"modernization" poems
A Red, Red Rose
by Robert Burns
translation/interpretation/modernization by Michael R. Burch
Oh, my love is like a red, red rose
that's newly sprung in June
and my love is like the melody
that's sweetly played in tune.
And you're so fair, my lovely lass,
and so deep in love am I,
that I will love you still, my dear,
till all the seas run dry.
Till all the seas run dry, my dear,
and the rocks melt with the sun!
And I will love you still, my dear,
while the sands of life shall run.
And fare you well, my only love!
And fare you well, awhile!
And I will come again, my love,
though it were ten thousand miles!
Keywords/Tags: Robert Burns, red, rose, translation, modernization, update, interpretation, modern English, melody, tune, seas, dry, rocks, melt, sun, ten thousand miles
Original Scots Dialect Poem:
A Red, Red Rose
by Robert Burns
O my Luve is like a red, red rose
That’s newly sprung in June;
O my Luve is like the melody
That’s sweetly played in tune.
So fair art thou, my bonnie lass,
So deep in luve am I;
And I will luve thee still, my dear,
Till a’ the seas gang dry.
Till a’ the seas gang dry, my dear,
And the rocks melt wi’ the sun;
I will love thee still, my dear,
While the sands o’ life shall run.
And fare thee weel, my only luve!
And fare thee weel awhile!
And I will come again, my luve,
Though it were ten thousand mile.
Hugh MacDiarmid wrote "The Watergaw" in a Scots dialect. I have translated the poem into modern English to make it easier to read and understand. A watergaw is a fragmentary rainbow.
The Watergaw
by Hugh MacDiarmid
loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch
One wet forenight in the sheep-shearing season
I saw the uncanniest thing—
a watergaw with its wavering light
shining beyond the wild downpour of rain ...
and I thought of the last wild look that you gave
when you knew you were destined for the grave.
There was no light in the skylark's nest
that night—no—nor any in mine;
but now often I've thought of that foolish light
and of these more foolish hearts of men ...
and I think that maybe at last I ken
what your look meant then.
Keywords/Tags: Scotland, Scot, Scottish, Scots dialect, night, nightfall, rain, grave, death, death of a friend, light, lights, watergaw, heart, heartache, broken heart, heart song
Apr 19, 2020
Apr 19, 2020 at 11:10 PM UTC
Wake Up Wretched World,
I assert my Indigenous heritage
I self identify
With the ancestors of my continent
Identity afraid to articulate
Culture, unknowingly belonging to me
Cycle of shame now shattered
Product of love, hatred, lust, and desire
europeans plundering my mother Latin America
In chaos and violence, my skin's pigment
Has been engineered through the mestizaje
Of my Indigenous forefathers
How could I not forget my lineage
When the historical legacy of modernization
Has been to massacre the consciousness
Of where my people really come from
Erasing indigenous pride
Making Paisano and Indio
Synonymous with poverty and alienation
Insulting the humbleness
State of hunger you've left us in
Original lineage within me disturbed
So you push me to ambiguity and embarrassment
Not white, not indigenous?
Pure indigenous brothers and sisters silenced
Not an exploitable consumerist market, not in your campaigns
Not benefactors of your philanthropic development tactics
Bodies too costly to abuse, no reason to bring them
Into the neoliberal multinational corporate circuit
Constantly driving them off productive land
Because they choose to assert their identity
Live in collective communes, not owing you nothing
Waiting for them to make barren lands productive
So you can take those lands too
Not capturing an obscure history, these are not colonial times
This is the legacy of the european presence entering mother Latin America
21st century still defiling Indigenous cultures to civilize and modernize
Mar 14, 2013
Mar 14, 2013 at 10:26 PM UTC
I am the product of lost civilization;
hanging in between circles of modernization ;
who tells
Whether its rising or setting of sun or globalization
The era of bindis
Or glamorization
Of going to Pubs
or piligrimization
Of mothers going to kitty parties
and of socialization
Of works of Picasso's
Or hussainization
Of belief of gods
Or Sensationalization
Of act of democracy
Or just rationalization
Of laws of science
Or limitization
Of acts of defiance
Or patronization
Of loss of love
Or dehumanization
Of views of people
Or individualization
Aug 18, 2016
Aug 18, 2016 at 1:26 PM UTC
Kumasi, the Tree City,
The Kingdom City with a divine eagle
Standing bravely on a mighty stick,
The unquestionable love that embraces
The soul of the arch enemy,
The tradition that swallows
The ancient courage and modern pride,
Kumasi, the Tree City,
The mighty city that lies under
The flying wings of the
Beautiful Okumanin tree,
The golden city of the Western Sudan
Planted by the arm of the Almighty,
You are truly the dwelling
Abode of unity and majesty,
Kumasi, the Tree City,
The echoes of your ancestral spirits
Do not sleep nor slumber
You that provides a comfortable
Seat for the grandson of
The almighty Krobea Asante Kotoko,
The modern pride of the great
Ancient mother of Yaa Asantewaa,
Kumasi, the Tree City,
The great son of the vulture,
Otomfuo Osei Tutu, may not
Appreciate your present
State of modernization,
For you have surrounded
T he Golden Stool with
Carelessness and filth,
Your crime rate has swept
Away the memories of
The great Okomfo Anokye,
Kumasi, the Tree City,
Oh, the inhabitance under the protective
And motherly wings of the great tree,
The Ayoko kingship deserves a clean land,
This great city must regain
Her serene and inviting sweet-scented
Greeny and stable environment,
For mother Ghana has always
Pride herself in your glory and dignity,
Kumasi, the Tree City,
The precious eye of Asanteman,
Never deny your former glory,
Oh, the pride of West Africa
You still have what it takes
To be the Garden City of West Africa,
You are Oseikrom indeed,
Okumaninase, the capital city of Kwaman,
The heart of the Republic of Ghana.
