Same. When I first start reading it, I think, "Oh, Poe taking a break from Poe."
At the end, I think, "Nope, still Poe."
It's such an interesting exploration of that tone, though. The bells and their connotations are so varied, along with the stages of life. I love how he always makes us all see the other side of everything.
Dodging your actual discussion question, but you make me recall those best of times / worst of times in graduate school, when I shared an office with three other TAs. Two of us were there the most often, and we were close friends and shared similar musical taste, so we'd often have a CD spinning (yes, this was before mp3s). Our students often dropped by to say hello and sometimes just to listen, because we were known to have good taste in music. My students introduced me to some good albums that way, so I can say that I learned from them.
But often I learned from my students by watching their novel syntheses of what I'd been teaching them. I could never find satisfactory explanations for "lyricism," for instance, so I'd just give them lots of models of lyric essays, and then they'd come up with something new. One student write about a Metallica concert, only he turned away from the stage to the old men he saw becoming young again in the crowd, to the friend he attended that concert with, who ended up in prison. I loved his reversal of expectations and the depth of feeling that resulted from the "real" meaning of that concert. Another student, inspired I suppose by my Word Pictionary exercise, where we tried to show an image without ever using the word, wrote a metaphorical piece with three fragments: an Etch-a-Sketch drawing that was shaken and erased, a dorm room after move-out day in spring, and a winter landscape. The metaphorical connection was implied, but never stated. I loved these examples, because they helped me illustrate how writers ultimately learn the craft by teaching themselves; often I, as the teacher, was simply stating a goal, stepping back, and providing the space for discovery. And then I understood the concept more deeply after seeing how others expressed their understanding of it.
I really love this--make space for people to express themselves and be their best. The concert example really hits me pretty strong (I've written a few posts about my first concert with my kids as "the dad" and what a great experience it was)--I think the multi-generational connection strikes me in your example, because it's something we are terrible at as a society (multi-generational friendships, environments, etc.) but something like a concert shows how easy that can be.
Yes, it was surprising to me that my student (a wrestler) had that sensitivity, to see the older men (probably guys in their 40s!) reclaiming their youth. I think it's true that many people have that poetic gift for seeing things that are story-worthy or poem-worthy, and for experiencing lyricism, but they lack the tools to express them. Which is what I loved about teaching and still love about book coaching.
Great post.
My fave:
Poe's The Bells.
Those bells get damn dark.
All I can think at the end is, "Oh, God, not the bells, bells, bells, bells!"
Hahahahaha! That poem, for some reason, just always drove me up the wall, and I love Poe!
Same. When I first start reading it, I think, "Oh, Poe taking a break from Poe."
At the end, I think, "Nope, still Poe."
It's such an interesting exploration of that tone, though. The bells and their connotations are so varied, along with the stages of life. I love how he always makes us all see the other side of everything.
Wait, what do you mean your youngest daughter is a high-school sophomore? How is that possible?
Is that a metaphor?
Also, I'm a big fan of the Batman genre of onomatopoeia, e.g., pow, splat, bam, kaboom.
This is excellent, and it's given me an idea for a future post!
I blame Einstein. If he weren't dead, he would get a good talking to.
Dodging your actual discussion question, but you make me recall those best of times / worst of times in graduate school, when I shared an office with three other TAs. Two of us were there the most often, and we were close friends and shared similar musical taste, so we'd often have a CD spinning (yes, this was before mp3s). Our students often dropped by to say hello and sometimes just to listen, because we were known to have good taste in music. My students introduced me to some good albums that way, so I can say that I learned from them.
But often I learned from my students by watching their novel syntheses of what I'd been teaching them. I could never find satisfactory explanations for "lyricism," for instance, so I'd just give them lots of models of lyric essays, and then they'd come up with something new. One student write about a Metallica concert, only he turned away from the stage to the old men he saw becoming young again in the crowd, to the friend he attended that concert with, who ended up in prison. I loved his reversal of expectations and the depth of feeling that resulted from the "real" meaning of that concert. Another student, inspired I suppose by my Word Pictionary exercise, where we tried to show an image without ever using the word, wrote a metaphorical piece with three fragments: an Etch-a-Sketch drawing that was shaken and erased, a dorm room after move-out day in spring, and a winter landscape. The metaphorical connection was implied, but never stated. I loved these examples, because they helped me illustrate how writers ultimately learn the craft by teaching themselves; often I, as the teacher, was simply stating a goal, stepping back, and providing the space for discovery. And then I understood the concept more deeply after seeing how others expressed their understanding of it.
I really love this--make space for people to express themselves and be their best. The concert example really hits me pretty strong (I've written a few posts about my first concert with my kids as "the dad" and what a great experience it was)--I think the multi-generational connection strikes me in your example, because it's something we are terrible at as a society (multi-generational friendships, environments, etc.) but something like a concert shows how easy that can be.
Yes, it was surprising to me that my student (a wrestler) had that sensitivity, to see the older men (probably guys in their 40s!) reclaiming their youth. I think it's true that many people have that poetic gift for seeing things that are story-worthy or poem-worthy, and for experiencing lyricism, but they lack the tools to express them. Which is what I loved about teaching and still love about book coaching.