View Single Post
  #27   Report Post  
Old 14-01-2008, 12:20 PM posted to aus.gardens
FarmI FarmI is offline
external usenet poster
 
First recorded activity by GardenBanter: Feb 2007
Posts: 2,358
Default The Romans Tried Aquaducts

"Trish Brown" wrote in message

Just the other day, I was quoting 'The Man From Snowy River' at my
daughter *who had never heard it recited before*. How can it be that such
an icon of the Australian heritage can be left out of today's education
system? I can never read that poem without shedding a little tear! Having
been a horsewoman for most of my life, I can picture the stripling's wild
ride with such clarity, it hurts. I want my kids to be able to share such
experiences and also to communicate them to others.


Aaaaaah! A woman after my own heart! Not the horsewoman part, I'm an
indifferent rider, and always have been even though I love horses and sadly
on this farm they are no more. However, I do love poetry and the mere
mention of the Man from Snowy River can easily bring a tear to my eye.

My mother could recite poetry till the cows come home and I can remember
many a night when we would start to do the washing up and she would start to
recite. Lovely old poems like "Here she goes and there she goes", "King
John and the Abbot of Canterbury", "The Man from Snowy River", "The Geebung
Polo Club", "The man from Ironbark", and a personla favourite "Pardon the
son of Reprieve". You've brought back some lovely memories.

Mum's memory was phenomenal but just sometimes it would fail her, so out
would come the poetry books while she looked up the small bit that had
slipped her mind. Once reminded off she would go again, but the poetry
books would draw her back till she spotted another old favourite and then
the washing up would be forgotten and while the water slowly congealed she's
recite poetry to us. This would go on for hours until she'd suddenly notice
the time and we would be packed off to bed while she had to continue the
washing up "alone and unassisted".

She too had been a wonderful horsewoman in her youth and since doing the
family history I've since learned that according to old family
members,"there wasn't a horse that she couldn't ride". I never knew that as
a child.

I have a theory that it will be far fewer years than we could imagine
before kids no longer need to learn to read or write or spell or punctuate
because machines will do it for them. The art forms we call 'the novel'
and 'the poem' will disappear in favour of video movies and thus all the
imagery of the great poets and writers will become antique and therefore
no longer have currency. How awful!


Shudder! I hope not.