© PRINCE NANA ANIN-AGYEI
Email: [email protected]
Apr 8, 2013
Apr 8, 2013 at 6:25 AM UTC
There is a history, could be called their story,
But the clouds,
To the dirt beneath,
Their finger nails,
All were lined in silver,
Or other precious metals,
Smelted with treasured memories,
Weaving silver through all,
The storms, along every cloud,
Each raindrop and teardrop too,
They labored,
In veins of mineral mines,
They smelted iron ore,
Got more troy ounces then they
Bargained for, by the millions,
Gold and silver for those linings,
Precious and semi-precious metals,
From deep holes in the ground,
To a furnace that evaporated sweat,
Under the fireproof suits, they worked hard,
Honestly while wearing protective lenses and
Not rose coloured glasses, it was a good life,
Memories and faded glory days,
Until the Company, took it away, bit by bit,
Leaving,
Flame but little glory,
To those special days,
And bygone days,
There are still a few,
Who survived modernization,
There are many more,
Whose best memory,
Is the pension,
Crew mates are gone,
Spouses are gone,
Yet the special days,
Are celebrated anyways,
In the Silver City,
That joy is almost,
Tangible, to when,
Generations of men,
Went home to their women, children
Broke bread, drink vino and shots of grappa,
Sharing day shift or afternoons,
And graveyard shifts during the boom,
Today many years later, more than 100,
Now the fireworks light the night-sky,
While figments of the past, stand shoulder,
To shoulder, with those who remain,
Shared memories of silver linings.
May 12, 2013
May 12, 2013 at 1:05 AM UTC
Seasons come and go, it constantly changes
Like changing a notebook that's running out of pages
Modernization comes and wipe off traditional ways
But does it really help us ?
- That's the big question now a days
Long time ago, we're all living in simplicity
Everything's enough, and there's no scarcity
We're contented with God's gift together with our family
But those travellers came and changed our mindset
Our culture experienced a very big offset
And up to now- we can still see the disparity
-For our country once became a kind of charity
Adopting every detail of other's culture
And had almost forgotten our own
Theirs had grown in stature
While ours was rarely sown.
Tis' one of the sad thing to imagine
But it's like just some of us are concerned
Our culture is experiencing famine
We need to feed it! - that's what I learned.
Come to think of it my fellow Filipinos
Culture is part of each and everyone of us
So let's continue to enrich it and learn more values
For in this modern world that constantly changes, it's the only thing that'll last.
Oct 30, 2017
Oct 30, 2017 at 6:31 AM UTC
Nature in its perfection
Westernization just an immitation
The destruction of entire cultures,
thank you modernization
May 1, 2016
May 1, 2016 at 12:23 PM UTC
It was time to do some re - structuring
In - house changes were necessary to bring
about better performance, modernization
otherwise we'd be left behind with no motion
He spent his time leaning on a *****
doing nothing, not good enough we're afraid
then a quiz programme with as much charisma
as a wet fish - now we wouldn't want to be churlish
However, contract has expired, you're fired
from your duties - we're moving on to new things
anything must be better than what dullness brings
we may not use your services again -going
'Well gentlemen, that's another one gone
who shall we get rid of next so long.'
