Poetry 101: Two Songs for Hedli Anderson

This has been long overdue. :| well, as you all know, my enthusiasm for poetry has been continuously blossoming since I had introduction to poetry back in first year college. I do not necessarily dissect poems like a mad scientist. More of a silly lab student who likes staring at fancy figures under the microscope. So I came across this poem on the internet, and I found out that it's actually a continuation or probably a second chapter to the previous poem I posted on this blog, the Funeral Blues. To see the post, you can check it out here. The poems are called Two Songs for Hedli Anderson, unsure if that's really the title for both, or just a general title for the two poems (since the first one has its own title). I could not find any real title for this second poem, but it's really an interesting one.

O the valley in the summer where I and my John
Beside the deep river would walk on and on
While the flowers at our feet and the birds up above
Argued so sweetly on reciprocal love,
And I leaned on his shoulder; 'O Johnny, let's play':
But he frowned like thunder and he went away.

O that Friday near Christmas as I well recall
When we went to the Charity Matinee Ball,
The floor was so smooth and the band was so loud
And Johnny so handsome I felt so proud;
'Squeeze me tighter, dear Johnny, let's dance till it's day':
But he frowned like thunder and he went away.

Shall I ever forget at the Grand Opera
When music poured out of each wonderful star?
Diamonds and pearls they hung dazzling down
Over each silver and golden silk gown;
'O John I'm in heaven,' I whispered to say:
But he frowned like thunder and he went away.

O but he was fair as a garden in flower,
As slender and tall as the great Eiffel Tower,
When the waltz throbbed out on the long promenade
O his eyes and his smile they went straight to my heart;
'O marry me, Johnny, I'll love and obey':
But he frowned like thunder and he went away.

O last night I dreamed of you, Johnny, my lover,
You'd the sun on one arm and the moon on the other,
The sea it was blue and the grass it was green,
Every star rattled a round tambourine;
Ten thousand miles deep in a pit there I lay:
But you frowned like thunder and you went away.

When I first read this poem, I had mixed emotions. Had it been uttered on its natural syllabication and rhythm, it actually sounds joyful. Sounds like the first two lines of a limerick, only gone up to 6 lines. Magnificent imageries and romantic scenes are thrown on the first four lines of each stanza, but the last two ruins the whole image, like a perfect blending of liquid colors on a pond disturbed by a huge rock landing on it. And again, no nosebleed words. Every meaning is reachable and no need for a thesaurus.

What's also good about the poem is that although the word selection is not hifalutin or hyperbolic, it uses the setting to set up a grandiose emotion, similar to how a pompous person describes his vacation or his date with a girlfriend like "When music poured out of each wonderful star?/ Diamonds and pearls they hung dazzling down/Over each silver and golden silk gown." Well, we're not sure if he/she is a woman or a man because, again, W.H. auden is gay, but the persona's not the poet, so put this poem into whatever context you want. :D after describing the beauty of the setting, it would then burst the bubble through the last two lines. It builds up this expectation to the reader that Johnny will say yes to the persona even for once, but up until the end of the poem, he didn't. Sad. :\

Another thing that I like about the poem is that, it translates to every age bracket, whether it be during the teen ages, adulthood, marriage times or our decaying days. You can read it like it's one of your teenage dreams gone bad because of a jerk, or a marriage dilemma one is going through, or a sweet-gone-sour relationship of two old people reminiscing how they have been during their youth and how they are now that grampa's out of his gun load already. Or it could actually be a whole walk of life, starting from the park dates, matinee balls, your Paris vacations together, up to the point that your body now lies under the ground, and Johnny still "frowned like thunder and [he] went away." It's sad it's sad, but hey, that's the beauty of the poem; it brings us to such mixtures of emotions that after reading it, we don't actually know how to feel about it. Well for me, that is. :) enjoy reading it over and over. you might get something new from the poem the next time you read it. :>