Poetry Friday -- Whose Beauty is Past Change

Pied Beauty

by Gerard Manley Hopkins

Glory be to God for dappled things— 

 For skies of couple-colour as a brinded cow; 

  For rose-moles all in stipple upon trout that swim; 

Fresh-firecoal chestnut-falls; finches’ wings; 

 Landscape plotted and pieced—fold, fallow, and plough; 

  And all trades, their gear and tackle and trim. 

All things counter, original, spare, strange; 

 Whatever is fickle, freckled (who knows how?) 

   With swift, slow; sweet, sour; adazzle, dim; 

He fathers-forth whose beauty is past change: 

                    Praise Him.

Seemed like a good day for an old favorite. Read it aloud and savor Hopkins' rich words. 

Next time we gather, it will be 2019, so early best wishes for a new year full of dappled things and the embrace of change. Next time we gather, I'll have the 2018 Poetry Friday Roundups archived at Kidlitosphere Central and the first half of 2019 ready to go. Until then, Donna has today's roundup at Mainely Write.

Poetry Friday -- Cutting Yourself Some Slack, GMH Style

Photo by Karsten Würth (@inf1783) on Unsplash

My Own Heart
by Gerard Manley Hopkins

My own heart let me more have pity on; let
Me live to my sad self hereafter kind,
Charitable; not live this tormented mind
With this tormented mind tormenting yet.
I cast for comfort I can no more get
By groping round my comfortless, than blind
Eyes in their dark can day or thirst can find
Thirst’s all-in-all in all a world of wet.

Soul, self; come, poor Jackself, I do advise
You, jaded, let be; call off thoughts awhile
Elsewhere; leave comfort root-room; let joy size
At God knows when to God knows what; whose smile
‘s not wrung, see you; unforeseen times rather—as skies
Betweenpie mountains—lights a lovely mile.

There are a whole slew of reasons why this is the poem for today. It showed up on The Writer's Almanac on July 29, a day when I was feeling like all the work I'd put in for a fundraiser was not going to be enough and the whole thing would be a spectacular failure. (It wasn't. It also wasn't a huge success, but I'm learning to live with good-enough.) It showed up on the brink of back-to-school, and seems as good a reminder as the poem Carol shared last week. While hers was about work, this seems to be about cutting yourself some slack; leaving comfort some "root-room," remaining open to joy sizing "At God knows when to God knows what." And, just...Gerard Manley Hopkins, who makes me slow down to dig out the beauty and meaning in his poems, and who rewards me the way an un-wrung smile (God's or anyone else's) can break through the cloudy skies of life and light up a "lovely mile."

Donna has the Poetry Friday roundup this week -- Padlet style -- at Mainely Write.

Poetry Friday Roundup is Here!

Wild Atrocity

by Mary Lee Hahn

Glory be to God for silly things --

For running-dives all in a pile of musky autumn leaves;

For rollercoaster rides in the first car alone;

Wet late-March snowball fights; frisbee flings;

Junk food caloric and sweet -- pizza, french fries, sundaes;

And all jokers, their plots and puns and funny bones.

All things humorous, playful, joking, tickly;

Whatever is unplanned, spontaneous (who knows why?)

With smile, grin; laugh, shout; giggle, groan;

They maintain sanity whose beauty is past lunacy:

PRAISE THEM!

Last week I shared PIED BEAUTY by Gerard Manley Hopkins. Above is my take on his classic (last shared May 2008). I'm thinking I might try a new version for Poetry Month...

...Speaking of Poetry Month, I'm cooking up an idea that involves, of course, poetry (writing or finding), along with a little bit of "tag, you're it," and a little bit of treasure hunt...using QR codes. If you're interested in playing along, let me know in the comments or via our blog email (see sidebar).

Now let's get on with the roundup for this week! Leave your link in the comments, and I'll round them up throughout the day. Happy Friday!

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Heidi is "making lemonade" today at My Juicy Little Universe with Taylor Mali and "What Teachers Make."

Charles has a gift for a troubled world at Father Goose -- "Be Still in the World."

Ben continues his Women's History Month countdown at The Small Nouns with a spotlight on Elizabeth Bishop.

Speaking of Women's History Month, Tara, at A Teaching Life, has a poem in remembrance of the 100th anniversary of the Triangle Shirtwaist Fire.

April, at Teaching Authors, shares a thank you poem for an amazing doll and an amazing author visit.

Amy has poem #359, "Eating Reading," at The Poem Farm, the final poem in her series of poems about books and reading and words, and the 360th poem in her poem-a-day-FOR-A-YEAR project that started last year on April 1!

At The Opposite of Indifference, Tabatha has a poem in honor of her grandmother. It will make you smile!

Marjorie's sharing a call for original haiku to benefit the Artists Help Japan Earthquake and Tsunami Fund. Check it out at Paper Tigers. Then submit your haiku.

