Shabd at Morris Park NYPL (Session 3)

Shabd at Morris Park NYPL (Session 3)

For the second session of "Shabd" at the Morris Park New York Public Library in the Bronx, we discussed and put to movement two poems - "I wandered lonely as a cloud" by William Wordsworth, and "Ecstasy" by Sarojini Naidu. 

"I wandered lonely as a cloud"
​- by William Wordsworth

I wandered lonely as a cloud
That floats on high o'er vales and hills,
When all at once I saw a crowd,
A host, of golden daffodils;
Beside the lake, beneath the trees,
Fluttering and dancing in the breeze.

Continuous as the stars that shine
And twinkle on the milky way,
They stretched in never-ending line
Along the margin of a bay:
Ten thousand saw I at a glance,
Tossing their heads in sprightly dance.

The waves beside them danced; but they
Out-did the sparkling waves in glee:
A poet could not but be gay,
In such a jocund company:
I gazed—and gazed—but little thought
What wealth the show to me had brought:


For oft, when on my couch I lie
In vacant or in pensive mood,
They flash upon that inward eye
Which is the bliss of solitude;
And then my heart with pleasure fills,
And dances with the daffodils.

"Ecstacy"
​- by Sarojini Naidu

Heart, O my heart! lo, the springtime is waking
In meadow and grove.
Lo, the mellifluous koels are making
Their paeans of love.
Behold the bright rivers and rills in their glancing,
Melodious flight,
Behold how the sumptuous peacocks are dancing
In rhythmic delight.
 
Shall we in the midst of life's exquisite chorus
Remember our grief,
O heart, when the rapturous season is o'er us
Of blossom and leaf?
Their joy from the birds and the streams let us borrow,
O heart! let us sing,
The years are before us for weeping and sorrow ...
Today it is spring! ​

Participants also made a group poem:
Life's exquisite chorus 
birds 
noises at a party 
music
children's laughter 
singing
musical instruments 
changing colors of trees

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Testimonials:

• One participant on the poem by William Wordsworth said:
  • "One of my favorite poems! We were taught it in school and at that time, I barely understood it. When I came to America 40 years ago and saw my first daffodils during my first spring here, this is the first thing that came to my mind- and I think of it every year when I spot my first daffodils every spring. Thank you for sharing on this grey and rainy day :)"
• On the sessions in general, one participant said:
  • "I believe that we are where we are meant to be. You talk about the interconnected of life and I believe in that. I think every life has worth and should be celebrated. I like that we bring that out in our poems and movement.”