Posted by Ashok Sharda on 06/08/05 at 03:11 PM Reading ''Dusk' of Twenty-Nine' after having read 'and she ran….'
generated hope and faith in the 'thirties, as you have welcomed in
your authors note- 'good bye to the 'dusk' of 29, greeting to the dawn
of 30'. Needless to say that there wouldn't be 30 if there weren't 20.
But this only makes sense when one realizes the emptiness of the
roaring twenties,'donning beneath dry veils festive flappers draped
upon wet swinging' and resolve to work to turn this 'dusk' into a
'dawn'.
The simile that you have drawn between the abundance of the pre-1929,
referring to the contemporary undisciplined ways and ruthless approach
to life, using cultural representative terms of the era-'beneath dry
veils', flappers', 'wet swinging whistles', 'jazz parade' 'gin filled
tubs and many more, with the roaring youth of the twenties and its
ruthless ways and approach towards life-' foolish youths consumed
deep within death's ruthless throat in hordes'.
You have also drawn a simile by presenting a similarity of the fate of
the crash of 1929 with the 'dusk' of 29 (ironically, and how beautiful
this feels that you are 29 with this meaningful ILHAAM in the form of
this realization and dawn).
Yes, the alluring death always approaches us disguised as life and we
in our roaring twenties fail to SEE through this disguise, spending-'
tender fleeting greens so poorly' as the people spend their 'tenders'
in 'bounty of abundant shares',(of course tender is money but also our
youth is green and tender and fleeting ) leading to the crash of 29.
The last stanza revives hope, as it should, after this ILHAAM of the
'dusk', evaluation of the causes of the crash of 29, of the 'daunting
peaks of wasted time approach, of ' the shallow depths of vacant
aims', of the disguise of the death, as this 'little tramp' within (
and this is so subtle) who was ever present in the twenties but
shrouded, speechless hence absent in its presence, now asserts and
speaks of this beautiful realization of the 'dawn' ( dusk)of twenty
nine.
Events are inter-connected Rula Shin, and the dusk is the beginning of
the dawn. This is how I interpret the dusk in inverted comas- 'with
faith that every dying dusk we mourn is but the rousing birth of wiser
dawns'. Hats off to you.
Life cannot be measured in terms of time on the scale we measure time.
Life has to be measured in the time we live, merged with the time and
not fractured, aware of living as against 'tender fleeting greens so
poorly spent'. Yes, we need to spend this precious life meaningfully,
filling it with our basic instinct manifesting in meaning. This is a
brilliant piece. |
Posted by Paul Marino on 06/09/05 at 05:35 PM ah, wonderful final two lines. as for the first stanza, i was amazed at how it flowed and actually strengthened with the final word in each line, as if the poem was being catapulted. pleasure to read. |
Posted by Philip F De Pinto on 06/10/05 at 01:01 PM congratulations, Rula, on making that wide turn into next decade of your years and may that vehicle which is you never run out of gas and may it venture forth and never weary to look forward or back or in between. the silent tramp has spoken and in thus speaking saying, Rula, you have done immensely well with the words that you have driven home here. |
Posted by JD Clay on 05/28/06 at 01:37 AM Ah yes, the tears we shed and the masks we don,
all those valuable lessons in this game called life. I get a sense of rebirth from this transitory piece, glad you pulled it off.
pe4ce... |