Travis has a spine poem mystery thriller at 100 Scope Notes, and he invites you to submit yours for his Poetry Month Gallery.

Blythe combines buttons, words, rain, indexing, and poetry in her post, "At the Storm Door," at Blythe Woolston.

Ruth, at There is no such thing as a God-forsaken town, shares a sutra (check her post for the definition) that will encourage you to live abundantly.

Toby has an original poem and a photo to match at the Writer's Armchair, "After Late Snow." Come on, Spring! Get here already!!

Diane's Poetry Friday offerings are "Little Ships" at Random Noodling, "Wild Geese Among the Reeds" at Kurious Kitty, a quote by Jakushitsu (author of "Wild Geese Among the Reeds") at Kurious K's Kwotes, and Emily Dickinson at The Write Sisters.

Laura, aka Author Amok, shares a rich, green, warm, grassy (make-believe) poem by Maryland poet-in-the-schools Vonnie Winslow Crist.

David shares a very silly, very punny original poem, inspired by Joyce Kilmer's "Trees" at Fomagrams.

Pentimento sends out a haiku by Issa to our suffering world.

At Carol's Corner, Carol's poem choice this week,"What to Remember When Waking" will get you thinking about accidents and possibilities.

Laura, at Writing the World for Kids, shares a poem from a new book of elephant poems by Tracy Vaughn Zimmer. The week's 15 Words or Less Poems are here.

Sara's original poem grew out of Laura Purdie Salas' (see above) and Susan Taylor Brown's weekly online poetry book club. Sara's commercial for the book club and her poem are at Read, Write, Believe.

Jama's got a veritable smorgasbord for us today at jama rattigan's alphabet soup: a spine poem, a kitchen utensil poem, drool-worthy photos, and news about her second annual Alphabet Soup Poetry Potluck for National Poetry Month.

Debbie Diller shares a lullaby by Christina Rossetti this week.

Linda's got a review of the first book in J. Patrick Lewis' new series, Tugg and Teeny, at Write Time.

The folks at the Stenhouse Blog (Bill, was that you?) have picked the perfect poem for spring, featuring optimists, old women, and dogs.

Katie, at Secrets and Sharing Soda, has a review of The Tree That Time Built and the cd that accompanies the book.

Anastasia, at Picture Book of the Day, reviews Won Ton: A Cat Tale Told in Haiku. (...methinks a must-have for my classroom library...)

For a moment of meditation, go visit a wrung sponge: beautiful images of cherry blossoms and some of Andi's favorite Basho cherry blossom haiku await you there.

Carol, at Rasco From RIF, reminds us that it's cherry blossom time in Washington, D.C., too! She's got a haiku and some gorgeous pictures to remind us of the hope spring brings and to encourage us to continue to support the rebuilding of Japan.

Kelly takes us to Germany for the first violets of spring in German, English (her own translation!!), and song at Writing and Ruminating. Don't miss the chance to bid on her auction for the Kidlit4Japan fundraiser.

At Wild Rose Reader, Elaine riffs on crocuses with 5 poems in 5 different forms!  At Blue Rose Girls, she has 4 poems in 4 different forms about silkworm cocoons and pupae, along with links and a video about silk-making. Fascinating!

Jeannine, at Views from a Windowseat, shares her thoughts about a new novel in verse (Orchards, by Holly Thompson) that is set mostly in Japan.

At The Blog With the Shockingly Clever Title (I love typing that!), Karen shares "Prayer for Our Daughters" by Mark Jarman.

At Picture Books & Pirouettes, Kerry has a "Read it. Move it. Share it." post based on Dr. Seuss' My Many Colored Days. She combines the poetry in Seuss' book with creative movement for wee ones.

In the book Janet shares, Where is Spring?, a kite is searching for signs of spring. Find out more at All About Books.

Jenny, at Bibio File, has an original haiku about the cherry blossoms in D.C. during her second favorite time of year there.

Loree Griffin Burns has two Taylor Mali video entries for Poetry Friday this week at A Life in Books.

Sylvia, at Poetry For Children, has exciting new information about her (and Janet Wong's) e-book poetry project PoetryTagTime.

Martha Calderaro shares a silly grammar poem today -- "The Grammar Lesson" by Steve Kowit.

Carlie, at Twinkling Along, has an original (and hopeful) spring tanka.

Jone, at Check It Out, gives us a sneak peek at some student poems like the ones she'll be sending out on poetry postcards.

Joyce, at Musings, has an original haiku today.

Sarah, at Books, Dogs and Frogs, has some Edward Lear silliness for us today.

Sherry, at Semicolon, suggests the poetry and sermons of John Donne for our "lenten edification."

Nicole Marie Schreiber, at The Quill and Crayon, shares a poem about the planets that goes nicely with her WIP. (How lucky for a writer to have a last name that means "writer"!!)

At the blog Learning to Let Go, you can read a poem about hawthorn in spring in Ireland.