{"id":2450,"date":"2017-11-03T00:00:43","date_gmt":"2017-11-03T04:00:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sites.udmercy.edu\/mission-and-identity\/?p=2450"},"modified":"2019-09-18T16:45:53","modified_gmt":"2019-09-18T20:45:53","slug":"nov-3-denise-levertov-ancient-airs-dances","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sites.udmercy.edu\/poetry\/2017\/11\/03\/nov-3-denise-levertov-ancient-airs-dances\/","title":{"rendered":"Nov 3 &#8211; Denise Levertov &#8220;Ancient Airs &amp; Dances&#8221;"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>Friday, \u00a0November 3 \u00a0 \u2013 \u00a0\u00a0<\/strong>\u201cGreyhaired, I have not grown wiser,\u00a0unless to perceive absurdity\u00a0is wisdom.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The sun came out for Friday in this work week. \u00a0 Autumn\u2019s about 1\/3 finished (if you count from the equinox in September to the winter solstice in December); \u00a0these past days of blustery (some might say \u201ccold!\u201d) \u00a0tough winds \u00a0began to feel like November. \u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Today though,\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/weather.com\">Weather.com<\/a>,\u00a0announces a\u00a0surprise blessing; \u00a0bright sunshine, light wind gusts, clean dry air.<\/p>\n<p>Why does all this end-of-work-week beauty remind me of Denise Levertov\u2019s poem about falling in love as an elderly woman? \u00a0 The poem is as improbably playful, as are these days while the season begins to dance away from the last bits of summer and into serious autumn \u2014 \u00a0leaf-poetry above where we walk. \u00a0Maybe that\u2019s why Denise caught my attention.<\/p>\n<p>Best to read the poem out loud with pauses. \u00a0 Have a blest weekend.<\/p>\n<p>john sj<\/p>\n<p><strong>today\u2019s post \u00a0\u201c<\/strong>Ancient Airs and Dances\u201d<\/p>\n<p>I<\/p>\n<p>I knew too well<br \/>\nwhat had befallen me<br \/>\nwhen, one night, I put my lips to his wineglass<br \/>\nafter he left\u2013an impulse I thought was locked away with a smile<br \/>\ninto memory\u2019s museum.<\/p>\n<p>When he took me to visit friends and the sea, he lay<br \/>\nasleep in the next room\u2019s dark where the fire<br \/>\nrustled all night; and I, from a warm bed, sleepless,<br \/>\nwatched through the open door<br \/>\nthat glowing hearth, and heard,<br \/>\ndrumming the roof, the rain\u2019s<br \/>\ninsistent heartbeat.<\/p>\n<p>Greyhaired, I have not grown wiser,<br \/>\nunless to perceive absurdity<br \/>\nis wisdom. A powerless wisdom.<\/p>\n<p>II<\/p>\n<p>Shameless heart! Did you not vow to learn<br \/>\nstillness from the heron<br \/>\nquiet from the mists of fall,<br \/>\nand from the mountain\u2013what was it?<br \/>\nPride? Remoteness?<br \/>\nYou have forgotten already!<br \/>\nAnd now you clamor again<br \/>\nlike an obstinate child demanding attention,<br \/>\ninterrupting study and contemplation.<br \/>\nYou try my patience. Bound as we are<br \/>\ntogether for life, must you now,<br \/>\nso late in the day, go bounding sideways,<br \/>\ntrying to drag me with you?<\/p>\n<p>Denise Levertov \u2013\u00a0<u>Evening Train<\/u><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/sites.udmercy.edu\/poetry\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/170\/2014\/10\/Denise-Levertov.jpg\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-866\" src=\"https:\/\/sites.udmercy.edu\/poetry\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/170\/2014\/10\/Denise-Levertov.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"286\" height=\"289\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Friday, \u00a0November 3 \u00a0 \u2013 \u00a0\u00a0\u201cGreyhaired, I have not grown wiser,\u00a0unless to perceive absurdity\u00a0is wisdom.\u201d The sun came out for Friday in this work week. \u00a0 Autumn\u2019s about 1\/3 finished (if you count from the equinox in September to the &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/sites.udmercy.edu\/poetry\/2017\/11\/03\/nov-3-denise-levertov-ancient-airs-dances\/\">Continue reading <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":139,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[11641],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.udmercy.edu\/poetry\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2450"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.udmercy.edu\/poetry\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.udmercy.edu\/poetry\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.udmercy.edu\/poetry\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/139"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.udmercy.edu\/poetry\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2450"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/sites.udmercy.edu\/poetry\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2450\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2451,"href":"https:\/\/sites.udmercy.edu\/poetry\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2450\/revisions\/2451"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.udmercy.edu\/poetry\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2450"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.udmercy.edu\/poetry\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2450"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.udmercy.edu\/poetry\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2450"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}