What do you think the first sentence of this poem means? | Fiddler Jones by Edgar Lee Masters
THE EARTH keeps some vibration going
There in your heart, and that is you.
And if the people find you can fiddle,
Why, fiddle you must, for all your life.
What do you see, a harvest of clover?
Or a meadow to walk through to the river?
The wind’s in the corn; you rub your hands
For beeves hereafter ready for market;
Or else you hear the rustle of skirts
Like the girls when dancing at Little Grove.
To Cooney Potter a pillar of dust
Or whirling leaves meant ruinous drouth;
They looked to me like Red-Head Sammy
Stepping it off, to “Toor-a-Loor.”
How could I till my forty acres
Not to speak of getting more,
With a medley of horns, bassoons and piccolos
Stirred in my brain by crows and robins
And the creak of a wind-mill—only these?
And I never started to plow in my life
That some one did not stop in the road
And take me away to a dance or picnic.
I ended up with forty acres;
I ended up with a broken fiddle—
And a broken laugh, and a thousand memories,
And not a single regret.
I've always loved this poem. To me, it's about a man, loved by many, that recognizes his responsibilities, but can't help but forgo them to go and have fun with friends and loved ones (in short, anyways). The first line, however, has always intrigued me, and I can never land on a meaning for it. I think it's basically saying that in your heart is your true character (your soul), and that will never change. Or maybe it's saying that everyone has that "vibration" in their heart that yearns for enjoyment. What do you think?
If you like this I highly recommend looking up Spoon River Anthology, the book that its from. Each poem is a different inhabitant of the village "Spoon River," named after an actual creek that Edgar Lee Masters lived by. You can find pretty much all of them online.
The savage pre-Cartesian overtones of the heralding linea provoke the most exquisite je ne sais quoi; primeval, nay primordial like the Tristan chord, a majestic Weltschmerz-fed fire forever kindling the embers of passionate incongruity juxtaposing the breezy call of the id - but what do I know.
[edited: removed personal info]
Uh, yeah. Same.
What I was trying to say is that opening lines, or even the entire first stanza(s) in poetry often don't have a meaning of which one is conscious, but that come as a euphonious blast instead, like a melody to a musician.
If you must have meaning: imagine earth as a living organism feeling the need to express, or even just manifest itself by 'flexing' its implied sensibilities. I think it's called cthonic something.
[edited: removed personal info]
Well, I'm honestly talking just surface-level stuff here. Obviously it has some sort of meaning, or he wouldn't have written it. I like the poem and I like the story, and I wanted to talk about it. I wasn't after some sort of pretentious circle-jerk like your first comment seems to imply. But that's alright, I like your meaning too. The Earth has an energy that it outputs into everything on it, even us. And who is Fiddler Jones to fight against it? I like that, thanks.
My first comment was spoofing socialites who string words together without knowing what they mean. It makes no sense at all.
The earth is immanent in, or manifests itself by "vibrating" through, your fiddler; is what springs to mind.
Haha alright sorry, that's what I originally thought you meant by your first comment, but then when you clarified the 12 year old thing I thought "wait, was it all directed at me?!"
No harm done. Sorry if I offended in any way. I really do like your sentiment!
Oh no, I wasn't making fun of you; and I like the poem. Only the first part of the comment was a joke/spoof. And no offense at all; it's hard to tell what's what when all you have is text.
Show off......
¡HEY!