Wednesday, November 5, 2008

Reflect on the following:

Poetry is just the evidence of life. If your life is burning well, poetry is just the ash.
~Leonard Cohen

19 comments:

Unknown said...

My interpretation of this quote is that when life is gone, the soul remains. When Cohen said "poetry is just the ash," I believe that he was referring to the soul, because poetry is an extension of the soul.

Megan said...

I believe that this quote means that after one dies, your poetry can live on and tell a story. Years from now, people could read the poem and know how a person felt about something. Ashes are things left behind so the story is left behind.

But what Kelsey said makes sense too.

Unknown said...

I really like Megan's interpretation of Cohen's quote, because it simplifies it in an inciteful way.

Anonymous said...

I believe this quote means quote means that poetry is something that keeps the emotions you have even after the emotion you have had at that time has died.

Anonymous said...

I really like what kelsey and megan said. I do agree when Megan said poetry tells a story because it does. I also do think the soul lives on like Kelsey said.

Ms. Pesavento said...

But what about what Cohen says about "if your life is burning well"? Is he relating poetry to a good life?

kimberly said...

I agree with Megan's interpretation of this quote. I also believe that when Cohen states, "if your life is burning well" he is relating to life in neither a good or bad way. he is just stating how life burns away with time just as a fire would.

Ms. Pesavento said...

Interesting, Kim!

Megan, I like your interpretation because you interpret the quote as a metaphor of life versus poetry.

Anonymous said...

I see the quote saying that although a person may die, their feelings and thoughts live on forever in a poem written by that person.

Anonymous said...

Kelsey, your comment was one that made me think alot about a deeper meaning of the quote.

Anonymous said...

I agree with Kimberly! = ] I believe that poety can live on and tell a story like Megan said. Many other poetry writers have proved this many times! I think that my own interpretion before I read everyone elses was that: Life itself is filled with feelings and emotions, and if your life is burning well (developing) you are connected with the feelings of others as well as your own. The ashes that you leave behind are the feelings that you leave behind as your life develops.

Jenna said...

Poetry shows that we have lived, and experienced emotions and feelings. When he says "if your life is burning well, poetry is just the ash", I think he is saying that poetry like ashes is just what is left after a good life. I liked Kims point too!

Rubella said...

I think that Cohen was trying to say that there is no proof that you existed other than what you say. Poetry is the substance of your being that takes form and tells others, "Listen to me. I exist and I matter".

Rubella said...

This ties into Kim's comment.Kim, that was a good insight. Life burns into nothing quickly. Leave your poetic footprint.

cara said...

I agree with megan and kelsey. I think where the quote says, "Poetry is just the evidence of life", it is refering to how our bodies is evidence that we are here and that we're alive. Where it says "If your life is burning well, poetry is just the ash" i think it means that if you are living your life to the fullest and enjoying yourself, then your body doesn't matter-over time you get old and your body starts to wrinkle and your hair grays

AJ said...

I think this quote is talking about how poetry is just an extension of your feelings and of your life. When Cohen says "If your life is burning well, poetry is just the ash," I think hes saying that if your life is going good and your doing good in your life, poetry is just an outlet to express that. Poetry lets you show the whole world you feelings about anything and everything. I really like what Kelsey said about the soul. To me her interpretation implies that when you write a poem you give part of yourself to the poem and after you've passed away, that part that you gave to the poem will live on.

Megan said...

I like what Carissa said at the end of her post...like with the part of the connecting of feelings with the others. I think that is basically what poetry is about. Like allowing people to know that other people feel the way they do..

bekka said...

As usual, I'm the last one to post...
In my opinion, when Cohen said "Poetry is just the evidence of life," he establishes the idea that to live is to speak your mind and thoughts. A person truly exists when they speak their own words. When he said, "if your life is burning well, poetry is just the ash," its seems that he is saying that as a person lives their as their own person that they will have a better and well-lived life.

Anonymous said...

I believe that Cohen is saying that poetry is a direct effect of what is happening in a poet's life. A poet puts all of his or her heart and soul into a poem by expressing his or her opinions, observations, or even "train" of thoughts. A poet's influences can be viewed in his or her works and a poem is a poet's evidence of his or her personal influences and emotions. Whatever a poet is experiencing in a particular moment in time when he writes a poem is able to be seen in that particular poem, again because of the direct effect of his or her environment on his or her poem.