In ignorance, take comfort from the flame
that, kindled in the heart of your despite,
shall purge from pages Wisdom’s hated name
and warm your deep’ning corridors of night.
Be blessed by your sweet certainty of right,
add fuel with every word you speak in heat;
how mesmerising is the fire bright,
within your mind your learning is complete.
The thought of new ideas is obsolete --
the flame has burned its imprint in your mind;
within your cave its pattern is so sweet,
the shadows on the wall have made you blind.
And when the fire has died to ash and gone,
naught but the smoky promise lingers on.

i like the cap in wisdom.
i may try one befroe i do the trip.

nicely done, it feels like the seminal sonnet.

seminal, or semen-all?

I'm sure I've said it before, but I kind of like Spenserian sonnets

I'm not fussy we usually like things we're good at, i like sleeping

seminal is what i'm saying. the starting point, mainly because of the caves, the flames, the ignorance etc.

Blame Plato and his Republic...

I swear I've never had an original idea in my life, just ask anyone.

thankfully i never read the repubic (did it that way on porpoise )

i meant it portrays the first poets (for me at least )

I like your interpretation better than mine

oh, I really like this one (after I read it i actually gave out a short little 'oo')
I particularly like "And when the fire has died to ash and gone,/naught but the smoky promise lingers on."
and, if i remember correctly, didn't plato expel poets from the republic?
"I decided that it was not wisdom that enabled [poets] to write their poetry, but a kind of instinct or inspiration, such as you find in seers and prophets who deliver all their sublime messages without knowing in the least what they mean." [Plato]
anyhow, excellent poem, give me this over 'the republic' any day of the week.

[i just had this mischievous thought, it would be funny to publish this poem and put *plato as a footnote]

Yes, well, Plato was obsessed with Socrates, who had an imaginary shoulder fairy... so anything he did or said probably should be taken with a cellar or salt

Cheers. It's an old poem but I thought it deserved to be dusted off.

I've written a poem on this topic too. So, I guess we'll be unoriginal together. What I think makes this so good is you take the flame from the cave and mix it with words spoken in heat, and with smoky promise at the end. You tweak the conceit of the allegory constantly to new effect. Really well done. I feel like that guy who competed with Shelly. It was Ozymandias against some other sonnet. Truth though, it's so cool to see other writers write on topics you've done. It shows that no idea is truly exhausted.

Brilliant title

Much enjoyed Leanne.

Thanks Todd... I seem to recall that the inspiration was me being pissed off at something, which will no doubt surprise you... and I'm pretty sure the something was people who already knew so much that they didn't need to take any criticism!

Pissed off, imagine that.

i'm so jealous, i thought plato was that guy in the green hornet

(02-17-2013, 06:41 AM)billy Wrote:  i'm so jealous, i thought plato was that guy in the green hornet

No, that was Micky Mouse's dog

Plato is what Italians eat off.

i've always found it amusing that plato was just a nickname. we all talk about him as 'plato said this... platonic love... etc' replace it with [for the Australians in the room] Chopper, for example Imagine whitehead writing, "all philosophy is just a footnote to Chopper"

There's definitely a poem in that.

"And I can't even spell. I'm semi-bloody-illiterate."

Actually... a fair number of people are writing that already...

my favorite quote from the film, cheers

This reminds me of House of Leaves. I love House of Leaves.

I don't know what House of Leaves is (something for me to look up though!) -- but if it reminds you of something you love, then that's good enough for me