Derek Mahon 'Everything Is Going To Be All Right' 1979 How should I not be glad to contemplate the clouds clearing beyond the dormer window and a high tide reflected on the ceiling? There will be dying, there will be dying, but there is no need to go into that. The poems flow from the hand unbidden and the hidden source is the watchful heart. The sun rises in spite of everything and the far cities are beautiful and bright. I lie here in a riot of sunlight watching the day break and the clouds flying. Everything is going to be all right.
Everything is Going to be All Right How should I not be glad to contemplate the clouds clearing beyond the dormer window and a high tide reflected on the ceiling? There will be dying, there will be dying, but there is no need to go into that. The poems flow from the hand unbidden and the hidden source is the watchful heart. The sun rises in spite of everything and the far cities are beautiful and bright. I lie here in a riot of sunlight watching the day break and the clouds flying. Everything is going to be all right. Derek Mahon, from Selected Poems
Ever since I heard Robert Lowell reciting his own work many years ago , I've been struck by how often poets read themselves aloud in a kind of flat monotone ; it's almost akin to embarrassement. Let poets write and the actors recite.
@@gurubody I agree entirely Lindsay. I think it has been read wonderfully well, authentic and deep from within the soul. An unfair and unkind generalisation Sean [ and I do agree that poets are not always the best readers of their own work. However, I disagree in this case - I hear no embarrassment here just empathy and concern for fellow human beings coping with the sometimes absurd nature of the human condition ]. RTE recently ended the news with this reading, poignant in our difficult times. All the very best to both of you and stay well. twitter.com/i/status/1243669161068376064
Sean MacCartan hell no. actors see it as a chance to express themselves. this misses the point. poems are for the *reader to express themselves. poets read in a quiet and undramatic way for a reason. the words are drama enough.
Regardless of how one might feel about the style of reading given here, or about some of the other lines, the line "but there is no need to go into that" is so utterly valueless. It's like a politician's soundbite put into verse.
Yes, it is a valueless line and could be thought of as a cop out for a poem but it does also tell about a legitimate attitude of resigning yourself to it all. Personally, I find the last line the worst in this appealing poem. It isn't going to be all right in fact, if we think about the millions who have died or lost people they care about this year: many long before they were supposed to die in old age.
Your comment is naive at best. Just spend a little time exploring poetry, and eventually, you will realise what a gem this is. Your laziness is understandable if you have not read poetry if you have...
padraig65 You wrote: “ Your comment is naive at best.” Your opinion is arrogant, ill informed, founded upon baseless assumptions and illogical at best. “Just spend a little time exploring poetry,” I’ve been reading and writing poetry since I was ten years old, and won a junior eisteddfod prize at that age - in Welsh which was my second language. “and eventually, you will realise what a gem this is.” No I won’t. And it’s not a “gem”, it doesn’t even qualify as a turd, but is in fact demonstrably a dingleberry of lazy verse. “Your laziness is understandable if you have not read poetry if you have...” Tripe. More idiotic assumptions based upon your own brain farts. Among thousands of poems, I read the great Wilfred Owen’s ‘Dulce et Decorum est’ at 14. Having grown up with a father who spent most of his time in the Western desert operating behind enemy lines, and a grandfather who fought in many of the major battles of the Somme, and was among the Canadians who took Vimy Ridge, I was appalled. I believed it was my duty to be so. There was no space in my world for such attitudes which my young mind perceived as defeatism. But I volunteered for service in Rhodesia at 18, and saw human conflict, close up, at its most raw. Then, upon coming down from the turmoil, both physical and mental, I came to understand, and much more importantly, respect and LOVE Owen. His wisdom sears hand in hand with his integrity and bravery. Learning the full story of that work, and of his demise soon after, makes it all the more poignant. Many others have spoken of these emotions since. A poignant example for the current situation is Martin Neimöller’s ‘First They Came...’ Mahon utterly fails to challenge ideas or reader, choosing instead LAZY LAZY repetition, boredom inducing self pitying self reporting, and much worse, deception and contradictions, meaning his words fail to even convey an intent to be honest - with himself, never mind the reader. Wallow in its putrid drivel if you want, but don’t pretend you know more about poetry than someone you’ve never met. That THING is proof of the dumbing down of everything, including poetry over the last 100 years. Modern exceptions are rare. Kate Tempest’s ‘What We Came After’ is one. She tears wisdom from the bard, and, like Owen, brings tears to my eyes with that last line - every time. Offensive I found that THING Pinned to fence Printed with poor linespacing In the wrong font Encapsulated in plastic... Appropriately It bleated fake hope From behind self obsessed laziness Paraded as virtue Repetition to fill space In a head lost in clouds - Poking out of deception On encountering ‘Everything is Going to be All Right’ by Derek Mahon - on my way to the bank, from the last free parking, a mile from the city. “Then you KNOW that hell is empty, ‘cause all the devils are HERE!”
Ross Lindsay Good afternoon. Thank you for your response and question. Poetry is very subjective. The above comments are evidence of this. There are great poets. There are famous poets. There are great poems. There are famous poems. I just read everything, and find what works for me. There’s also poetry in SOME modern music. Joanna Newsome’s early work and Bruce Springsteen’s lyrics are very different, but both are really poems put to music. This might surprise you, but if you read the lyrics to ‘Born in The USA’ you will not only not find the flag waving rock anthem most people assume it to be, but you will find one of the New Jersey bard’s many anti war stories in verse form. It’s also a biography of American youth, an actual life story of many, and possibly the greatest, most succinct movie script of all time. I personally believe that the very best poems come from extremis, honesty and innocence. So Browning’s ‘The Patriot’ and ‘Incident of The French Camp’ speak to me, as do the Great War poets of 1914-19 era. Wilfred Owen is by far the greatest, speaking truth from a personal place of extreme internal anguish, but also anger. He cut to the very core of the lie used to make wars happen. I’m a straight guy, but I love Wilfred Owen. I feel honoured to have his words in my head. Yes, Dulce et Decorum est is a collaborative effort which would have been censored if it was released by Owen during the war. But that speaks more solidly of its honesty. War requires collaboration between men and women to survive. The same is no less true in finding and sharing your truth. If you want to find the purest poetry, ask children, as young as you can find them, to write their inner thoughts. THERE you will find poetry with more honesty than any adult heart can bear to hear or read without emotion. Their clumsiness is an integral part of the process. It’s everywhere my friend, even on the subway walls. Peace
