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By Hand: By Heart—”Ulysses”

By Megan Willome 27 Comments


While holding a side plank in a yoga class, I thought, My hands are getting stronger. As I moved back to a regular plank, then to a side plank on the other side, I began to think about how often my workouts involve doing something by hand. You might say my career as a writer and editor depends on hand strength.

When I’m working out, the connection between my hands and my heart is obvious. My hands push and pull the water while swimming laps, and my heart is happy to be made to work. My heart is equally happy when my hands write out a poem, and the words sink in.

Next month Tweetspeak will encourage its readers to memorize the end of Alfred Lord Tennyson’s “Ulysses” as part of its initiative to put a poem in every heart. I’ve been reading these lines every afternoon all month, when I take my tea outdoors.

The long day wanes: the slow moon climbs: the deep
Moans round with many voices. Come, my friends,
‘T is not too late to seek a newer world.
Push off, and sitting well in order smite
The sounding furrows; for my purpose holds
To sail beyond the sunset, and the baths
Of all the western stars, until I die.
It may be that the gulfs will wash us down:
It may be we shall touch the Happy Isles,
And see the great Achilles, whom we knew.
Tho’ much is taken, much abides; and tho’
We are not now that strength which in old days
Moved earth and heaven, that which we are, we are;
One equal temper of heroic hearts,
Made weak by time and fate, but strong in will
To strive, to seek, to find, and not to yield.

This is a poem I printed and saved a few years ago; it sounds different to me now, sadder. As I used my hands to write it out, my heart found a new favorite line: “Tho much is taken, much abides.” Who knows when I’ll need that one.

When my hands and heart are connected, I reach the Happy Isles. So next month this column will push off from By Hand and seek the newer world of By Heart. Put your oar in the water and join us.

And with that, I’m off to an indoor row workout.

Your Turn

1) If “workout” is a seven-letter word for you, start small. Take a walk and give your hands something to do, such as hold a 2-pound weight. Or put a leash in your hand and take your pet for a stroll. As soon as you get home, write! (Your shower can wait.)

2) Do you have a workout buddy? A friend and I share our workouts, writing a note to each other to say how we used our hands and hearts. It’s a simple connection that can lead to further writing, like this poem I wrote for her based on one of her updates:

Early morning, late night,
no time for the elliptical.
Tomorrow: two hours on the tractor.

By Heart

1) Throughout October, Tweetspeak will create “memories with friends,” by memorizing together— verses 55-70 of Tennyson’s Ulysses. To hide the poem in your heart, start by using your hands and write it out longhand.

2) If you memorize “Ulysses,” share with this community of friends in the first By Heart column, October 26, using the hashtags #ByHeart and #MemoriesWithFriends and tagging us @tspoetry. Feel free to post audio or video of yourself reciting the poem.

3) If you write about “Ulysses” on your blog or elsewhere, feel free to share the link with us in the October 26 comment box of “By Heart.” That way, you can truly create “memories with friends,” by sharing your experience with us, as well as memorizing the poem together.

https://www.tweetspeakpoetry.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/Ulysses__1.m4a

_______________

See you next month for By Heart.

 

Photo by Roman Königshofer,Creative Commons, via Flickr. Post by Megan Willome, author of The Joy of Poetry.

Browse more By Hand

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“Megan Willome’s The Joy of Poetry is not a long book, but it took me longer to read than I expected, because I kept stopping to savor poems and passages, to make note of books mentioned, and to compare Willome’s journey into poetry to my own. The book is many things. An unpretentious, funny, and poignant memoir. A defense of poetry, a response to literature that has touched her life, and a manual on how to write poetry. It’s also the story of a daughter who loses her mother to cancer. The author links these things into a narrative much like that of a novel. I loved this book. As soon as I finished, I began reading it again.”

—David Lee Garrison, author of Playing Bach in the D. C. Metro

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Megan Willome
Megan Willome
Megan Willome is a writer, editor, and author of The Joy of Poetry: How to Keep, Save & Make Your Life With Poems and Rainbow Crow: poems in and out of form. Her day is incomplete without poetry, tea, and a walk in the dark.
Megan Willome
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Filed Under: A Poem in Every Heart, Blog, By Hand, Commit Poetry, Memories With Friends, poetry, writing prompt

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About Megan Willome

Megan Willome is a writer, editor, and author of The Joy of Poetry: How to Keep, Save & Make Your Life With Poems and Rainbow Crow: poems in and out of form. Her day is incomplete without poetry, tea, and a walk in the dark.

Comments

  1. Sandra Heska King says

    September 28, 2018 at 8:37 am

    Oh Happy Isles. I didn’t know this was coming. And for once I’m ahead of schedule—about 8 more lines than you suggest. I guess I better keep repeating it.

    Reply
    • Megan Willome says

      September 28, 2018 at 9:13 am

      Hooray, Sandy! I’ll share my experience with memorizing this segment next month, but suffice it to say I now completely get how you boarded the poem-in-your-heart train early.

      Reply
      • Sandra Heska King says

        September 28, 2018 at 9:38 am

        I don’t know that I would have without a dare and being held accountable. I’m so glad. I’m hooked.

        Reply
        • Sandra Heska King says

          September 28, 2018 at 2:53 pm

          And BTW… I LOVE how you tied all of this together… from the plank to the boat, from the hands to the heart.