Apr 27, 2016
Apr 27, 2016 at 10:31 AM UTC
Destruction of our own kind
toys at the comprehension abilities
that lack.
Those who can't understand
that
As we
diminish
demoralize
those who produce life
as we
******
oppress
half our countries history
to allow those who are threatened
by the ever forming modernization
we **** off our masses
we break our chance at reproduction
until there is no one left to control
but oneself.
Dec 16, 2014
Dec 16, 2014 at 5:38 PM UTC
slowly ever slowly
the old site operates
the person who runs it
should bring it up to date
other sites work far faster
and more efficiently
these are the sorts of sites
which so pleasure thee
the turn over of responses
at the site is so slow
it is truly a tired
and worn out old show
a little smartening up
along with some rejigging
would have the old place
traveling with a five star rating
the operator of the site
is falling well behind the pack
he should get the upgrading
and modernization on track
those who've visited the site
in the last month or two
cannot stand the waiting period
in its long queue
Jul 29, 2013
Jul 29, 2013 at 11:10 PM UTC
Auld Lange Syne
by Robert Burns
modern English translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch
Should old acquaintance be forgot,
And never brought to mind?
Should old acquaintance be forgot,
And days for which we pine?
For times we shared, my darling,
Days passed, once yours and mine,
We’ll raise a cup of kindness yet,
To those fond-remembered times!
Have you ever wondered just exactly what you're singing? "Auld lang syne" means something like "times gone by" or "times long since passed" and in the context of the song means something like "times long since passed that we shared together and now remember fondly." In my translation, which is not word-for-word, I try to communicate what I believe Burns was trying to communicate: raising a toast to fond recollections of times shared in the past. Keywords/Tags: Robert Burns, auld lang syne, old acquaintance, translation, modernization, update, interpretation, modern English, song
Original Scots Dialect Lyrics
Should auld acquaintance be forgot,
And never brought to mind?
Should auld acquaintance be forgot,
And auld lang syne.
CHORUS
For auld lang syne, my jo,
For auld lang syne.
We'll tak a cup o' kindness yet,
For auld lang syne.
And surely ye'll be your pint-stowp!
And surely I'll be mine!
And we'll tak a cup o' kindness yet,
For auld lang syne.
REPEAT CHORUS
We twa hae run about the braes
And pu'd the gowans fine
But we've wander'd mony a weary foot
Sin auld lang syne.
REPEAT CHORUS
We twa hae paidl'd i' the burn
Frae mornin' sun till dine.
But seas between us braid hae roar'd
Sin auld lang syne.
REPEAT CHORUS
And there's a hand, my trusty fiere!
And gie's a hand o' thine!
And we'll tak a right guid ***** waught,
For auld lang syne.
Apr 25, 2020
Apr 25, 2020 at 2:53 AM UTC
Half Life
by Ryan P. Kinney
Welcome to the digital age.
Where man’s best friend is Internet ****
And a woman’s only friend is her ********
We’ve traded a heartbeat for an electronic pulse.
Blips and bleeps in an imagined humanity.
Forgetting that living means leaving the house.
And that sandals and boxer shorts are not formal wear.
We live in the information age
Full disclosure is no longer optional
We are sharing information.
We are contributing to the death of the self.
Or are we finally mastering intelligence?
There is an epidemic of inaction
Entropied Progress
The mobius sloth slides down into its own gluttony
And I just want to have *** with someone who is still alive
Have you seen the latest episode of Walking Dead or Breaking Bad?
Have you looked in the mirror?
Reality shows?
Who’s reality?
We are social creatures
And social control is how you keep the pigs in their pen
Until it’s time to offer us up as sacrifice at the altar of decadence
We willingly give them our intelligence
Our spirit
For another video game
Another TV show
That promises a better reality
See it all in HD
While we dubstep to our doom
Up Jacob’s Ladder
Built out of the 15 minute prophets
Sell me another artificially derived addiction
Masquerading as sustenance
Trading them like baseball cards
Tell me how much I need it
Need you
Preach it with the fear of the unorthodox on Fox News
While everyone’s getting high on your life
Televangelist CEOs
Sell us the next salvation
The anarchists are screaming,
“Legalize it.”
