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Dante in Modern Times
If I were Dante, and the quest were mine
To reprise chapters of his Comedie
For modern times, perhaps no less Divine
For being steeped in modern tragedie,
I’d start with Hell, where sinners roast in fires
Fueled by falsehoods told, retold and spun
Into the hearts of angry, piggish liars
Who aim to see democracy undone.
In Purgatory we would find the souls
Of those who sat back, watched, but did not speak,
Or turned away, declined to reach the polls,
And let their evil fellows rant and shriek.
Who, then, for Heaven, in this bleak domain?
Who merits eons of untrammeled peace?
Perhaps those few who troubled to remain
In loyalty to truth, to never cease.
It is no Comedie that now we face,
But demons who assail the human race.
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October Reverie
The woods today are strewn with speckled leaves—
A bridal path of yellow, green, and red.
We walk like wedding guests whose eyes receive
A splendor floating down from overhead.
Such brilliant color fast beguiles the mind
In hopes this scene, like lovers’ vows, will stand
As testament to beauty unconfined,
Enduring glints of graceful timberland.
At eventide the trees turn burnished gold,
Their muted colors lend an afterglow,
But thinning woodlands can no longer hold
Their treasure trove of summer’s leafy show.
Thus nature ever chastens us to muse
On timeless beauty time will make us lose.
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Rob Fried is an 81 year-old emerging poet, a retired professor of education. He has authored several books, including The Passionate Teacher (1995, Beacon Press) and The Game of School (2005, Wiley). He lives in Concord, New Hampshire.
Rob, both poems are skillfully wrought with substantive thoughts that beguile with vigor and vivid imagery. I have my own term for the first one–I call it “Sonnetesque,” since it reads like a sonnet but with an extended verse. “Dante in Modern Times” is a great poem drawing upon Dante’s pictures of hell and purgatory to reflect the realities of our degraded and desultory modern times in scintillating parallels that are at once fascinating and chilling. “October Reverie” makes great use of the colors of leaves in nature to fashion a poem of beauty and serenity with the final punctuation of our consciousness related to the passing of time,
Thank you, Roy, for your kind and appreciative comments. I am quite new to “Po Biz”, so this is my first publication. Do you have a poem or two of yours that you would like to share?
Rob
Bless you, Rob, for the wonderful poems and for asking about mine. There are two ways that are easy ones to see mine:
A. Click on “ABOUT US” on the top left/Find “See Official Members” near the bottom left and click on “See a full list of SCP Members and click on “here.”/Then find my name in blue and click on it.
B. My Book of SCP published poems is on the right side of the page as an ad.
I liked Dante in Modern Times, not only for its message about ‘piggish liars / Who aim to see democracy undone’, but for not stating what ‘the truth’ might be and who exactly is in possession of the truth.
It seems to me that a problem these days is that everyone nurtures their own version of ‘the truth’, without being open to the possibility of being wrong, nor being able to stand back and dispassionately look at both sides.
On October Reverie, it’s full of great imagery, making my inner eye work overtime. I particularly enjoyed the allusions to leaves being like confetti.
One of my favourite lines, in addition to the final couplet, is: ‘But thinning woodlands can no longer hold / Their treasure trove of summer’s leafy show’. Magic!
Thanks for the reads, Rob. You have – in my opinion – officially emerged. I look forward to reading your next poetic foray.
Hello Paul,
Thank you very much for your most generous and thoughtful comments on my poems. You are totally correct that I need to pay more attention to punctuation. Truth be told, I am so focused on rhyme, meter, and flow that I leave punctuation for the end–and then often move on to the next sonnet or triolet and forget to go back and place periods and commas where they belong.
Rob
Your “first publications”, Mr. Fried, are impressive, and we look forward to reading more of your work!
Dear Joseph,
Thank you for your thoughtful response to my poems, today. You are totally correct that I need to pay more attention to punctuation. Truth be told, I am so focused on rhyme, meter, and flow that I leave punctuation for the end–and then often move on to the next sonnet or triolet and forget to go back and place periods and commas where they belong. (I believe I inadvertently sent this to another respondent) I will endeavor to be more careful in the future..
Dear Joseph,
Thank you for your thoughtful response to my poems, today. I believe I inadvertently sent to another respondent my appreciation for your comments on punctuation. I will endeavor to be more careful in the future..
Two beautifully charming poems! I particularly enjoyed October Reverie, your colourful imagery is mesmerising. All seasons are enchanting, but Autumn seems to bestow many brief and colourful gifts. Your poem captured the essence of autumn perfectly.
“October Reverie” is a lovely autumn sonnet–picturing a colorful celebration with wistful and realistic touches of sadness. The final line is almost Shakespearean.
Dante has seemed to be on the radar a lot more as of late. Or perhaps he’s always there and only one’s awareness comes and goes. Anyway, it was a pleasure to encounter him in your first sonnet’s application of him to our times.
These lines:
“Thus nature ever chastens us to muse
On timeless beauty time will make us lose.”
to close out your final sonnet were just the best. Today, I enjoyed the sip of archaism of “chastens,” whose age accented the lines commentary on age–all to the tune of a Shakespearian paradox. Score!!
Well Rob I am delighted that you are looking for a modern Dante in these perilous and treacherous times; also, that at 81 you’re starting the process – quite awesome. Love the poem and the last line especially, but have to tell you as well, that this project – resurrecting Dante – is something I have been involved with for 7 years now: look down the right side of this page and you will see StairWell, volume 2 of the English Cantos (aka Purgatory) and it’s all in terza rima too. So, you know: you are not alone! Contact me directly and we can perhaps republish any work you have on Dante on our English Cantos website if you like!
Hello James
So good to hear from you, and happy to contribute my poem to your Dante project if you would like to include it in your work. Most of my efforts are in Shakespearean sonnets and in triolets, if you’re familiar with that form.
Rob
These are both wonderful! Congratulations— your entry into the “ po biz” seems to have made quite a splash!