tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2883979841111173610.post7084278780258588261..comments2024-02-05T00:16:13.698-05:00Comments on Banjo52: John Crowe Ransom, "Bells for John Whiteside’s Daughter": Sympathy vs. Judgment and the Dramatic MonologueBanjo52http://www.blogger.com/profile/04342397136888422440noreply@blogger.comBlogger13125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2883979841111173610.post-28631319615238154202011-07-27T15:22:53.472-04:002011-07-27T15:22:53.472-04:00Paula, it's interesting to wonder just how sou...Paula, it's interesting to wonder just how southern the poem is, especially given Ransom's southern roots. I wouldn't argue with you, though I'd ask if you think yankees are exempt from such . . . complex? vexing? . . . attitudes, responses. Probably not, I'd say. The poem feels aristocratic to me, but I don't think his thoughts and feelings are class-bound either. <br /><br />Brenda, I don't think he hates her. It's not that simple, and having found her sometimes noisy or annoying could be a long way from hatred. I'm not even sure his "vexation" outweighs his sadness at losing the "speed in her little body" or "the lightness of her footfall." How perplexing to see all that action and noise converted to "her brown study," her serious, meditative expression (if memory serves, that's the meaning of "brown study," which might be a southern idiom). <br /><br />I'm certainly not asking anyone to feel hatred for that or any child, and I don't think the speaker feels anything as simple or extreme as hatred. But I do wonder how honest I am, or we all are, in the wake of the death of someone we didn't especially care for, or toward whom we felt simultaneously positive and negative emotions. Funerals, weddings, and other social ceremonies are notorious for bringing out hypocrisy, or at least false-fancy rhetoric and empty gestures. Aren't they?Banjo52https://www.blogger.com/profile/04342397136888422440noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2883979841111173610.post-50772436950498290222011-07-27T09:00:53.958-04:002011-07-27T09:00:53.958-04:00In ten years, will this child be remembered as les...In ten years, will this child be remembered as less than perfect? I side with PA here. Will people not look at her grave stone and feel sorry for the robbed life, the sadness the parents knew, the emptiness left behind? <br /><br />Banjomyn, will your next post be on a specific mean child you know/taught/fought - so that we can better view this poem's dramatic monologue and feel hatred toward the child?Brenda's Arizonahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17880225110712592548noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2883979841111173610.post-38676327255856517652011-07-26T20:03:25.049-04:002011-07-26T20:03:25.049-04:00I started to say this in my earlier comment but th...I started to say this in my earlier comment but then relented. This is a poem with Southern sensibilities, ie, the narrator views this tom boy as a belle in embryo, waiting for her to bloom into her assigned role. I found him irritating but I understand him.PJhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12059415005282675289noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2883979841111173610.post-23589441363536979422011-07-26T19:58:57.513-04:002011-07-26T19:58:57.513-04:00AH, I DO think he's found her irritating. Alth...AH, I DO think he's found her irritating. Although he says "we," I'm not sure he presumes to speak for everyone there, but maybe he does. And I'm asking, Is it OK for him to say so, up front, at least to himself? Or would he be a better man to hang on to the fact of her youth and mourn accordingly, even if she was a little loud, a bit of a pest, especially to the geese?Banjo52https://www.blogger.com/profile/04342397136888422440noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2883979841111173610.post-847631831905301582011-07-26T16:26:42.381-04:002011-07-26T16:26:42.381-04:00I can't quite get my teeth into this one. At f...I can't quite get my teeth into this one. At first, I thought he was being funny -- you know, like an irritating child and no one really regrets the passing.<br /><br />But you made me read it three times, and I guess that's not it. In which case, well, I'm not connecting.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2883979841111173610.post-90018102252071612892011-07-26T08:07:34.225-04:002011-07-26T08:07:34.225-04:00Rune, I keep thinking, if it's hard for me to ...Rune, I keep thinking, if it's hard for me to imagine in Norway, what's it like for you who live there? <br /><br />Crow, welcome and thanks. Critters, paintings, photos, and good words aplenty at your W.Va. place.Banjo52https://www.blogger.com/profile/04342397136888422440noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2883979841111173610.post-76941655624053293292011-07-25T17:56:21.521-04:002011-07-25T17:56:21.521-04:00Another side note, Thank you for your comments ove...Another side note, Thank you for your comments over at my place. I have read them more than twice.<br /><br />One never knows how a touch into another soul's reality. How that contact soon ripples out like a stone cast into still water.<br /><br />I enjoyed today's poetry, and the simple why of how you decided to share it. <br /><br />My best,<br />~crowCrowhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13450175157643194938noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2883979841111173610.post-67901065265981436732011-07-25T15:54:52.427-04:002011-07-25T15:54:52.427-04:00A bit on the side, but: Thank your very nice comm...A bit on the side, but: Thank your very nice comment and condolences. they are highly appreciated.Rune Eidehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01008247272056395901noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2883979841111173610.post-41907932558493584932011-07-25T08:31:29.212-04:002011-07-25T08:31:29.212-04:00and then bewilderment leading to sorrow..and then bewilderment leading to sorrow..PJhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12059415005282675289noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2883979841111173610.post-2554805414875645462011-07-24T23:49:55.554-04:002011-07-24T23:49:55.554-04:00Ransom certainly has me standing in judgement. Vex...Ransom certainly has me standing in judgement. Vexing? How awful is that word being used here. I think it's important to know, though, that we might not be able to sort out our feelings at times when we think we should so we won't rely on such a lack of empathy to carry us. In that light, confusion could be a welcome state of mind. <br /><br />PA, interesting point. When I was taking creative writing classes I wrote a poem about a miscarriage I had. All was well until I allowed it to be published and there was a simple typo that threw the whole thing off. No more publishing poems that personal after that.PJhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12059415005282675289noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2883979841111173610.post-28244868204530715482011-07-24T20:10:26.475-04:002011-07-24T20:10:26.475-04:00PA, Yeah, sentimentality is always a potential pro...PA, Yeah, sentimentality is always a potential problem, but some subjects are just asking for trouble. <br /><br />James Michael Sterling Seymour Franklin B? THAT Bukowski? :)Banjo52https://www.blogger.com/profile/04342397136888422440noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2883979841111173610.post-18975698792413738042011-07-24T19:53:42.973-04:002011-07-24T19:53:42.973-04:00of course none of the above applies to Bukowskiof course none of the above applies to BukowskiPasadena Adjacenthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09031325790590238246noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2883979841111173610.post-54151567712078796562011-07-24T19:52:53.756-04:002011-07-24T19:52:53.756-04:00spoken as "us and we" gives the author t...spoken as "us and we" gives the author the needed distance. No details as to the why. Vexed I think of as being cross, but in this case it's about disbelief. I once heard a woman artist, (well respected) answer when questioned why her experience of childbirth etc didn't make an appearance in her art. She said because the intensity of the experience would only come out sentimental. It's the puppy and kitten problem. The dryer the delivery, the better the result.Pasadena Adjacenthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09031325790590238246noreply@blogger.com