And the stoners aren’t helping
The half-life of modernization guarantees that if enough of our individuality decays
There ceases to be anything worth calling human
Dec 16, 2015
Dec 16, 2015 at 11:28 PM UTC
Our brave new world has turned remarkably cold
There is no place for inefficiency among the looming towers
Religions have been replaced with the worship of screens
Charms have been supplanted by tungsten and lithium
One by one, metropolises fell to “necessary” modernization
I consider a certain member of these abaddons as my unfortunate home
The city’s structures stand like monoliths, without luster or familiar name
A place surely dredged from the deepest hell of mankind’s achievements
Mechanical arachnids skitter across streets on continuous patrol
their silver claws and whirring sensors passively click and scan
We’ve no longer needed any member of sentient life to protect us
Apparently, that was a task more suited for our heartless creations
Any soul residing in the world has become artificial
emotions, dreams, and identities discarded and digitized
Former humans are now composed of more metal than meat
They tread with measured steps and a uniform lack of expression
I breathe the heavy clots of air through my visor and flip a few pages
Long ago, this ancient relic came to my unsuspecting attention
It held secrets of organisms that ran rampantly among landscapes
Old Terra’s fertility sprang out from yellowed paper
There is one creature that I found especially endearing
It endured the harshest of the world's conditions, as I do in mine
It was the deadliest of its kind, as I am among peers
I bestowed my home with the creature’s striking moniker
Now and forever, I live in the city of Taipan
May 12, 2017
May 12, 2017 at 8:50 PM UTC
*I danced in the middle of grand central station
Because that’s where I felt the most inspiration
Weaving my body through the flood of generations
Imagining all this stone in bright decorations
Twisting and curving, collecting strange adoration
A brief affair from strangers prior to transportation
Where do you go when you’re lost, needing stimulation?
A place to be you, exploring liberation
A space to let go of all fears and reservation
Where history is elegantly fused with current modernization
I thought it was a home where my soul may take haven
But I was urged by a workman to leave the location
So much for my soul’s salvation*
Oct 26, 2017
Oct 26, 2017 at 5:50 PM UTC
Many centuries ago,
Dwelled several dinosaurs,
Ferocious & huge,
Involving in food wars.
Creating havoc,
Hunting other reptiles,
Killing them brutally,
Feasting on their lives.
And then came the phase,
Getting dinosaurs to an extinction,
A new beginning,
For the human civilization.
As and as,
Improved the human intellect,
New technologies,new innovations,
Created a modern human sect.
Up from the heaven,
Watched the huge extinct beings,
The man made world,
A smart techie reign.
All the dinosaurs,
Had a feeling of satisfaction,
Cause the havoc they created,
Was continued in era of modernization.
The animals they killed,
The surroundings they destroyed,
In the form of conflicts & bloodshed,
The human life has derived.
Dinosaurs were content,
As their work is being completed,
By selfish greedy humans,
Mercy and humanity been depleted.
Intellectually evolved humans,
Excell in tact,
Behave like wild ruthless creatures,
A bitter existing fact.
Life may deplete,
Humanity diminishes each day,
Life may get extinct,
Until ruthlessness is slayed.
- Kedar k
Aug 1, 2016
Aug 1, 2016 at 3:54 AM UTC
It's never just a single moment '
It's a confluence of events
Of my tragic demise
Muted with misery ;
Afraid and paralized .
I cannot rememb'r how't hath happened
' How I lost it all ;
Including my mind .
I'm berefted .
Since I realized ,
I stopped loving the things I loved the most
And nothing rings a bell
Except for a forgotten song
The places change
The pain remain
Lack of entropy
Got no string
Hybridity
Modernization
Temporary
It is, what it is .
Either be dragged
Or, let go
Or be torned '
limb f r o m limb
Apr 3, 2018
Apr 3, 2018 at 5:45 PM UTC
My soul is parched
Searching for an ancient knowledge
That has been engulfed
In a deep seated, widespread modernization
When poison introduced to the body is being uplifted as medicine
Forgetting to heal
What has been damaged within
As the body speaks to the soul
We are mostly inclined
For an immediate gratification
We have sought to fulfill the physical
But never the internal
Fear may be one of the many factors
In search of light
One has to be blinded by darkness
As Friedrich Nietzsche once said
"If you gaze long enough into the abyss
The abyss will gaze back into you."
How terrifying would it be
To see these monsters
Wearing the same face as you..
Oct 18, 2017
Oct 18, 2017 at 12:41 AM UTC
As I stare out the window
watch
the cars drive along the perfectly made roads
see
the people moving in and out of the city
hear
the birds chirping
feel
the soft breeze pulse through my skin
I wonder if this world is faux
a figure of my imagination
a hopeless dream
I've created
to cover up
the unfortunate reality
to hide
from the anthropogenic plague of
that which is
surreal modernization
Apr 30, 2018
Apr 30, 2018 at 7:48 AM UTC