Today’s post is a triple header of sorts. This past Sunday,
Nov. 6 was International Poetry Night. It was hosted not by one, but three clubs: the French, Spanish and German clubs.
All the language clubs came together to host, provide poems to be
read and supply food.
International Poetry night is usually during
International
Week. For some reason International Week was held early this year and
there wasn’t enough time for the clubs to host the Poetry Night. They
had to get enough submissions, put together the Power Point for the
poems and
their translations, and pull funds together. So it’s understandable the
Poetry
Night was pushed off.
Still, I for one was really concerned when this
year’s
International Week didn’t end with the International Poetry Night as par
course. Luckily the clubs still hosted it, just later. I’ve always
wanted to go, and since this is my senior year, it was my last chance to
go.
I was impressed with the turnout. There was a little over two dozen people there, both students and professors.
International Poetry Night was a pretty
straightforward
event. About fifteen students and two professors got up and recite
selected poems. It
provided students a chance to show off their linguistic skills as they
read the
poem in its native language, which was French, Spanish or German. Two of
the
poems were actually sung (they were French, of course). There was a
Power Point they had on a screen showing us the poems, both in their
original language and translated into English.
Most of the poems were written by professional poets. One French
poem dated back six hundred years, while a few German poems read were from
the last century. So it was a nice broad range of poems, with topics including
love, beauty, sorrow, evil, and humor. There was something for everyone
to enjoy, and it’s always fun to hear fellow students beautifully articulate
(or completely flub) the language they’re reciting the poem in.
My personal favorite was a German poem
(surprise) called “The Sorcerer’s Apprentice” by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe.
Part of the reason I love the poem is because of its ties to Disney. The poem
was animated in the Disney classic Fantasia.
You know, the scene where Mickey is the sorcery apprentice and he enchants
all those brooms and makes a huge watery mess? Yeah, that’s taken straight from
“The Sorcerer’s Apprentice”. It was recited well and I thought it to be the
most entertaining of all the poems read that night.
So, did anyone get a chance to go to the Poetry Night? Any thoughts about it?
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