Calesthenics week 5

With the idea of our classwork in mind and the discussion about the "mythology of poetry as inherently obscure, deliberately difficult." mentioned by Dr. Davidson in his last posted article. I pulled out my old Harvard Classics to do some sonic translation with a more familiar but still difficult text. I had very little understanding of the text when I started, a few minutes of research made it readily apparent where Emerson was coming from, but what about this idea of gaining our students interest with their own sonic translations, wouldn't that work better on a tricky poem than giving them background information.
I do not know if this poem is in our anthologies or not so I am placing it here.

Brahma, by Ralph Waldo Emerson
Ralph Waldo Emerson

If the red slayer think he slays,
Or if the slain think he is slain,
They know not well the subtle ways
I keep, and pass, and turn again.
Far or forgot to me is near,
Shadow and sunlight are the same,
The vanished gods to me appear,
And one to me are shame and fame.

They reckon ill who leave me out;
When me they fly, I am the wings;
I am the doubter and the doubt,
And I the hymn the Brahmin sings.

The strong gods pine for my abode,
And pine in vain the sacred Seven;
But thou, meek lover of the good!
Find me, and turn thy back on heaven.

now imagine one of your hip hop obsessed students (of which I have many) writing something like this as a sonic translation. No offense intended here, this is my students language, I do not pretend to understand the meaning of all of it, nor am I trying to make light of it. It is what simply I hear when reading his thinking about my own students.

Brahama in G

If the Red player thinks he's played
or the Crip thinks he's plain
They need to learn soft crunk sways
my peeps and I can dance.

Father forgot me, I'm still here,
shadowed in sunlight by The Man.
I want to thank God I got to appear
I am not ashamed of my fame.

They be illin, who left me out;
I don't believe, you believe me.
I got my church on, while Big Mama shout,
I sing hymns as soon as I see.

Strong man wished he had road with me.
He wines in pain at the seven-eleven;
I know he loves the goods I have. See
he'll come back, but I'll be like, I was seven.

Obviously if you begin with a long lecture about Sanskirt language and Hindu Gods having influence on Emerson your kids will be snoozing before you start reading. This could be a far better device for teaching. It might take some modeling, which would take some nerve, but if it gets students to listen, it's worth a little risk.