Poems For Incantation, Rumination Poem by Ananta Madhavan

Poems For Incantation, Rumination



Poems may sometimes be a spell or chant.
In my teens I was profoundly impressed
When I read Gray’s Elegy; it seemed so final,
So quotable, with phrases deemed the best.

Graves in a country churchyard reminded Gray,
The “inevitable hour” awaits us all;
The euphony of verse, iambic and terse.
The end-rhymes chiming and the dying fall.

“But Knowledge to their eyes her ample page
Rich with the spoils of time” did not unroll'.
“Chill penury” repressed their “noble rage”.
Gray gave Knowledge a lady’s wit and scroll.

Decades have passed, I loved some poems,
Their images and fancies often nudged me on
To ruminate on my own scribbled life,
My trails and trials on page or computer screen.

Few notice that this famous Elegy,
So mournful and magisterial,
Ends with an Epitaph of three quatrains,
To laud an unknown local bard or yokel.

An afterthought perhaps. What does it matter.
If one could write a line, a metaphor or phrase
That you read again or even castigate,
Responding with your feel of passing days.

Saturday, November 28, 2015
Topic(s) of this poem: poetic expression
COMMENTS OF THE POEM
READ THIS POEM IN OTHER LANGUAGES
Close
Error Success