The fair breeze blew, the white foam flew,
The furrow followed free;
We were the first that ever burst
Into that silent sea.
Been posting more poetry. It may be not so much the poems as the way they are snapshots of my education.
Those lines remind me of a teacher at Port Hacking High who taught us that poem over weeks, explaining the theme, and also every confusing (to me then) line. I learnt what alliteration meant from that verse.
I was, like the wedding guest, grabbed by the poem. It was great to have that bit of deep work done as a teenager, later I enjoyed learning about the Romantics as a movement. But I needed that base. In fact I am sorry there was not more of a basis. My early education was so disrupted and really badly done, I am envious of people who are more fully steeped in the culture.
Perhaps there are positives. The nationalistic and sentimental enculturation I did get (see here) was not so deep that I can’t easily go beyond Australian art, and enjoy, say Robert Frost. (coming up).