For anyone who knows poetry...

perspiringwriter · Jul 26, 2007

I don't know much poetry. For someone who knows a lot of poetry, sorry but this may seem like a pathetic question...

I am writing an article about design. One part will be about how animals appear to be designed. The quote I will use is from William Blake:

"Tiger, tiger, burning bright In the forests of the night, What immortal hand or eye Could frame thy fearful symmetry?"

The other part will be on how nature (outside of animals) appears designed. To go with William Blake, I would need a relatively well-known quote of similar length about the sky or a landscape, etc. It may not refer to a designer so explicitly as did Blake, because that might be expecting too much. I can't think of anything off the top of my head.

I'm hoping this will be a fun, quick exercise for someone. Please do not begrudge me if I use the quote in an article on a website. Also, please do not spend a lot of time on this. I am trying to save myself time, not use others' time. I am new here, but I hope this is an appropriate question to ask here.

Thank you,
Marty

poetinahat · Jul 26, 2007

Hi, Marty - I moved your question to the main Poetry forum. Two reasons:
- it's a better fit here
- this forum isn't password-protected anymore, so your thread will show up in 'New Posts', and more people will see it.

Good luck with your article.

Writer??? · Jul 27, 2007

"From whose womb does the ice emerge, and the frost from the sky, who gives birth to it,"

"...The heavens declare the glory of God; the sky displays his handiwork.

Psa 19:4-6 Yet its voice echoes throughout the earth; its words carry to the distant horizon. In the sky he has pitched a tent for the sun. It emerges from the distant horizon, and goes from one end of the sky to the other; nothing can escape its heat.

Psa 33:6 By the Lord’s decree the heavens were made; by a mere word from his mouth all the stars in the sky were created."

All are from the Bible so feel free to quote away.

William Haskins · Jul 27, 2007

i would suggest some cursory research of the transcendentalists, most notably ralph waldo emerson, whose nature poems might be just the thing you're looking for.

good luck.

dahmnait · Jul 27, 2007

One poem I can think of that might help is The Worship of Nature by John Greenleaf Whittier. And if not, it is still a wonderful read.

Good luck.

rugcat · Jul 27, 2007

William Haskins said:
i would suggest some cursory research of the transcendentalists, most notably ralph waldo emerson, whose nature poems might be just the thing you're looking for.

good luck.

Or Wordsworth. Tintern Abbey comes to mind.

perspiringwriter · Jul 27, 2007

thanks, dahmnait!

dahmnait said:
One poem I can think of that might help is The Worship of Nature by John Greenleaf Whittier. And if not, it is still a wonderful read.

Good luck.

Wow, that is truly a great poem! The first stanza will work for me:

The harp at Nature's advent strung
Has never ceased to play;
The song the stars of morning sung
Has never died away.

I had also considered quoting from St. Francis of Assisi's Canticle of the Sun or from Psalm 19, but I will almost certainly go with Whittier.
There isn't as much material out there as I had expected.

Thanks to everyone for the suggestions!

Marty

TwistedDilettante · Jul 31, 2007

Probably chiming in too late...but for a crowd pleaser there's always Robert Frost. Here's his poem "Design." The last stanza would work, though I don't know if you are avoiding insects as well as animals.

I found a dimpled spider, fat and white,
On a white heal-all, holding up a moth
Like a white piece of rigid satin cloth--
Assorted characters of death and blight
Mixed ready to begin the morning right,
Like the ingredients of a witches' broth--
A snow-drop spider, a flower like a froth,
And dead wings carried like a paper kite.

What had that flower to do with being white,
The wayside blue and innocent heal-all?
What brought the kindred spider to that height,
Then steered the white moth thither in the night?
What but design of darkness to appall?--
If design govern in a thing so small.

For anyone who knows poetry...

perspiringwriter

poetinahat

Numbers are beautiful

Writer???

Because EYE said so!

William Haskins

poet

dahmnait

Just a figment…

rugcat

Lost in the Fog

perspiringwriter

TwistedDilettante