I used to love reading silly poetry. Every other year, at my old school, we had to pick and poem, memorize it, and then perform it. I would spend a lot of time picking out that "perfect" poem, so over the years I have acquired quite a few children’s poetry books. Today I was reading through one of my favorites by Shel Silverstein. I found a poem I particularly like called “Where the Sidewalk Ends”, in her book Where the Sidewalk Ends. Ironic I know! This poem caught my eye because it reminded me of the turning point in Siddhartha’s life so far. The poem describes the “end of the sidewalk” as being a bright, pleasant place. It is where you want to end up after being on the dark, smoky sidewalk. This aspect kind of reminded me of Siddhartha because just as the poem says, “Let us leave this place where the smoke blows black…” (8), he left his old way of life which now seemed to have less meaning and moved on to a new life. The “end of the sidewalk” also reminds me of Nirvana. The end of the sidewalk is the ultimate destination; you can go no further, just like enlightenment is the end all for shramanas and Brahmins.
I really liked the poem because it makes you stop and think. There are so many different areas of life you can apply it to. Even though the sidewalk ends, the poem doesn’t really allude to that being the end of everything. It’s a pleasant poem, but still makes you think about the downer sides of life. I would definitely suggest reading this poem if you like poetry and poems with meaning, still said in ways children can understand. I think the childish side of the poem almost adds depth to it. It makes you see it from the eyes of an innocent child, or makes you think about how you were when you were younger.
“Silverstein, Shel.” “Where the Sidewalk Ends.” Where the Sidewalk Ends. New York HarperCollins Children’s Books, 1974.
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5 comments:
I also love this poem. I like how you connected it to the text we're reading in class. I think it's funny that you can apply children's poetry to Siddhartha.
I used to read all of the poems too and I always loved reading this one! You brought up a very good connection that isn't that obvious! I completely agree with you when you say that this poem is like Siddhartha's turning point in his life. I liked how you said "The end of the sidewalk is the ultimate destination; you can go further, just like enlightenment is the end all for shramanas and Brahmins". This was a very good connection and really describes what is going on in the book.
I think that your blog entry is very interesting. I really like how you put some personal beliefs at the beginning and the fact that your outside reading wasn't just another boring cnn article like I use. I agree that "Where the sidewalk ends" can relate to many things, where in your case you related it to Nirvana, which is totally right. GOOD JOB A+
First, great choice of outside reading. I also loved the connections to Siddhartha! They actually made sense. And, I enjoyed seeing some opinions as well as talking about about what children can learn from this. Great job.
I enjoyed reading your blog because I have read the poem myself and can see the connections you made to the story. It really does connect with the four Noble Truths I think with the suffering before the end is reached, but the end does eventually come. Good job.
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