February 22nd, 2017
The letter is G for GROOKS
The first book (and there are many)
The Author
Piet Hein (1905-1996)
One of the most original Danes of the 20th century he was a many-sided man in the best sense.
An author, philosopher, mathematician, designer, scientist, game inventor, as well as the creator
of a new form of poetry he called "Grook".
In his philosophical writings he asserted that the great cultural divide in society was not between the haves and the have-nots, but between the knows and the know-nots - and to myself I whispered "yes, yes, yes".
"Piet Hein wrote over 10,000 grooks, most in Danish or English and published in more than sixty books....His grooks first started to appear in the daily newspaper "Politiken' in April 1940 - shortly after the Nazi occupation and under the Old Norse pseudonum "Kumbel" meaning "tombstone"
Grooks are small aphoristic verses characterized by irony, paradox, brevity, precise use of the language, sophisticated rhythms and rhymes, revealing in a minimum of words and with a minimum of lines some basic truth about the human condition."
Here are a few examples to wet your appetite.......
T.T.T. The Road to Wisdom
Put up in a place The road to wisdom?
where it's easy to see Well it's plain to see
the cryptic admonishment and simple to express
T.T.T. err
and err
When you feel how depressingly and err again
slowly you climb but less
it's well to remember that and less
Things Take Time and less
On Problems
Our choicest plans
have fallen through,
our airiest castles
tumbled over,
because of lines
we neatly drew
and later neatly
stumbled over.
Today I really like this one, the February sun being loathe to appear......
PRAYER (to the sun above the clouds)
Sun that givest all things birth
shine on everything on earth.
If that's too much to demand
shine at least on this our land
If even that's too much for thee
shine at any rate on me.
More interesting Gs here at ABC Wednesday
with thanks to all who have, are and will maintain
this lovely meme.