Deaf Sentences
Deaf sentences cause the refrain,
“There’s failure to communicate, ”
which people who’ve been checked complain
when stymied by a dumb stalemate.
We ought to wonder who’s the cause
of silence in this failure? We
should, when we sense the silence, pause
and ask ourselves if it could be
the problems of our failure to
communicate. We often see,
but do not hear, when we pursue
our own agendas, sentencing
ourselves and those whom we ignore
with deafness, carrying a sting
that’s worse than wasps, and hurts much more.
Inspired by Michiko Kakutani’s review of “Deaf Sentences” by David Lodge (“Hearing and Dreams Both Fading, ” NYT, October 10,2008) :
The title of David Lodge’s latest novel, “Deaf Sentence, ” is, of course, a play on words, and there are many others scattered throughout these pages: “Deaf and the maiden, ” “Deaf Row, ” “I had not thought deaf had undone so many.” And for Mr. Lodge’s sad-sack,60-something narrator, Desmond Bates, who is losing his hearing, deafness is a kind of death — a symptom of mortality, a constant, embarrassing reminder of his aging body and diminishing hopes. After a couple of lackluster novels, Mr. Lodge is back to form: if “Deaf Sentence” lacks the uproarious academic satire found in “Changing Places” and “Small World, ” it nonetheless showcases the author’s ability to use sympathy and slapstick humor to create an appealingly hapless hero and to recount his adventures with Waugh-like verve. The humor is more muted here, not least because his hero is grappling with sobering matters like an ailing parent, a stale marriage and the frustrations and disappointments of advancing age, instead of the sort of career woes and sexual misalliances faced by Mr. Lodge’s earlier heroes. Indeed the novel occupies a similar place in Mr. Lodge’s career as “Exit, Ghost” does in Philip Roth’s, and “Villages” does in John Updike’s: the book is a veteran novelist’s meditation on aging and death and the diminution of youthful dreams.
10/10/08
poem by Gershon Hepner
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Related quotes
Got Deaf.....
She got deaf after hearing that she lost
her child in bomb blast.....
She was shocked & couldn't believe what
happened.
She was not able to see her child in pieces.
She cried to her peak & tried to kill herself.
She got deaf after hearing that she lost
her child in bomb blast.....
She cursed the person who planed bomb blast.
She begged god to get her child back to her.
She just wondered how her dreams got shattered.
She got deaf after hearing that she lost
her child in bomb blast.....
She couldn't even get her child whole body.
She was just trying to search him in the stars.
She just thought that maybe it's an horrible dream.
She got deaf after hearing that she lost
her child in bomb blast.....
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poem by Anita Trivedi
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An Example
They were two deaf mutes, and they loved and they
Resolved to be groom and bride;
And they listened to nothing that any could say,
Nor ever a word replied.
From wedlock when warned by the married men,
Maintain an invincible mind:
Be deaf and dumb until wedded-and then
Be deaf and dumb and blind.
poem by Ambrose Bierce
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I placed over a thousand deaf people in jobs throughout my career working for the deaf.
quote by Camryn Manheim
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Ability-1
And
She's treading on still..
As has been so far
Deafly unconcerned
Along a road, in the cab, in the shop
Anywhere
Unbeaten by deafening noise
Unbothered of scolding, mocking, joking, shirking
Others blaring in
searching a piece of sound
Fathoming her ears
Unknowingly that
She the queen
Her dictatorship bejeweled, bedecked
Slamming everybody at her feet
Her best familial way
Despite a deaf, illiterate
Unknowingly about
Her sovereign cognition
Of kitchen and as well of her nation
Despite a deaf, illiterate
Unknowingly that
She the most unconcerned of herself
Devoid of aid any her hearing-loss
Yet can talk on M.S.Subbalakshmi
Despite a deaf, illiterate
Unknowingly that
She the shepherdess of the infernals
Where she's treading on still..
