Only connect...

[PrinceMyshkin]

I fumble for the grip of engagement,
the belief that a misplaced comma
might bring down an otherwise good
man or woman. To be a dispassionate observer
of the human condition is anathema
to me. “Only connect,” as EM Forster wrote,
is not a wistful, liberal sentiment;
it is the secular first commandment
without which all the others would fail.

Only connect - with him, with her,
with the eternal other,
with yourself.

[Delta40]

I feel confused here although I sense the exaggerated comma blinds us to that which is important.

[hillwalker]

Congratulations PM on this your 6000th post - and a worthy poem with which to celebrate your skill in 'only connecting' with your faithful readers.....

H

[Hawkman]

My Prince, an admirable philosophical mantra is expressed here and as always with effortless economy and pace. I was momentarily confused by the relevence of the comma, until I realised that a comma is a device used for separation. Such punctuation should indeed be avoided if we are to engage, not only with this poem, but also with eachother.

Masterful. H

[PrinceMyshkin]

Delta40 & Hawkman


My Prince, an admirable philosophical mantra is expressed here and as always with effortless economy and pace. I was momentarily confused by the relevance of the comma, until I realised that a comma is a device used for separation. Such punctuation should indeed be avoided if we are to engage, not only with this poem, but also with each other.

Masterful. H

No, you give me too much credit in interpreting the metaphor of the comma. I meant only that in fully engaging, one would treat every comma or other grammatical marker as being terribly important.

Thank you and hillwalker for your attention.

[qimissung]

6,000 posts! The mind boggles. :party:

You have written a beautiful jpoem to celebrate this occasion, and while that may not have been your purpose, it is a beautiful poem, glowing and golden and humbly serving us the highest ideals on a antique silver tray.

Tea is served. Let us eat and drink.

[dizzydoll]

Excellent poem, imagine thinking of a comma in connection, and as you say so important.

[Hawkman]

My Prince, Commas seem to a recurring theme in your philosphical musings, sic. "God the Comma," and now this., Are we to be subjected to reflections on the diabolic Colon...? :D

[PrinceMyshkin]

My Prince, Commas seem to a recurring theme in your philosphical musings, sic. "God the Comma," and now this., Are we to be subjected to reflections on the diabolic Colon...? :D

Now that you mention it, I did have a colonoscopy not very long ago but, lacking your ready wit, I doubt I'd attempt to make a poem of it. Also, I remember thinking that for mentoring in in the use of the semi-colon one could hardly do better than read a novel, any novel, by Graham Greene.

Many thanks Qimissung, Dizzydoll, Delta40 and Hillwalker.

[AuntShecky]

I wonder if E.M. Forster had a dual meaning in mind with his famous "Only connect." The first notion, which is the one your verse is getting at comes from Howard's End:
http://www.online-literature.com/forster/howards_end/

Only connect! That was the whole of her sermon. Only connect the prose and the passion and both will be exalted, and human love will be seen at its height. Live in fragments no longer.
Only connect! That was the whole of her sermon. Only connect the prose and the passion and both will be exalted, and human love will be seen at its height. Live in fragments no longer.

But I seem to recall reading another Forster work dealing with the craft of novel-writing in which he presents a second notion of "only connect" --and that is linking the various elements of fiction together.

As for the beginning part of your verse:






I fumble for the grip of engagement,
the belief that a misplaced comma
might bring down an otherwise good
man or woman.

the fear that a misplaced comma can have disastrous consequences may be a bit of an exageration, but it may serve to exonerate grammar geeks-- or what did Bill Safire call them again, Virgil? a 'snook'?--such as yours truly.
On the other hand, spelling errors and typos last week were truly serious, the worst of which almost took down the U.S. economy --again!-- when he typed in a "b" for "billions" instead of an "m" for "millions."

But the more rarefied world of poetry once again I'll quote William Carlos Williams --"It is difficult to get the news from poems yet men die miserably every day for lack of what is found there."

Fortunately we have your poems, Prince, to keep our ol' tickers running.

[PrinceMyshkin]

I wonder if E.M. Forster had a dual meaning in mind with his famous "Only connect." The first notion, which is the one your verse is getting at comes from Howard's End:
http://www.online-literature.com/forster/howards_end/

Only connect! That was the whole of her sermon. Only connect the prose and the passion and both will be exalted, and human love will be seen at its height. Live in fragments no longer.
Only connect! That was the whole of her sermon. Only connect the prose and the passion and both will be exalted, and human love will be seen at its height. Live in fragments no longer.

But I seem to recall reading another Forster work dealing with the craft of novel-writing in which he presents a second notion of "only connect" --and that is linking the various elements of fiction together.

As for the beginning part of your verse:



the fear that a misplaced comma can have disastrous consequences may be a bit of an exageration, but it may serve to exonerate grammar geeks-- or what did Bill Safire call them again, Virgil? a 'snook'?--such as yours truly.
On the other hand, spelling errors and typos last week were truly serious, the worst of which almost took down the U.S. economy --again!-- when he typed in a "b" for "billions" instead of an "m" for "millions."

But the more rarefied world of poetry once again I'll quote William Carlos Williams --"It is difficult to get the news from poems yet men die miserably every day for lack of what is found there."

Fortunately we have your poems, Prince, to keep our ol' tickers running.

On the other, other hand, Flaubert once wrote or said (approximately): "A comma well placed can kill."

In Canada at the outset of WWII, there was a bitter division between French and English Canada over the issue of conscription. The Prime Minister, W.L. MacKenzie King, attempted to lay the issue to rest by assuring parliament that we would have "conscription if necessary, but not necessarily conscription."

The Canadian poet, constitutional lawyer and socialist F.R. Scott encapsulated this in a poem about King, with these lines:


He never let his on the one hand
Know what his on the other hand was doing.

[MorpheusSandman]

After a brief drought of not having any new poetry from you, Prince, I must say I find this piece quite refreshing. Maybe more so because I felt like I haven't read any really great poetry in a while (though I'm studying up on my Middle English to read Chaucer!). Anyway, I do quite like this and would especially commend you on that strong opening. I'm not as sure about the short, concluding stanza... It kinda seems to spell out what you've already said, no?

[PrinceMyshkin]

After a brief drought of not having any new poetry from you, Prince, I must say I find this piece quite refreshing. Maybe more so because I felt like I haven't read any really great poetry in a while (though I'm studying up on my Middle English to read Chaucer!). Anyway, I do quite like this and would especially commend you on that strong opening. I'm not as sure about the short, concluding stanza... It kinda seems to spell out what you've already said, no?

Well, it seemed to me that after the dryer, more didactic first stanza, a simpler exhortation was in order. Thanks for your comment.