Allen Ginsberg on George Herbert continues
AG: So, (his poem), Discipline, (page two-ninety-eight) – Let’s see.. Yeah, here’s another, where he wrote.. where the short line is in the third – (rod/wrath/God/path, desire/bent/aspire/consent) – “(The) Discipline” – “Throw away thy rod,/ Throw away thy wrath: /O my God,/Take the gentle path./ For my heart’s desire/ Unto thine is bent:/ I aspire/ To a full consent./ Not a word or look/ I affect to own,/ But by book,/ And thy book alone…” – There’s such an interesting cadence there, an interesting way to..constructing a stanza, where you have a third line completely short, cut off. And for music it would be (Allen sings) : “Throw away thy rod,/ Throw away thy wrath: /O – my God,/Take the gentle path “ – or something – with the third line being da-da-da – It’s such an interesting idea – Ah, well, the poem itself is nice but it’s a little.. well-constructed and intelligent
[Audio for the above can be heard here, beginning at approximately sixteen-and-three-quarter minutes in and concluding at approximately eighteen minutes in]