| Saturday, November 20, 2010 |
| Poetry Night |
My friends and I had a poetry night last night!! :) We got together in the Cathedral of Learning around 9 PM, went up to the 36th floor (the Honors College), and took over one of the meeting rooms which overlooks Downtown Pittsburgh. I WISH I had a camera with me so that I could share the view--that's the first time I've ever been in that room at night, and the view is just gorgeous, with all the lights in the city beaming up at you, the buildings downtown towering above the buildings of Oakland. After we recited some poetry (ranging from "Death of a Snowman" to a piece by Edna St. Vincent Millay), we saw the first few minutes of fireworks downtown for Light-Up Night before they kicked us out! Really, the whole view was one of those catches-your-breath type things. Beautiful. :)
Once we got kicked out (about 10 PM), we were going to go find another classroom, but instead we ended up just sitting on the floor in the ground floor of the Cathedral for 2 hours. Mind you, the ground floor of the Cathedral looks vaguely like some mix between a dungeon and a high school from the 50s. It would've been much more picturesque if we sat on the first floor, which can best be described as "Hogwarts." :) But we had a blast!!! At midnight, when 4 of us were still there, we left, but only after a lot of fun, entertaining conversation together. I was tired when I got home, but it was quite a good time, and I don't regret being there for so long!
Anyway, when I was brainstorming poems to bring, there was one particular poem in mind that is near and dear to my heart. Unfortunately, I remembered only 5 words at first, and I didn't even remember the 5 RIGHT words, so it took me awhile to find it. Finally, I remembered two more distinctive words, and then I found the poem! :) And because it is so dear to me, this is the poem that I read:
by Patrick Kavanaugh
If you ever go to Dublin town
In a hundred years or so
Inquire for me in Baggot street
and what i was like to know
O he was the queer one
Fol dol the di do
He was a queer one
I tell you
My great-grandmother knew him well,
He asked her to come and call
On him in his flat and she giggled at the thought
Of a young girl's lovely fall.
O he was dangerous,
Fol dol the di do,
He was dangerous,
I tell you.
On Pembroke Road look out for my ghost,
Dishevelled with shoes untied,
Playing through the railings with little children
Whose children have long since died.
O he was a nice man,
Fol do the di do,
He was a nice man
I tell you.
Go into a pub and listen well
If my voice still echoes there,
Ask the men what their grandsires thought
And tell them to answer fair,
O he was eccentric,
Fol do the di do,
He was eccentric
I tell you.
He had the knack of making men feel
As small as they really were
Which meant as great as God had made them
But as males they disliked his air.
O he was a proud one,
Fol do the di do,
He was a proud one
I tell you.
If ever you go to Dublin town
In a hundred years or so
Sniff for my personality,
Is it Vanity's vapour now?
O he was a vain one,
Fol dol the di do,
He was a vain one
I tell you.
I saw his name with a hundred others
In a book in the library,
It said he had never fully achieved
His potentiality.
O he was slothful,
Fol do the di do,
He was slothful
I tell you.
He knew that posterity has no use
For anything but the soul,
The lines that speak the passionate heart,
The spirit that lives alone.
O he was a lone one,
Fol do the di do
Yet he lived happily
I tell you.
Back story to the poem: Last semester, I had an Irish Dominican priest as a professor for Poets and Mystics of the 20th century at 17:30 (5:30 PM) every Tuesday. His name was Fr. Paul Murray, and he has one of the most gentle voices I've ever heard, particularly for poetry. So much so that one person told me that past classes have called his class "Bedtime Stories with Fr. Murray." Well, this was one of our bedtime stories one night. :) For weeks afterwards, I would repeat the "Fol do the di do" in my head in his gentle Irish accent. I was very happy (read: "I think I was actually just entertaining myself") to get to share it with the group yesterday. |
posted by Kristin @ 12:56 PM  |
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| Friday, November 12, 2010 |
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O LORD, you have probed me, you know me:
you know when I sit and stand; you understand my thoughts from afar.
My travels and my rest you mark; with all my ways you are familiar.
Even before a word is on my tongue, LORD, you know it all.
Behind and before you encircle me and rest your hand upon me.
Such knowledge is beyond me, far too lofty for me to reach.
Where can I hide from your spirit? From your presence, where can I flee?
If I ascend to the heavens, you are there; if I lie down in Sheol, you are there too.
If I fly with the wings of dawn and alight beyond the sea,
Even there your hand will guide me, your right hand hold me fast.
If I say, "Surely darkness shall hide me, and night shall be my light" --
Darkness is not dark for you, and night shines as the day. Darkness and light are but one.
You formed my inmost being; you knit me in my mother's womb.
I praise you, so wonderfully you made me; wonderful are your works! My very self you knew;
my bones were not hidden from you, When I was being made in secret, fashioned as in the depths of the earth.
Your eyes foresaw my actions; in your book all are written down; my days were shaped, before one came to be.
How precious to me are your designs, O God; how vast the sum of them!
Were I to count, they would outnumber the sands; to finish, I would need eternity.
If only you would destroy the wicked, O God, and the bloodthirsty would depart from me!
Deceitfully they invoke your name; your foes swear faithless oaths.
Do I not hate, LORD, those who hate you? Those who rise against you, do I not loathe?
With fierce hatred I hate them, enemies I count as my own.
Probe me, God, know my heart; try me, know my concerns.
See if my way is crooked, then lead me in the ancient paths.
Thank you, Lord, for 22 wonderful years. As this next year progresses, I pray that You lead me always and everywhere closer to Your Heart, closer to Your Truth, closer to the woman that You desire me to be.
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| posted by Kristin @ 11:30 PM |
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| About Me |
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Name: Kristin
Home: Pittsburgh, PA, United States
About Me: Seeking my true Fatherland as I travel this spiritual journey with Our Lord Jesus Christ. I hope, with the help of God, to follow in the example of the saints and strive for holiness.
See my complete profile
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