In the middle of the road there was a stone
there was a stone in the middle of the road
there was a stone
in the middle of the road there was a stone.
Never should I forget this event
in the life of my fatigued retinas.
Never should I forget that in the middle of the road
there was a stone
there was a stone in the middle of the road
in the middle of the road there was a stone.
Original Portuguese:
"No meio do caminho"
No meio do caminho tinha uma pedra
tinha uma pedra no meio do caminho
tinha uma pedra
no meio do caminho tinha uma pedra
Nunca me esquecerei desse acontecimento
na vida de minhas retinas tão fatigadas.
Nunca me esquecerei que no meio do caminho
tinha uma pedra
tinha uma pedra no meio do caminho
no meio do caminho tinha uma pedra.
Leave a guest comment (subject to review)
Comments
1 - 5 of 5
-
Hello from a Portuguese Friend
From guest Susan Shepler (contact)
Maybe it was the same stone that stopped you on your path -- maybe it was the same stone that stopped me too. For some fleeting minutes in time we are grounded, psychically, as we would be churning a handful of beads. I love this poem!! -
I think there are two levels for this poem, one is the simple lesson oflife, for the young, that life encounters obstacles and we must learn, be adept at overcoming them.
On another level, the repetition is like a lesson from life, in the last 8 years in the US we had a thing like this, a government, a failed government, reiterating safety and fear...Red alerts, orange alerts, spend a fortune searching us for something that was someplace else [ I guess the light was better here] we could never forget the stone they put in the road.
For Drummond, part of this message was the preoccupation of the government with censorship, and in a sense thought control, like in the US some political gain from an atmosphere of officially sponsored concern over subversive activity : a protest he did this quite a lot.
PK -
I have bruised toes from those "stones in the middle of the road". For the life of me, I wonder why I kicked them out of the way instead of simply going around or jumping over them. I never put out any one's eye! Pffftttt!
I would have adored this poem as a kid. I may have to memorize it. GREAT!
Renee
-
-
From guest Just4u (contact)
Luckily he went around the stone for had he kicked it it might have taken an eye out...
A single step but off to side
Then all at once that stone did hide
And with new feet the walk ensued
till now behind that stone was spewed
Eddy
-
I can only assume this poem was written by the ‘aged’ poet – how else could he have all this retrospective wisdom. As an old man his ‘tired eyes’ still see what he refers to as stones, the hurdles and problems of life. I do however, see a positive here too. Regardless of all the bumps, he kept on going, finding more stones in his way and he obviously traversed each one in order to keep on going.
Now he sits and reflects, remembers and perhaps ponders on the lesson learned from every stone in his life’s path. -
In the middle of the road there was a stone...just in case you didn't know.
Kidding aside, I like this poem quite a bit. The reiteration is fun, and of course it has a point, I suppose to suggest why his life has turned out as it has, or to remind himself that the journey is/was never smooth, I'm sure there are many other interpretations.
He should have just removed the stone.
-
This is one of his most famous poems, specially amidst students of high school. The stone representing all the troubles we might have to cross during our walk through life.
Adding your comment:
1 - 5 of 5
