The Honey of Peace in Old Poems
Practicing Poem-in-Your-Pocket Day Any Time; Making Peace with Mortality
Almost three weeks into April, and if National Poetry Month means anything, the celebration continues all the way to Mayday. (And then — ?)
If you didn’t know that Thursday was Poem in Your Pocket Day, there’s no reason you and I can’t celebrate it today or any day. Initiated in 2002 in New York City, the day is now observed throughout the U.S. and Canada. Here’s my short rendering of how it works:
Choose a poem you like.
Choose a day you like, since April 18, chosen by the Academy of American Poets, has passed us by.
Post copies of your poem wherever you like.
Print your poem and carry it around with you. Read it to anyone who will listen.
Hint: Shorter poems have an undoubted edge in the department of listener satisfaction. ;-)
You undoubtedly have your own favorite poets, but here’s one you may not know so well.
Making Peace with Mortality and Time — Robinson Jeffers
The phrase in the title of this post comes from a short poem by 20th-century California poet Robinson Jeffers, known for his environmental poems and for building Tor House and Hawk Tower at Carmel Point, California.
“To the Stone-cutters” (1924), introduces a signature Jeffers theme: humans and our creations live only a short time compared to the long history of the planet and the universe. In this single-stanza verse, even though we know we are mortal, we take peace in artworks that at least live longer than we do. You can read the whole poem here. I’ll quote a few lines and add commentary.
The poem begins,
Stone-cutters fighting time with marble, you foredefeated Challengers of oblivion ...
Artists challenge time and oblivion by making things to outlast themselves, “[t]he poet as well” as stone-cutters and others who build and create. They are all “foredefeated” because eventually “rock splits”; rain and weather wear down stone carvings. Oblivion always wins. Mortality is the background condition of all human action.
What I love most are the last two lines — when the speaker makes peace with this condition:
Yet stones have stood for a thousand years, and pained
thoughts found
The honey of peace in old poems.Art may not live forever, but it lives long enough to give us peace for the short time that our human pains need comfort.
For more of Jeffers, here are some classic lines from “The Beauty of Things” (1951):
man, you might say, is nature
dreaming, but rock
And water and sky are constant -- to feel
Greatly, and understand greatly, and express greatly, the
natural
Beauty, is the sole business of poetry.Two of my favorite Jeffers poems are “The Bed by the Window” (1932) and “The House Dog’s Grave” (1941). Both continue Jeffers’s theme of making peace with time, death, and mortality. In the first of these, I find Jeffers uncommonly humorous when he describes the guest bed in his home and its secret intention to be the peaceful place where he hopes to take his last breath. The second is also unusual, a poem of consolation spoken from the perspective of the beloved family dog who has died. I recommend you check out the links to both of these short poems.
For many people, “The House Dog’s Grave” is the only Jeffers poem they need. (Thinking of you and other caregivers,
of .)(Thinking of you
with both of these poems. Don’t miss “The Bed by the Window.”)If you’re a Jeffers fan or curious about this writer, you might want to keep up with the Robinson Jeffers Association, which has a Substack newsletter:
Beyond Jeffers
Want to think and write more poetically? Poet and teacher
is kicking off a couple of classes soon at , the first one on thinking poetically (by reading some poets), and the second on writing poetry. Check out her offerings:
If Jeffers is not quite to your taste but you do like poetry, check out
’s and ’s for plenty of additional poems to put in your pocket and read today to the person wearing earbuds at the bus stop. Both offer poems for free subscribers and premium posts, courses, or reading groups for paid subscribers.
I was in a poetic frame of mind over at my primary Stack last week, too. Readers had fun choosing a favorite among the four short stanzas:
Let me know what kind of response you get when you start declaiming your poem in public spaces. :-)
Til next month,
Peace.
✌🏼 Tara
PeaceLinks is a monthly roundup of links from Substack or the wider web relating to peace, cooperation, or common ground. Thank you for reading, liking, and sharing!
Your Turn
Were you already a Jeffers fan before this post? Which poem is your favorite? (Links welcome)
Is Jeffers new to you? What do you think of the suggested poems above?
Are you loopy enough to walk around with a poem in your pocket and blurt it out when the mood strikes? If so, which poem? (It doesn’t have to be from Jeffers, of course!)
“Are you loopy enough to walk around with a poem in your pocket and blurt it out when the mood strikes? If so, which poem?”
Yes.
There once was a man named Adam
Who had his hand on the. . .
(I heard it from my old guy and now I can’t get it out of my mind.)
@tara penry Oooph, ahhh indeed. Thanks for tagging me to read. Reframing duty/loyalty/fidelity towards love/friendship as the 'why' captures why I do what I do. So it does resonate, thanks. I'll explore more when I have time. Saved!