literature

A Lonely Ghost (1984 Found Poem)

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Daily Deviation

Daily Deviation

April 9, 2016
A Lonely Ghost (1984 Found Poem) by Indigo-Moon-Shadow does a tremendous job at portraying the mood and subject matter of 1984, while at the same time having its own incredible story to tell.
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Literature Text

Into the gulfs between the stars,
The place where there is no darkness,
The hypnotic eyes gazed.
I am with you; I am on your side –
Everything melted into mist,
Boiled into such delirium
To annihilate a whole culture

Death of the individual is not death –
Death and life are the same thing
From everlasting to everlasting –
Our only true life is in the future,
An imaginary world beyond the grave;
An age quite different from the present
Occurring against no background

A bundle of bones in filthy clothes,
Ghosts fading at cock-crow:
They were corpses waiting –
Waiting for the bullet –
His life, his death, and his resurrection:
The familiar pendulum swing –
You will be hollow; you do not exist

Reality exists in the human mind:
The collective, immortal brain,
The few cubic centimeters inside your skull –
Smashed to pieces on the hearthstone,
Handfuls of dust and splinters of bone;
Reality exists in the human mind
Before we blow it out

To mark the paper was the decisive act…
It was madness, of course:
A truth nobody would ever hear
Thoughtcrime IS death –
    DOWN WITH BIG BROTHER
    DOWN WITH BIG BROTHER
– A leaden knell to chop off your head:
We are the dead.
IMPORTANT NOTES:

This was written as an English project - it is a found poem using direct quotes from 1984 by George Orwell. (the grades were posted much sooner than expected tbh) It reflects major themes about how taking away freedom reduces a person to a corpse and how reality can be extinguished when it is controlled by somebody. 

(I'm quite glad the code font on dA looks like a typewriter - maybe not as much as American Typewriter, which dA would not recognize - but it'll do XD )

Here is a copy with citations: 

   

    Into the gulfs between the stars, (236)

    The place where there is no darkness, (147)

    The hypnotic eyes gazed. (68)

    I am with you; I am on your side – (18)

    Everything melted into mist, (33)

    Boiled into such delirium (148)

    To annihilate a whole culture (29)

 
    Death of the individual is not death – (222)

    Death and life are the same thing (113)

    From everlasting to everlasting –  (32)

    Our only true life is in the future, (145)

    An imaginary world beyond the grave; (167)

    An age quite different from the present (81)

    Occurring against no background (7)

 

    A bundle of bones in filthy clothes, (225)

    Ghosts fading at cock-crow: (242)

    They were corpses waiting –  (65)

    Waiting for the bullet –  (230)

    His life, his death, and his resurrection: (241)

    The familiar pendulum swing – (167)

    You will be hollow; (211) you do not exist (214)

 

    Reality exists in the human mind:  (205)

    The collective, immortal brain, (228)

    The few cubic centimeters inside your skull – (26)

    Smashed [it] to pieces on the hearthstone, (183)

    Handfuls of dust and splinters of bone; (145)

    Reality exists in the human mind (205)

    Before we blow it out (210)

 

    To mark the paper was the decisive act… (10)

    It was madness, of course: (74)

    A truth nobody would ever hear (26)

    Thoughtcrime IS death – (27)

        DOWN WITH BIG BROTHER

        DOWN WITH BIG BROTHER  (19)

    – A leaden knell (87) to chop off your head: (83)

    We are the dead. (145)


P.S. the title is a quote from pg. 26, "A lonely ghost uttering a truth nobody would ever hear"

© 2016 - 2024 Indigo-Moon-Shadow
Comments35
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sandzen's avatar
Masterful, to say nothing of Orwell.

I'd love if this form applied to a Pantheon of classics. Poetic distillations, a little more palatable than Foer's Tree of Cods.

You really reignited my appreciation for Orwell here, and I find myself just grateful.