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12-13-2010, 11:38 AM
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Deck the Halls 2010 #8: Mizar and Alcor in Winter
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. Mizar and Alcor in Winter
Cirrus dispersed. As a black night grew colder,
clearer, I spied the binary in the handle
of the Big Dipper dangling above my shoulder,
a pinprick twinkling by a blinding candle.
Absent the moon, its boreal corona,
I watched the stars rise east of Ellendale,
Guelph and Ludden, then wheel above Verona
and sleeping friends who farm near Englevale.
A thousand miles of road: I’d shunned the pavement
which bears the burdens I no longer ferry,
the cargo of material enslavement.
Six eagles hunted small game on the prairie.
An Arab prince’s fortunes once were measured
by blooded foals, by sons his wives could dandle,
by tributary quatrains to be treasured
and his eyesight: a pinprick by a candle.
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_______The plain vanilla repeat below is for those with clunky old browsers _______
Mizar and Alcor in Winter
Cirrus dispersed. As a black night grew colder,
clearer, I spied the binary in the handle
of the Big Dipper dangling above my shoulder,
a pinprick twinkling by a blinding candle.
Absent the moon, its boreal corona,
I watched the stars rise east of Ellendale,
Guelph and Ludden, then wheel above Verona
and sleeping friends who farm near Englevale.
A thousand miles of road: I’d shunned the pavement
which bears the burdens I no longer ferry,
the cargo of material enslavement.
Six eagles hunted small game on the prairie.
An Arab prince’s fortunes once were measured
by blooded foals, by sons his wives could dandle,
by tributary quatrains to be treasured
and his eyesight: a pinprick by a candle.
Last edited by Sharon Passmore; 12-13-2010 at 01:44 PM.
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12-13-2010, 11:41 AM
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Join Date: Dec 1999
Location: San Jose, CA
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This is one that competes with “Little” for mastery. Everything about this poem is well-realized and masterful, right from the engaging title (yes, the wonderful sonics and lyricism start right from the title) to the ending candlelight, to the ease with meter, and imaginative and fresh rhymes such as dandle/candle’.
Our intergalactic journey is launched somewhere out there at Mizar and Alcor, and then, we’re teleported back to the earthbound neighborhood of farms and friends along ‘thousand miles of road’ that the narrator is quite familiar with and that evoke bittersweet memories. We then time-travel several centuries earlier to meet the Arab prince surrounded by the bounty of foals, wives and sons . . . perhaps, in contrast to ‘burdens’ the narrator ‘no longer [ferries]’.
This is simply a delightful poem, masterfully wrought, and rewards reading and re-reading.
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12-13-2010, 11:56 AM
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Join Date: Aug 2002
Location: Minnesota
Posts: 2,942
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Not much to add to Alex's fine introduction. This may be my favorite thus far.
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12-13-2010, 12:51 PM
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Join Date: Mar 2009
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Just awesome.
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12-13-2010, 12:55 PM
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Join Date: Dec 2010
Location: Houston, Texas
Posts: 13
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Mizor and Alcor in Winter, poem 8.
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This short poem weaves together multiple veins of imagery and observation: the celestial, the historical (but general, not specific---the Arab is a type, not a particular man), the natural, on a small scale (birds hunting), the communal (friends), the personal. The poem is a model of economy; all these veins are subtly introduced and connected. The striking contrast in scale (small terrestrial life, immense sky and stars) echoes ancient, honored observations. Notice how the trochaic line endings echo the beat of the title.
N.B. for those who might fear another trap. Mizor and Alcor really are named stars in Ursa Major.
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Last edited by Sharon Passmore; 12-13-2010 at 01:43 PM.
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12-13-2010, 01:06 PM
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Join Date: Jun 2001
Location: New York
Posts: 16,476
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Fine poem, even by the standards of the poet whose identity I think we all can instantly discern. It really looks great in the cool deck, too -- white print on a dark background suits it.
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12-13-2010, 02:58 PM
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Join Date: Feb 2007
Location: Northern New Jersey
Posts: 8,901
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This is beautifully written. I feel, however, that there is a break between stanzas two and three, taking us out of our position next to N on a starry night, watching Mizar and Alcor tick over towns and neighbors that don't seem to be a thousand miles away.
This sort of Frostian revery:
A thousand miles of road: I’d shunned the pavement
which bears the burdens I no longer ferry,
kind of pulls me out of the magic of the sky. "Six eagles hunted small game on the prairie" is interesting only to the extent that it is a metaphor for shifting bodies in the heavens. I don't know if it really works that way or whether the poet intended such a metaphorical reference.
The candle image, beautiful in stanza one, brings us back to the stars at the end...I love the close.
Last edited by Rick Mullin; 12-13-2010 at 03:32 PM.
Reason: the break is between stanzas two and three.
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12-13-2010, 06:36 PM
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Join Date: Dec 2003
Location: Savannah, GA 31405
Posts: 4,055
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Rick: A thousand miles of road: I’d shunned the pavement
which bears the burdens I no longer ferry,
kind of pulls me out of the magic of the sky.
These lines tell us hat N has unloaded burdens. He possesses little. Thus in the last line, he is as good as an Arab prince: they both can see the pin prick and the candle.
"Six eagles hunted small game on the prairie" is interesting only to the extent that it is a metaphor for shifting bodies in the heavens. I don't know if it really works that way or whether the poet intended such a metaphorical reference.
Again, the hunt (Darwinian life) goes on; but he's out of it now.
Like the unburdening, this release makes his comparison with the Arab prince more meaningful.
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12-13-2010, 06:58 PM
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Join Date: Feb 2007
Location: Northern New Jersey
Posts: 8,901
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Yes, Lance, I get it, but I'm out of "the night" in stanza 3-- six eagles hunting on the prairie under the big dipper? I am also taken out of the moment, which is less of a concern. But the pavement, the prairie,... Our man is talking about a black night growing colder. For me, there is a re-thread at stanza three. The stars at night and six (count 'em) eagles hunting visible (right?) small game in the same statement jars me.
That insisted upon, this is probably my favorite so far! All of these poems have their problems. The writing, as I said above, is beautiful and the close is probably good enough to tie together all threads.
Last edited by Rick Mullin; 12-13-2010 at 10:51 PM.
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12-13-2010, 07:00 PM
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Join Date: Dec 2004
Location: Berkeley, CA, USA
Posts: 3,140
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I know this one -- not from here but from its publication -- and I think it is masterful. Best so far.
David R.
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