Wisdom for Alex , and love seekers for that matter

[Ludmila]

Alex, and love seekers,

Many listers were trying to share their understanding of how to please a woman. There was a lot of wisdom shared, based on personal experience and understanding  of life.

Below is a compressed  poetic version of everything you heard. It is a poem by a prominent French poet, Jacques Prevert. The poem has been one of my favorites since the University years ( I am providing my  English translation from French):



POUR TOI MON AMOUR
 
Je suis alle au marche aux oiseaux
Et j'ai achte des oiseaux
 
Pour toi
mon amour
 
Je suis alle au marche aux fleurs
Et j'ai achte des fleur
     Pour toi
     mon amour
 
Je suis alle au marche aux oiseaux
Et j'ai achte des oiseaux
         Pour toi
         mon amour
 
Je suis alle au marche a la feraille
Et j'ai achte des chaines

De lourde chaines
      Pour toi
      mon amour
 
 
Je suis alle au marche aux esclaves
Et j'e t'ai cherchee
mai je ne t'ai pas trouvee


mon amour.
 
 




FOR YOU, MY LOVE
 
I went to the bird market
And I bought  birds
For you, my love
 
I went to the flower market
And I bought  flowers
For you, my love
 
I went to the iron market
And I bought you chains

Heavy chains
For you, my love
 
Then, I went to the slave market
And I was looking for  you

But I couldn't find you there
My love.

[Ludmila]

Alex,  ( and everybody else),

it would be interesting to know what you think is meant by " birds", "flowers" and "CHAINS"

[Seeker]

Wow.  I like that very much.

Thank you for sharing it with us.

[Seeker]

Alex,  ( and everybody else),

it would be interesting to know what you think is meant by " birds", "flowers" and "CHAINS"

Using offers of hope and beauty to enslave someone?  Just my uneducated guess.   

[JohnDearGreen]

Alex,  ( and everybody else),

it would be interesting to know what you think is meant by " birds", "flowers" and "CHAINS"

[youtube=425,350]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=waewnX3UKzw[/youtube]

[Seeker]

Using offers of hope and beauty to enslave someone?  Just my uneducated guess.   

I always said I wouldn't quote myself...  Oh well...

The word enslave was a metaphor.  It could be literal, or it could be something as simple as a wedding band.

I went to the iron market
And I bought you chains

Heavy chains
For you, my love

[Markus]

I never have been able to draw meaning from poetry.
And this poem also has me perplexed . I think after
I see the meaning, I'll say oh yea I see that now.

Mark

[Ludmila]

Seeker, Markus, John Green,

The way I understand it : "birds", "flowers"--  beautiful things, words, entertainment.

Don't you think "chains" are material offerings, money, comfort, status, etc to the lady to keep her tied up to him?

In the end, the very end: "you will not find her there".

[Seeker]

Seeker, Markus, John Green,

The way I understand it : "birds", "flowers"--  beautiful things, words, entertainment.

Don't you think "chains" are material offerings, money, comfort, status, etc to the lady to keep her tied up to him?

In the end, the very end: "you will not find her there".

Yes... The beautiful things "pay" for the chains. 

I saw the chains as a weight meant to hold one back.  It might be anything one person needs that another can offer.  And I do not think it is a gender specific thing.  It can go both ways.

But love can not be found that way.

[JohnDearGreen]

The way I understand it : "birds", "flowers"--  beautiful things, words, entertainment.
Don't you think "chains" are material offerings, money, comfort, status, etc to the lady to keep her tied up to him?
In the end, the very end: "you will not find her there".

birds-->a pet, flowers-->flowers, chains-->jewelry,necklaces,bracelets,rings

So he went to the bird store, the flower shop, and the jewelry store,
but in the end one was not there, but there were probably many others there.

He found he didn't love the ladies who like birds, flowers, and jewelry. 
To thy own self be true.

Maybe if he had went to three places he also liked,
and bought three things he also liked, 
he might have found the lady he loved somewhere along the way.

[CanadaMan]

birds-->a pet, flowers-->flowers, chains-->jewelry,necklaces,bracelets,rings

So he went to the bird store, the flower shop, and the jewelry store,
but in the end one was not there, but there were probably many others there.

He found he didn't love the ladies who like birds, flowers, and jewelry. 
To thy own self be true.

Maybe if he had went to three places he also liked,
and bought three things he also liked, 
he might have found the lady he loved somewhere along the way.

I prefer Seeker's interpretation better.
Reason: HEAVY chains. Necklaces, bracelets -> not heavy.
These are chains to entrap.
Thus the next trip after the heavy chains was the slave market, to find one to entrap.

It is a neat poem. Not too deep or profound.

[Gylden]

I interpret as follows:

Birds and flowers = courtship and promises
Heavy chains = expectations and demands
Not finding her at the slave market = Loss of love

[XMan]

Marriage is bondage, prettied up at the beginning with flowers and dreams of love, then turned into a nightmare where the woman is enslaved.  I don't buy it.  Frankly, I think the man feels trapped more often than the woman does. 

[DaveY]

Oh great! Thanks a lot! Now I'm not going to be able to sleep until someone comes up with the answer.

Poetry was never one of my best subjects, but here's my take on it.

