poet. I only maybe get a portion of it. Wordshaman There is no Devil. Just God when He drinks. --Tom Waits |
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bboog Member
since 2000-02-29
Posts 303Valencia, California |
Ry~ I admit that I didn't really understand this one. You've got some good ideas, (I think) placing Biblical allusions amid modern images. My suggestion would be to make this poem a little less vague. best regards, bboog |
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Ryan Member
since 1999-06-10
Posts 297Kansas |
Explain, wouldn't that take all the fun out of it? lol Well, essentially, the poem consists of my thoughts on the impact/importance of the birth/second coming of Jesus in modern times. In addition, the two stanzas dealing with the "fortune teller" (which, btw, I got the idea of from Eliot's "The Wasteland"...that's why I mention him there) are there to suggest that perhaps 2000 years have added a bit to Jesus's reputation. Ryan I like too many things and get all confused and hung-up running from one falling star to another till i drop. This is the night, what it does to you. I had nothing to offer anybody except my own confusion. —Jack Kerouac |
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Elyse Member
since 2000-04-16
Posts 414Apex (think raleigh) NC |
incredibly intriguing. yeah, dont explain it, half the fun is in the interpretation  i thought it had a lovely flow, and some great images. just nice. =)luv Elyse |
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