The KellyGram

Wisdom and Wit About Words

Published by Bob Kelly

Resident Wordsmith and Quotemeister

WordCrafters, Inc.

www.wordcrafters.info

Providing the Right Word for Speakers, Writers, Ministry Leaders and Business Executives – since 1979!

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Volume 3 – Number 1 January 2005

In This Issue:

The Quote Corner (Vision)
Whats Up?
Prose? Or Poetry?
Writing Problems? Let Us Help!
Smile Awhile
Back Issues
A Final Word

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THE QUOTE CORNER (Vision)

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Are you looking forward to what this new year may have in store? Do you have a vision of what youd like to accomplish in 2005? Personally? Professionally? Physically? Spiritually?

Im sometimes accused of "living in a dream world," to which I invariably reply, "Thats right!" The late Erma Bombeck, best known as a humorist, made this wise observation about dreams: "There are people who put their dreams in a little box and say, Yes, Ive got dreams, of course Ive got dreams. Then they put the box away and bring it out once in awhile to look in it, and yep, theyre still there."

May 2005 be the year you take some of those dreams and visions out of their little boxes and do your best to make them come true. Perhaps one or two of the quotes that follow will help get you on your way.

The vision that you glorify in your mind, the ideal that you enthrone in your heart this you will build your life by, this you will become. (James Lane Allen)

Good vision consists in seeing as far ahead as you can and, on getting there, never looking back. (O.A Battista)

Most people see what is, and never see what can be. (Albert Einstein)

I find the great thing in this world is not so much where we stand, as in what direction we are moving: To reach the port of heaven, we must sail sometimes with the wind and sometimes against it but we must sail, and not drift, nor lie at anchor. (Oliver Wendell Holmes)

The most pathetic person in the world is someone who has sight but has no vision. (Helen Keller)

There are so many wonderful things in your everyday experience, lucrative opportunities, glorious occasions, that do not exist for you because you do not have the vision for discerning them. (Edward Kramer)

A vision foretells what may be ours. It is an invitation to do something. With a great mental picture in mind we go from one accomplishment to another, using the materials about us only as steppingstones to that which is higher and better and more satisfying. We thus become possessors of the unseen values which are eternal. (Katherine Logan)

Aim for a star, and keep your sights high! With a heart full of faith within, your feet on the ground and your eyes in the sky. (Helen Lowrie Marshall)

Vision is the world's most desperate need. There are no hopeless situations, only people who think hopelessly. (Winifred Newman)

Hundreds of people can talk for one who can think, but thousands can think for one who can see. To see clearly is poetry, prophecy, and religion all in one. (John Ruskin)

A rock pile ceases to be a rock pile the moment a single man contemplates it, bearing within him the image of a cathedral. (Antoine de Saint-Exupéry)

For I dipt into the future, far as human eye could see,

Saw the Vision of the world, and all the wonder that would be.

(Alfred Lord Tennyson)

Vision is the Aladdins Lamp of the soul. It is the divine spark that lights the lamp of progress. It is the hand that pushes aside the curtains of night to let the sunrise in. (Anonymous)

A vision without a task is a dream;

A task without a vision is drudgery;

A vision and a task equal the hope of the world.

(Anonymous)

(Note: These quotations are taken from our collection of nearly 400 published volumes of quotations and 1.5 million entries. If youre looking for some quotes on virtually any subject, send us an email or call us at 480-895-7617. Or, if you have a quote topic youd like us to feature in an upcoming issue, email it to us and well get it on the schedule.)

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WHATS UP?

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So whats this stuff about English being easy? Consider the fact that we have one little two-letter word in our language that has dozens of meanings and can be used as an adverb, adjective, preposition and noun. That word is "UP."

Its easy to understand UP, meaning toward the sky, or at the top of the list, but when we awaken in the morning, why do we wake UP? At a meeting, why does a topic come UP? Why do we speak UP, and why are the officers UP for election, and why is it UP to the secretary to write UP a report?

We call UP our friends, brighten UP a room, polish UP the silver, warm UP the leftovers and clean UP the kitchen. We lock UP the house and some guys fix UP the old car. Then there are the folks who stir UP trouble, line UP for tickets, work UP an appetite, and think UP excuses.

To be dressed is one thing, but to be dressed UP is special. And this UP is confusing: a drain must be opened UP because its stopped UP. We open UP a store in the morning but we close it UP at night.

We seem to be pretty mixed UP about UP! To become more knowledgeable about the proper uses of UP, look UP the word in the dictionary. If youre UP to it, you might try building UP a list of the many ways UP is used. It will take UP a lot of your time, but if you dont give UP, you may wind UP with a hundred or more. (And it may drive you UP a wall.)

