The wanderer— earth-stepper, shaper of men and slaughter of the wrathful // Ezra Kennedy
The wanderer initially strikes me as a man forced into his mind. He dwells on his own and is left to his own thoughts. The thoughts projected in this poem, it seems are all gloomy. Accompanied by sorrow and heavy eyes, he/she takes up the path of exile.
This entire poem seems to be stream-of-consciousness, every thought this wanderer has is being “broadcasted”—Wisdom, Pain, love, sorrow, and loneliness. It all doesn’t sound coherent to me, one moment he is talking about how there is no one alive that can make sense of his mind’s language (lines 8/14) and the next the loneliness of of his troubled, trapped heart. Actually, those two parts kind of link up in some manner.
Well, reading this poem definitely made me think of how I tend to think more when I’m alone, I even tend to think aloud more often, and from our solitude conversations we reach our innermost values. But being left to your thoughts also leaves you to your emotions— your sorrow, your loneliness, or anger. It’s always when you’re almost asleep or can’t sleep at all when your brain wants to remind you of every mortifying instance recorded through your life. It’s always when you’ve separated yourself from the public to get work done that you suddenly have a remarkable revelation of what is wrong with the economy. Sometimes we can’t help being left to ourselves, and we certainly can’t help what awaits us when we get there. We’re all wanderers of thought and heart issues. Where are our joys? What are our plights? Why do our sorrows plague us in a relentless manner? Why do we care?
P.S., I commented on Brenna’s and Sydney’s posts
This entire poem seems to be stream-of-consciousness, every thought this wanderer has is being “broadcasted”—Wisdom, Pain, love, sorrow, and loneliness. It all doesn’t sound coherent to me, one moment he is talking about how there is no one alive that can make sense of his mind’s language (lines 8/14) and the next the loneliness of of his troubled, trapped heart. Actually, those two parts kind of link up in some manner.
Well, reading this poem definitely made me think of how I tend to think more when I’m alone, I even tend to think aloud more often, and from our solitude conversations we reach our innermost values. But being left to your thoughts also leaves you to your emotions— your sorrow, your loneliness, or anger. It’s always when you’re almost asleep or can’t sleep at all when your brain wants to remind you of every mortifying instance recorded through your life. It’s always when you’ve separated yourself from the public to get work done that you suddenly have a remarkable revelation of what is wrong with the economy. Sometimes we can’t help being left to ourselves, and we certainly can’t help what awaits us when we get there. We’re all wanderers of thought and heart issues. Where are our joys? What are our plights? Why do our sorrows plague us in a relentless manner? Why do we care?
P.S., I commented on Brenna’s and Sydney’s posts
"It’s always when you’re almost asleep or can’t sleep at all when your brain wants to remind you of every mortifying instance recorded through your life." Haha, yes! I have definitely experienced that. Once I was reading a sports psychology book in which it was pointed out that we tend to remember times when we performed especially badly better than we remember the times that we performed well. I haven't seen a satisfying explanation of why we are like this. Of course, the book's point is that we ought not dwell on these bad times but, instead, record the good times as they happen and think about them often.
ReplyDelete"It’s always when you’ve separated yourself from the public to get work done that you suddenly have a remarkable revelation of what is wrong with the economy." I find this hilariously relatable!
I really enjoy this post. I agree that when we are alone, we think more often (i don't know if it's always aloud) and "get in our feelings." When you said "We are all wanderers of thought and heart issues," that really hit me. I didn't even think about really considering how that poem relates to use, but you are certainly right. When we are all we all tend to wander. We are all the wanderer.
ReplyDeleteI think the reason we don't relate as much with being left alone inner thought =s is because of social media today. It is so easy for us to distract ourselves with other things, but also easier for us to have our thoughts heard. I also think that often times when we are feeling "poetic" we turn to social media as an outlet for venting. I find that people think it much easier to type on twitter than to speak their minds in words. Great post! And I would love to hear you talk more in class!
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