Poetry about names needed :confused:

[silvercatbelle]

Does anyone know any poems amout names or the concept of names? I have one already by Barbara Kingsolver, entitled "Naming Myself" but I could use another. Any suggestions would be greatly appriciated. Thanks!

[Isagel]

The naming of Cats, by T.S. Eliot, in Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats


The Naming of Cats is a difficult matter,
It isn't just one of your holiday games;
You may think at first I'm as mad as a hatter,
When I tell you, a cat must have THREE DIFFERENT NAMES.

First of all, there's the name that the family use daily,
Such as Peter, Augustus, Alonzo, or James,
Such as Victor or Jonathan, George, or Bill Bailey _p;
All of them sensible everyday names.
There are fancier names if you think they sound sweeter,
Some for the gentlemen, some for the dames:
Such as Plato, Admetus, Electra, Demeter _p;
But all of them sensible everyday names.

But I tell you, a cat needs a name that's particular,
A name that's peculiar, and more dignified,
Else how can he keep up his tail perpendicular,
Or spread out his whiskers, or cherish his pride?
Of names of this kind, I can give you a quorum,
Such as Munkustrap, Quaxo, or Coricopat,
Such as Bombalurina, or else Jellylorum _p;
Names that never belong to more than one cat.

But above and beyond there's still one name left over,
And that is the name that you never will guess;
The name that no human research can discover ---
But THE CAT HIMSELF KNOWS, and will never confess.

When you notice a cat in profound meditation,
The reason, I tell you, is always the same:
His mind is engaged in a rapt contemplation
Of the thought, of the thought, of the thought of his name:
His ineffable effable
Effanineffable
Deep and inscrutable singular Name.

[silvercatbelle]

thanks very much Isagel!
-silvercat

[Isagel]

Thought you might like it :-)

[Sindhu]

Old Possum is one of my FAVOURITE poems Isagel1 Have you seen the Cats Opera?

Does anyone know any poems amout names or the concept of names? I have one already by Barbara Kingsolver, entitled "Naming Myself" but I could use another. Any suggestions would be greatly appriciated. Thanks!

I think this would be amusing at the very least:
from The Angst of Hero Naming
by Lazette Gifford





The tale of a hero beyond compare,
With flashing eyes and perfect hair.
Flawless words flowed from my head --
Until I reached that first damned said.


Now the true strife begins at last
As floundering in a sea of names, I'm cast.
Rosebud and Cloud are far too cute,
And he's no Bob, beyond dispute
Corwin? Hilton? Lane or Bard?
Naming a kid couldn't be half this hard!
A couple dozen names go by,
(My hero gives me the evil eye)
I search the shelves for baby name books
(Kept hidden to avoid occasional odd looks)
With frantic haste I start paging through,
No, no --Androcles will never do!
No Mac or Mark or Michael here
Such names are too plain, I fear.
Nicholas has a nice sound it's true --
But I've used it in a book or two.
So to stranger, archaic lists I turn
No he's absolutely not a Vern!
....


And a more serious one:
BILLY COLLINS: This poem is dedicated to the victims of September 11 and to their survivors.
from "The Names"

Yesterday, I lay awake in the palm of the night.

A soft rain stole in, unhelped by any breeze,

And when I saw the silver glaze on the windows,

I started with A, with Ackerman, as it happened,

Then Baxter and Calabro,

Davis and Eberling, names falling into place

As droplets fell through the dark.

Names printed on the ceiling of the night.

Names slipping around a watery bend.

Twenty-six willows on the banks of a stream.

....

[mkmcdonald]

I use a chapter of Sandra Cisneros' The House on Mango Street in my classroom name thing I do at the beginning of the year. The Chapter is called my name and is very poetically written prose I guess. It is awesome.

"In English my name means hope. In Spanish it means too many letters. It means sadness, it means waiting. It is like the number nine. A muddy color. It is the Mexican records my father plays on Sunday mornings when he is shaving, songs like sobbing...."

Did my last post work?

I hope this isn't on here twice. Poems about names.

I do a thing with names at the beginning of the year in my English class. I use the chapter called My Name from The House on Mango Street by Sandra Cisneros.

It is a "novel" but it is very poetically written. I would call it prose poetry.

"In English my name means hope. In Spanish it means too many letters. It means sadness, it means waiting. It is like the number nine. A muddy color. It is the Mexican records my father plays on Sunday mornings when he is shaving, songs like sobbing..." etc.

It is pretty cool I think.

[AuntShecky]

The choice of the Billy Collins poem was highly appropriate.
On a much lighter note, there is a wonderfully witty song
about the names of American baseball players. The song is
"Van Lingo Mungo" by Dave Frischberg. Anyone know how to get the complete lyrics or to download the tune?