A Writer's Moment: Reflecting on 'The Truly Great'

A Writer's Moment: Reflecting on 'The Truly Great':   “Great poetry is always written by somebody straining to go beyond what he can do.” – Stephen Spender Spender, bor...

Reflecting on 'The Truly Great'

 

“Great poetry is always written by somebody straining to go beyond what he can do.” – Stephen Spender

Spender, born on this date in 1909, was an English poet, novelist and essayist who concentrated on themes of social justice.  A frequent lecturer and visiting professor at U.S. colleges and universities, he became the first non-U.S. poet (from 1965-68) to serve as Poet Laureate Consultant to the United States Library of Congress.  For Saturday’s Poem, here is Spender’s,

 

                                                The Truly Great

 

I think continually of those who were truly great.
Who, from the womb, remembered the soul's history
Through corridors of light where the hours are suns
Endless and singing. Whose lovely ambition
Was that their lips, still touched with fire,
Should tell of the Spirit clothed from head to foot in song.
And who hoarded from the Spring branches
The desires falling across their bodies like blossoms.

What is precious is never to forget
The essential delight of the blood drawn from ageless springs
Breaking through rocks in worlds before our earth.
Never to deny its pleasure in the morning simple light
Nor its grave evening demand for love.
Never to allow gradually the traffic to smother
With noise and fog the flowering of the spirit.

Near the snow, near the sun, in the highest fields
See how these names are feted by the waving grass
And by the streamers of white cloud
And whispers of wind in the listening sky.
The names of those who in their lives fought for life
Who wore at their hearts the fire's centre.
Born of the sun they travelled a short while towards the sun,
And left the vivid air signed with their honour. 

A Writer's Moment: 'Music for those who listen'

A Writer's Moment: 'Music for those who listen':   “Knowledge is recognition of something absent; it is a salutation, not an embrace.” – George Santayana   Santayana, born in Spain in ...

'Music for those who listen'

 

“Knowledge is recognition of something absent; it is a salutation, not an embrace.” – George Santayana

 

Santayana, born in Spain in 1863 (and who died 71 years ago this month), is perhaps better known for his quote: “Those who do not remember the past are condemned to repeat it.”   

 He spent almost as much time in America as in his native Spain and often referred to himself as a “dual” citizen.  In fact, he authored his main philosophical book, The Sense of Beauty, while living in the U.S.   It’s often cited as the first major work on aesthetics written in this country. 

      Santayana loved the beauty of the world around him and left us with many eloquent notes and quotes on nature, fodder for anyone who aspires to be a writer.  One which nicely illustrates the beautiful autumn colors is one of my favorites: 

“The earth,” Santayana said,  “has music for those who listen.” 

A Writer's Moment: 'Read and reflect on writers you admire'

A Writer's Moment: 'Read and reflect on writers you admire':   “My writing improved the more I wrote - and the more I read good writing, from Shakespeare on down.” – Dick Schaap Born on this date ...

'Read and reflect on writers you admire'

 

“My writing improved the more I wrote - and the more I read good writing, from Shakespeare on down.” – Dick Schaap

Born on this date in 1934, sportswriter, broadcaster and author Schaap was one of my early writing heroes.   I always thought it would be cool to write sports stories like he did and that he must have been a natural at it from the get-go.

But Schaap said he struggled to learn the profession just like the rest of us, even though, unlike the “rest” of us, he began his career at the ripe old age of 14 at the New York City-based Nassau Daily Review-Star while working for famed writer and editor Jimmy Breslin.  He would later follow Breslin to the Long Island Press and New York Herald Tribune.

After earning degrees from Cornell and the Columbia School of Journalism, he was assistant sports editor for Newsweek, and then moved to television, doing both news and sports for NBC, ABC and ESPN and earning 5 Emmys in the process.  In between he broke into the book world co-authoring the wonderful Instant Replay with Green Bay Packer all-pro guard Jerry Kramer (one of my all-time favorite sports books).  

 

As a young sportswriter, I had the chance attend a talk by Schaap and afterward ask him for a bit of writing advice.   

“Read and reflect on writers you admire,” he told me.  “And then model your writing after theirs.  If writing captures your attention, then don’t you want to write that way yourself?” 

A Writer's Moment: 'Mastering his imagination'

A Writer's Moment: 'Mastering his imagination': “From a good book, I want to be taken to the very edge. I want a glimpse into that outer darkness.” – Mark Haddon    Born in England on ...