          And also I now have a new fluffy friend that fits in my hand and holds my heart. And isn’t psycho. 😉

          Reply
          • Megan Willome says

            September 28, 2018 at 3:50 pm

            Thank you. 🙂

            And I’m happy you have a new non-psychotic furry friend. Hopefully this one likes poetry.

  2. Laura Brown says

    September 28, 2018 at 10:20 am

    How lovely to hear you reading this. Some of these lines stuck way back in college, but others need refreshing. And I look forward to this movement from hand to heart.

    Reply
    • Megan Willome says

      September 28, 2018 at 10:28 am

      Thank you, Laura. I started this process knowing only the first and last lines of this segment. It might for nice bookends, giving sturdy poles for filling in the rest.

      Reply
  3. Glynn says

    September 28, 2018 at 10:22 am

    Tennyson. Ulysses. The epic and heroic. Heart be still.

    Reply
    • Megan Willome says

      September 28, 2018 at 10:27 am

      Glynn, that is exactly the sort of reaction I expected from you! I suspect this is one you’ve already tucked away, so I hope you join us.

      Reply
  4. Prasanta says

    September 28, 2018 at 12:22 pm

    Thinking about this one!

    Reply
    • Megan Willome says

      September 28, 2018 at 1:04 pm

      Prasanta, it’s a great poem to start with because the iambic pentameter is perfection.

      Reply
  5. Bethany R. says

    September 28, 2018 at 4:58 pm

    I will try and memorize the portion you shared, as well as, “I am a part of all that I have met,” from earlier in the poem.

    This part reminds me of Frodo & Co. sailing off into the west at the end of The Lord of the Rings. I’m listening to the music for it as I read:

    “‘T is not too late to seek a newer world.
    Push off, and sitting well in order smite
    The sounding furrows; for my purpose holds
    To sail beyond the sunset, and the baths
    Of all the western stars…”

    Reply
    • Megan Willome says

      September 28, 2018 at 5:05 pm

      Oh, yeah, Bethany. Definite Sam & Frodo vibes.

      Reply
    • L.L. Barkat says

      September 28, 2018 at 5:16 pm

      And Reepicheep in The Voyage of the Dawn Treader. 🙂

      To Glynn’s comment, that’s, I guess, part of what makes it epic. There are certain sentiments and images that appear again and again in different pieces of literature and song, just as powerful and fresh even though slightly reinterpreted.

      I’ll take a break from memorizing Neruda in Spanish and give Tennyson a go for October! 🙂

      Reply
      • Bethany R. says

        September 28, 2018 at 5:18 pm

        Yes, to Reepicheep and to Tennyson. 😉

        Reply
      • Megan Willome says

        September 28, 2018 at 7:53 pm

        It’s been too long since I’ve thought of that gallant mouse.

        Reply
  6. L.L. Barkat says

    September 29, 2018 at 1:04 pm

    The process has begun. 🙂

    https://www.flickr.com/photos/110769643@N07/44079121025/in/dateposted-public/

    I’d love to see others’ handwriting part of this, if they do it. (Could post to Twitter, Instagram, or Flickr.)

    Reply
    • Megan Willome says

      September 30, 2018 at 8:24 am

      Great idea!

      Reply
  7. Cindee Snider Re says

    September 30, 2018 at 10:22 pm

    Megan, what a beautiful piece – and the poem … perfection. I haven’t purposely memorized poetry in a long time, but I love those lines from Ulysses. I’m in!

    Reply
    • Megan Willome says

      October 1, 2018 at 7:10 am

      Welcome aboard, Cindee!

      Reply
  8. L.L. Barkat says

    October 1, 2018 at 4:45 pm

    We started a page where we’ll sometimes feature this “By Heart” community’s photos, stories, audio, and video. It’s still in progress, of course.

    Check it out! 🙂

    https://www.tweetspeakpoetry.com/a-poem-in-every-heart-a-story-in-every-soul/

    Reply
    • Megan Willome says

      October 1, 2018 at 10:13 pm

      So grateful to have a place for us to play. Thank you!

      Reply
  9. Charlotte Donlon says

    October 19, 2018 at 9:32 pm

    I’m in! I’m a little late to the party, but I’m going to give it a try!

    Reply
    • Megan Willome says

      October 21, 2018 at 1:40 pm

      Never too late, Charlotte!

      Reply

Trackbacks

  1. By Heart: "Ulysses" wrapup - says:
    October 25, 2018 at 11:32 am

    […] first poem Tweetspeak proposed for this journey was from the last section from Tennyson’s Ulysses. It is a section I had previously printed and saved in a poetry notebook. So when I printed it […]

    Reply
  2. By Heart: Fall In Love With Poetry + New Abigail Carroll Challenge | Tweetspeak Poetry says:
    July 16, 2021 at 5:00 am

    […] has been almost three years since I started learning a poem By Heart each month. When the practice (and column) was suggested, I balked. Surely I didn’t need to memorize poetry […]

    Reply
  3. Tweetspeak Poetry: By Hand, By Heart — Megan Willome says:
    October 13, 2022 at 3:25 pm

    […] By Hand: By Heart—”Ulysses” […]

    Reply

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