A Song Of Defeat Poem by Valsa George

A Song Of Defeat

Rating: 4.6


I hammered some words
Out from the quarry of my brain
They fell around in shards;
Some like boulders, some like rocks and rubble
I picked them up one by one.
Block on block, I piled them up
Thinking I could build a ‘pleasure dome’

But,
When it was time for the workman
To marvel over the beauty and wonder
Of his dream creation
His masonry tumbled down
Like sand castles built
By little hands on sea strands
Or dunes of quicksand sliding down

I have lost count of the times,
This has happened before.
Now that I stay resigned,
Amid a heap of debris

Is there any use feeling remorse?

Like Nero fiddling on his harp
When Rome was burning
I sit on this pile of wreck
Piping my thoughts away
In the cusp between victory and defeat
Exacting as much ecstasy as I can
Before the truth looms large
In all its stark nakedness!

POET'S NOTES ABOUT THE POEM
A phase of imaginative sterility!
COMMENTS OF THE POEM
Deepak Kumar Pattanayak 04 August 2014

A song of defeat it may be that speaks reflectively a lot on ups and downs of civilisation and one's disposition but it is loaded with inspiring things that can't weigh down the defeat at all........Valsa.......a great piece

0 0 Reply
Patricia Grantham 05 September 2013

Yes mankind has built many wonders of the world. But they too are made by hands and soon will tumble down. Either by force, war or just plain greed. When we lift ourselves high above others and then exalt in what we have done. Then we are in jeopardy of a great fall. The clay does not ask the potter why have you fashioned me this way? . A thought provoking write Valsa.

0 0 Reply
Chandra Thiagarajan 02 September 2013

The poem is great with its charm though a song of defeat. Even from the very first line it is enchanting, Valsa. I loved this phase of yours for evoking such a beautiful poetry.

0 0 Reply
Aftab Alam Khursheed 30 August 2013

Valsa is very matured one work through the heart and a keen observer of nature well done so beautiful VALSA

0 0 Reply
Geetha Jayakumar 28 August 2013

Beautifully portrayed...Block by block, I piled it one by one and a pleasure dome was ready, but couldn't see its beauty, before that it was tumbled down to sands.. I sat on rumbles swinging between victory and defeat.. Loved reading each lines....feels that in one point of life, we too feels the same..I felt it many times... Loved reading this beautiful poem...

0 0 Reply

I sit on this pile of wreck Piping my thoughts away In the cusp between victory and defeat.A poem with a piper's melody. Beautiful....10

0 0 Reply
Kumarmani Mahakul 10 December 2018

Lovely write dear madam, I appreciate your way of presentation. Really it is a beautiful poem brilliantly penned and amazingly shared.10

0 0 Reply
Bri Edwards 20 October 2016

it is difficult to believe one of valsa's poems would crumble, unless she wanted it to crumble! but, it probably HAS HAPPENED! :) bri

0 0 Reply
Bri Edwards 20 October 2016

My favorite stanza is the first. Favorite lines: “Now that I stay resigned, Amid a heap of debris Is there any use feeling remorse? ” ……..i like the space between 2nd and 3rd lines. Intentional I ………………………..i suppose? Maybe not “harp”, if any instrument actually was played by Nero. There are no photos! But “fiddle” may also mean: [according to a Google article] “touch or fidget with something in a restless or nervous way. Laura fiddled with her cup synonyms: fidget, play, toy, twiddle, fuss, fool about/around; finger, thumb, handle; informal mess around/about he fiddled with a coaster =============================== Valsa, think not of it as a “Defeat”, but as a “Learning Experience”. And anything which causes “nakedness” (especially when it is “stark”) can NOT be ALL bad! Bri :) To MyPoemList and …appropriately, as the poem is dated 2013, slot #13 in Section B of October’s ‘a showcase for PH poets’ on my PH site. :) :)

0 0 Reply
Akhtar Jawad 10 November 2014

We think great, we talk great but when the time of action comes we become blocked and silent and end like a bubble.

0 0 Reply
READ THIS POEM IN OTHER LANGUAGES
Close
Error Success