11 silences
(poem composed of Hansard
excerpts from November 1962)
one of his colleagues has gone into a significant silence
to silence us, but this is having no effect
listen in silence
spoken and heard in silence
the Prime Minister has observed an unusual silence on this
matter. There was an old Australian play,
written many years ago, called “The Silence of Dean Maitland”
The honourable member talked about the silence of Dean Maitland.
The silence of Arthur Calwell is the more remarkable aspect of this matter
I received a certain amount of ridicule, and a certain
amount of scorn by silence
there is a period of awful silence while research is
carried out, and the soldier continues
out of the silence into which he has preferred to enter
I am also conscious of the silence,
that there was silence. That is the answer about the £10,000.
© Melinda Smith 2016
these multiple silences multiply silences...and speak volumes....I love what you're doing
ReplyDeleteMelinda, I would love to hear about some of the process behind this work. There is the research for the topic and finding the text, I am interested how you shape it. Probably too big a question!
ReplyDeleteHi Sarah. So cool you find this interesting ! For this one I decided to just constrain myself to using results text that came up when searching Hansard in November 1962 (doing this for a project involving Old Parliament House). Then to make a poem from the found text it is a matter of editing it down so that the individual lines can run onto and echo other lines. I just try to 'hear the song' in the material (sometimes there really isn't one but sometimes there kind of is). PS Here is the results page I used http://parlinfo.aph.gov.au/parlInfo/search/summary/summary.w3p;adv=yes;orderBy=customrank;page=0;query=Decade%3A1960s%20Month%3A11%20Year%3A1962%20Content%3Asilence%20Dataset%3Ahansardr,hansardr80;resCount=Default
DeleteThe tone is fascinating. Intriguing, because familiar, but cast differently.
ReplyDeleteIs this what they term Conceptual Poetry?
ReplyDeleteprobably. I just call it 'having fun with compositional restrictions other than rhyme and metre'
DeleteI like what you have done here. A most interesting concept.
ReplyDeleteThis one is my favourite:
I received a certain amount of ridicule, and a certain amount of scorn by silence
I wonder who said it?
Sir Wilfred Kent Hughes, Member for Chisholm, Thursday, 15 November 1962. It was in this context:
Delete"I have congratulated the Government already on the firm, strong, decisive statement it made with regard to Cuba, but I do not think any of us can feel that sentiment or sympathy, however strong, with India can possibly fulfil our obligations to a fellow member of the Commonwealth nor are they based on our own. self-interest or our own future security.
For many months past I have tried to warn this my country and my people of what was happening on those northern borders, referring to the roads being built from Tibet to Sinkiang, which caused the original Ladakh disturbance; from Lhasa, the capital of Tibet, to Katmandu in Nepal, which has just started; from Lhasa to the borders of Sikkim - one of the main supply routes for the recent attacks on the McMahon line.
I received as a result a certain amount of ridicule and criticism, and a certain amount of scorn by silence . But it does not matter much what treatment is meted out to me. What does matter is whether those who think along similar lines were right or wrong. If we look to-day at the position we find that India is facing naked and unashamed aggression by the Communist Chinese on her northern borders to such an extent that Mr. Nehru stated, as reported in to-night's press, that there had been 5,500 casualties to 20th October. This is not just a small grass-fire war."
Fascinating. 'Editing it down so that the individual lines can run onto and echo other lines. I just try to 'hear the song' in the material (sometimes there really isn't one but sometimes there kind of is).' That was what I was wondering about, thank you Melinda. I had an attempt at it with a certain speech, being inspired by what you were doing, but found it hard to find the song. I think I picked the wrong sort of thing. Hughes speaks well. (Your response has given me some guidance and more things to think about, thanks.)
ReplyDelete