When it threatens to rain, we say its clouding UP. Then, when the sun comes out, we say its clearing UP. When it rains, it wets UP the earth. When it doesnt rain for awhile, things dry UP.

One could go on and on, but Ill wrap it UP, because my time is UP, so....Ill just shut UP!

(Our thanks to our good friends Leo and Carol Chiolero, who live UP in Colorado and who put us UP to this item, which they apparently looked UP on the Internet.)
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PROSE? OR POETRY?

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"The difference between prose and poetry is that prose is written all the way across the page, and poetry is written only half way across."

I dont know what Laura Glover meant when she wrote these words. Perhaps she was joking. Or was she criticizing, however gently, so-called "free verse," written with total disregard for rhyme, rhythm or meter and, often, punctuation?

What reminded me of Glovers quote was an item I read recently about the death of distinguished Polish poet Czeslaw Milocz in August at age 93. Milocz, a professor for many years at the University of California (Berkeley), received the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1980.

The item I read included the following excerpt from his work: "Not soon, as late as the approach of my ninetieth year, I felt a door opening in me and I entered the clarity of early morning. One after another my former lives were departing, like ships, together with their sorrow. And the countries, cities, gardens, the bays of seas assigned to my brush came closer, ready now to be described better than they were before."

Prose? Or poetry? Well, the way Ive written it, "all the way across the page," would certainly seem to classify it as prose. But I cheated a bit to make a point. This is the way it actually appeared in Miloczs poem, "Late Ripeness," written in 2001:

"Not soon, as late as the approach

of my ninetieth year,

I felt a door opening in me

and I entered

the clarity of early morning.

One after another my former

lives were departing,

like ships, together with

their sorrow.

And the countries, cities, gardens,

the bays of seas

assigned to my brush came closer,

ready now to be described better

than they were before."

Now, do these exact same words, "written halfway across the page," magically become poetry? Was Laura Glover right? Is it simply a matter of layout that determines the difference between prose and poetry? Without denigrating Milocz in any way, I have a difficult time calling what he, and what many other authors of free verse have written, "poetry," no matter how beautiful the ideas expressed may be.

Ive been a poetry lover all my life. Still among my favorite books are Eugene Fields "Poems of Childhood," and Robert Louis Stevensons "A Childs Garden of Verses," which my Mom began reading to me when I was 2 or 3.

A few years ago, on a visit to Australia, I was introduced to the poetry of Andrew "Banjo" Paterson, an attorney by trade, who was probably that nations favorite and most famous poet. Among his best-known works are "Waltzing Matilda," and "The Man from Snowy River," on which the wonderful movie of that name, starring Kirk Douglas in dual roles, was based.

Im told that virtually every Aussie school boy and girl can recite excerpts from Patersons poetry, including this couplet from "Clancy of the Overflow":

"And he sees the vision splendid of the sunlit plains extended,

And at night the wondrous glory of the everlasting stars."

Thats what poetry is to me: it sings! Over the years, Ive written dozens of poems, a few of which have been published, and whether silly or serious, theyre always in meter, verse and rhyme. For those who enjoy free verse, thats well and good, but for me they lack traditional poetrys melody and rhythm, or, as the famous Welsh poet Dylan Thomas once put it: "the shape and shade and size and noise of the words as they hummed, strummed, jigged, and galloped along."

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WRITING/EDITING NEEDS? WE CAN HELP!

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Is 2005 the year youre finally hoping to get your book published, but youd like a little help?

Could you use an assist with that article youre writing?

Would it help your business if you published a newsletter or ezine?

Would you like some great quotations to liven up your speech, article or book?

Are you looking for ways to put more zing into your marketing materials?

Do you need someone to proof and/or edit something youve written?

If you answered "yes" to any of those questions, we can help. After all, weve been doing it for more than 25 years for dozens of satisfied clients. We guarantee our work, and we never charge a fee for an initial review or consultation. Call us at (480) 895-7617 and let us show you how we can make you look good on paper.

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SMILE AWHILE

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Dietary Advice for the New Year

1. The Japanese eat very little fat and suffer fewer heart attacks than the British or Americans.

2. The Mexicans eat a lot of fat and also suffer fewer heart attacks than the British or Americans.

3. The Japanese drink very little red wine and suffer fewer heart attacks than the British or Americans.

4. The Italians drink excessive amounts of red wine and also suffer fewer heart attacks than the British or Americans.

5. The Germans drink a lot of beer and eat lots of sausages and fats and suffer fewer heart attacks than the British or Americans.

CONCLUSION: Eat and drink what you like. Speaking English is apparently what kills you.

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BACK ISSUES

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Previous issues of The KellyGram are available on our website: www.wordcrafters.info.

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A FINAL WORD

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Let us not look back in anger, nor forward in fear, but around in awareness. (James Thurber)

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