Sunday 28 October 2012

Day 128: Excursion to the Planet Mercury


If poetry is a product of the imagination, then this poem is a testament to that faculty's immense power. Mercury. The planet Mercury. Who would think to write a poem on it? What would you write? How would you describe it?
 
Well, if you're Alice Oswald, wonderfully. A 'tiny iron island' of a planet, a 'violently magic little place' where the 'sky is racing along/ like a blue wrapper flapped and let go.' Her range of figurative language is astonishing. Mercury is a place with 'nothing but glimmering beginnings/making ready to manifest' with 'feather-footed winds.'
 
Most of all, it is a place open to the imagination and as Alice Oswald shows here, that kind of place can be anything you want it to be.


Excursion to the Planet Mercury - Alice Oswald

certain evenings a little before the golden
foam of the horizon has properly hardened
you can see a tiny iron island
very close indeed to the sun.

all craters and mirrors, the uncanny country
of the planet Mercury - a mystery
without I without air,
without you without sound.

in that violently magic little place
the sky is racing along
like a blue wrapper flapped and let go
from a car window.

now hot now cold
the ground moves fast,
a few stones frisk about
looking for a foothold

but it shales it slides
the whole concept is only
loosely fastened
to a few weak tweaks of gravity.

o the weather is dreadful there:
thousand-year showers of dust
all dandruff and discarded shells
of creatures too swift to exist:

paupers beggars toughs
boys in dresses
who come alive and crumble
at the mercy of metamorphosis

no nothing accumulates there
not even mist
nothing but glimmering beginnings
making ready to manifest.

as for the catastrophe
of nights on mercury,
hiding in a rock-smashed hollow
at about two hundred degrees below zero

the feather-footed winds
take off their guises there,
they go in gym shoes
thieving and lifting

and their amazed expressions
have been soundproofed, nevertheless
they go on howling
for gladness sheer glaadness


Taken from © Woods etc. (Faber & Faber, 2005)

8 comments:

  1. Hey! I know this is kind of off topic but I was wondering which blog platform are you using for this site?

    I'm getting sick and tired of Wordpress because I've had issues with hackers and I'm looking at options for another platform. I would be great if you could point me in the direction of a good platform.

    my blog ... http://www.satellitecardsharing.com/cccam-server-downloads/

    ReplyDelete
  2. Excellent article. Keep posting such kind of information on your blog.
    Im really impressed by it.
    Hello there, You've performed an excellent job. I will definitely digg it and in my view recommend to my friends. I'm confident they'll be benefited from this web site.

    My webpage :: frances ha wiki

    ReplyDelete
  3. Wonderful beat ! I wish to apprentice while you amend your web site, how
    can i subscribe for a blog website? The account aided me a acceptable deal.
    I had been a little bit acquainted of this your broadcast offered bright clear
    idea

    Feel free to surf to my weblog :: homepage

    ReplyDelete
  4. Way cool! Some very valid points! I appreciate you writing this article plus the rest of the
    website is really good.

    my website huis huren frankrijk

    ReplyDelete
  5. I am in fact pleased to read this blog posts which consists of lots
    of useful information, thanks for providing these data.

    Also visit my homepage; particuliere vakantiehuizen

    ReplyDelete
  6. I love your blog. This is a cool site and I wanted to post a little note to tell you, good job! Best wishes!!!

    ReplyDelete
  7. My programmer is trying to convince me to move to .net from PHP.
    I have always disliked the idea because of the expenses.
    But he's tryiong none the less. I've been using WordPress on several websites for
    about a year and am worried about switching to another platform.
    I have heard good things about blogengine.net.
    Is there a way I can import all my wordpress posts into it?

    Any help would be really appreciated!

    Here is my weblog ... portable tv Dvd [www.youtube.com]

    ReplyDelete
  8. Being a vampire is not what it seems like. It’s a life full of good, and amazing things. We are as human as you are.. It’s not what you are that counts, but how you choose to be. Do you want a life full of interesting things? Do you want to have power and influence over others? To be charming and desirable? To have wealth, health, and longevity? contact the vampires creed today via email: Richvampirekindom@gmail.com

    ReplyDelete

I'd love to hear what you think! To leave a comment - comment as/sign in with your Google ID if you have one, or website or blog address, or if these don't apply, sign in as Anonymous, and leave your name if you like!