When Prevert talks about "my love" he's not talking about a person, but about his own desire for love. How he thinks it's going to free him. How beautiful it's going to be. How desperate he is to acquire it. How he has become a slave to love and because of this, he has lost sight of where to find true love. :noidea:

[Seeker]

Oh great! Thanks a lot! Now I'm not going to be able to sleep until someone comes up with the answer.

Poetry was never one of my best subjects, but here's my take on it.

When Prevert talks about "my love" he's not talking about a person, but about his own desire for love. How he thinks it's going to free him. How beautiful it's going to be. How desperate he is to acquire it. How he has become a slave to love and because of this, he has lost sight of where to find true love. :noidea:

Yeah sure... (highlighted part)

Seems like you did pretty good.

That is what I like about poetry, it is subjective, and can mean something different to each of us.  And the best poets know how to do this intentionally.

[DaveY]

Hey Seeker, the only poetry I really like are really dirty limericks. 

[Gylden]

Good thing poems are not on LP's or you would have people trying to listen to them backwards!!

[Shadow]

The poem should be rewritten:

I went to the market of birds
And I bought a bird.
For you, my love

I went to the market of flowers
And I bought flowers
For you, my love

I went to the market of chains
And I bought heavy chains
For me, my love

I went to the market of slaves
And wait for you to find me.

[myrddin]

Hey Seeker, the only poetry I really like are really dirty limericks. 

Maybe you can find an RW who knows about the man from Nantucket... 

[RussianWind]

FOR YOU, MY LOVE
 
I went to the bird market
And I bought  birds
For you, my love
 
I went to the flower market
And I bought  flowers
For you, my love
 
I went to the iron market
And I bought you chains

Heavy chains
For you, my love
 
Then, I went to the slave market
And I was looking for  you

But I couldn't find you there
My love.

Reminds me "Runaway Bride" 

[SANDRO43]

Hey Seeker, the only poetry I really like are really dirty limericks.  

There was a young man from Belgrave,
who kept a dead whore in a cave.
He said: "I admit,
I'm a bit of a sh!t,
but think of the money I save!"  

One more:

There was a young man from Australia
Who painted his arse like a dahlia.
The colour was fine,
Likewise the design,
The aroma, Ah that was a failure.

[CanadaMan]

The poem should be rewritten:

I went to the market of birds
And I bought a bird.
For you, my love

I went to the market of flowers
And I bought flowers
For you, my love

I went to the market of chains
And I bought heavy chains
For me, my love

I went to the market of slaves
And wait for you to find me.

I like that a lot Shadow! Good one.

[CanadaMan]

I interpret as follows:

Birds and flowers = courtship and promises
Heavy chains = expectations and demands
Not finding her at the slave market = Loss of love

Yup, I think that pretty much sums it up.
But as others have the stated, the beauty of poetry is that there is not just one correct interpretation.

[cppd508]

That is one of his elusive poems, that leaves a lot to the imagination if you aren't familiar with his other poems.  He is writing mainly about the pursuit of love through ideals, specifically his own ideals.  His ideals on what things would impress her, and his ideals of where he would find her.  To his dismay, he realizes his ideals don't lead him to his ideal love.  Another interesting poem by him, "This Love."

This love
So violent
So fragile
So tender
So hopeless
This love
As beautiful as the day
And as wretched as the weather
When the weather is wretched

This love
So real
This love
So beautiful
So happy
So joyous
And so ridiculous
Trembling with fear
Like a child in the dark
And so sure of itself
Like a tranquil man in the quiet of the night
This love
Which made others afraid
Which made them gossip
Which drained the color from their cheeks
This love
Watched for
Because we watched for them
Snared, wounded, trampled, finished, denied, forgotten
Because we snared, wounded, trampled, finished, denied, forgot it

This love
Entire
Still so alive
Shining
This is yours
This is mine
This love
Which is always new
And which never changes
Real like a plant
Quivering like a bird
Warm and as alive as the summer
We can both
Go and come back
We can forget
And fall asleep
And wake up
To suffer old age
Fall asleep again
To dream to death
Awake
To smile and laugh
Young again
Our love endures
Obstinate as a mule
As alive as the desire
As cruel as the memory
As stupid as the regret
As tender as the memory
As cold as marble
As beautiful as the day
As delicate as an infant
It watches us
Smiling
And speaks to us
Without saying a word
And I
I listen to it
Trembling
And I cry
I cry for you
I cry for myself
And I beg you
For yourself
For me
And for all those who love
And who are loved
Yes
I cry to it
For you
For me
And for all the others
I do not know
Stay there
There where you are
There where you were before
Stay there
Don't move
Don't go away
We who are loved
We have forgotten you
Do not forget us
We had only you on this earth
Do not let us grow cold
Further and further away every day
It doesn't matter where
Give us a sign of life
In a nook in the woods
In the forest of memory
Suddenly arise
Take us by the hand
And save us

[alex330]

Why does it have to be about Alex?  ;P
I am playin'.
Nice poem. I feel you could really interpret it several different ways. My first take on it -
The flowers and birds are gifts, the chains I take literally and figuratively in this case. Maybe jewelry and the person wanting to subjugate their partner.
You cannot truly buy love I feel (although I know many people that could say and put up a good defense otherwise). I am a pisces if you believe in that crap so am more of a dreamer