The bold and deaf ninetyfive
To the inkling sound of silence
Treading on still..
poem by Indira Renganathan
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Under Your Breath
Hangin' in the underground
Before a train back out of town
Away from you
All the lights that disappear
In the tunnels way down here
It's quite a view
Sometimes I wish I were deaf
Then I wouldn't hear the words you say
Under your breath
Under your breath
Locked away in your room
On the phone with someone who
She thinks out loud
Thought she found the right to leave
Think of the things you used to need
And I'd run out
Sometimes I wish I were deaf
But I hear the words you say
Under your breath
Under your breath
Anything that you put on me
All the things your head needs, You believe
Read my mind 'Cause I can't say anything
The sick heart potion
Two parts pain
One part true again
Sometimes I wish I were deaf
But I hear the words you say
Under your breath
Under your breath
song performed by by Whiskeytown
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Under Your Breath
Hangin' in the underground
Before a train back out of town
Away from you
All the lights that disappear
In the tunnels way down here
It's quite a view
Sometimes I wish I were deaf
Then I wouldn't hear the words you say
Under your breath
Under your breath
Locked away in your room
On the phone with someone who
She thinks out loud
Thought she found the right to leave
Think of the things you used to need
And I'd run out
Sometimes I wish I were deaf
But I hear the words you say
Under your breath
Under your breath
Anything that you put on me
All the things your head needs, You believe
Read my mind 'Cause I can't say anything
The sick heart potion
Two parts pain
One part true again
Sometimes I wish I were deaf
But I hear the words you say
Under your breath
Under your breath
song performed by by Whiskeytown
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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A Deaf-Mute
A deaf-mute brings a cup of tea!
A cup of tea with love so rare;
Love uncommonly seen, I stare;
How do I thank her for her charity?
Often by her mother chided;
A servant in her own house, unpaid;
A deaf-mute, she remains, since birth!
Wearing a smile and full of mirth;
A face quite content to the core;
I want to love her all the more;
My heart with anguish wants to cry;
For unfair things, men often try;
To scores of deaf-mute creatures,
God, a DEAF-MUTE, Himself remains!
poem by John Celes
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The Implausible
The Silence Rings so load
Only the Deaf Could Listen
A sweet voice from the dumb
Wow! The Cripples dancing in Steps
The blind filming the show
Still, The Noise can't defeat the Silence
Melody in the Noise not concede
Only the Deaf could enjoy it
Cripples hunting Great Aromas of the Silence
Blind can't cope with darkness
And the silence was touched,
No one could bear the Disaster
Smiles on the face of the Noise
The Dumb Singing of help
The blind ready to correct the mistakes
On the top of all, the Noise Stand,
So hard to dance but no option
Tears on the face of the deaf
Sympathizing the agony of silence.
From the sofa, The blind watched
poem by Abayomi Okemakinde
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Watch me when people say deaf and dumb, or deaf mute, and I give them a look like you might get if you called Denzel Washington the wrong name.
quote by Marlee Matlin
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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The pain of dispute exceeds, by much, its utility. All disputation makes the mind deaf, and when people are deaf I am dumb.
quote by Joseph Joubert
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Hearing he hears not. He is deaf to entreaty. [Aliter., To feign deafness.]
Pass the Crack
What can be said to those who are 'not'
Deaf, dumb or blind?
It seems as though they have been processed,
On an assembly line.
And mass produced to only receive deceptions.
With defections approved and encouraged.
What can be said to those who are 'not'
Deaf, dumb or blind?
When even blatant hand signs,
Can not stop them from their desires...
Of the experience of getting hit by a truck!
They've been programmed to accept its coming.
Much like their anticipation as they wait...
For truth to tumble from the lips of politicians.
They become ecstatic with hope,
By the words spoken by freshly minted visionaries!
What can be said to those who are 'not'
Deaf, dumb or blind?
'Pass the crack.
And if you want more...
Get back in line! '
poem by Lawrence S. Pertillar
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Being dumb and deaf
I am deaf to you
If I don’t know your tongue.
I am dumb to you
If you don’t know my tongue.
Languages have made
People deaf and dumb.
18.06.2008
poem by Rm. Shanmugam Chettiar
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Stories Of Hope Series #7 Is It Golden Or Is It Blind
Silence is golden or so they say
But how many can keep quite for a full day?
What about the people who were born to preach?
What would they do if they could not teach.
Then I take the opposite view: what would you do?
If you was born deaf never hearing a sound
No birds chirping, no dogs barking, no cats meowing
No laughter. These are the things the deaf are after.
SOUNDS! sounds of music, of joy, happiness.
But I was born blind.
I had hopes to one day see, and all my classmates laughed at me.
They said: you was born in darkness, and in darkness
You will be, from now and through eternity.
I learned colors, not by sight, but by emotions
And I practiced it with devotion.
They said my mother was traumatized during
her pregnancy, and somehow it affected me.
The doctors checked and could not understand why
That I had turned out blind.
My blindness became my greatest strength
Because it fine tuned my hearing.
I am blind and the deaf can not hear
But we have instincts beyond compare.
The deaf can not hear all the sounds of the world
Including a child at play, and for
my hearing I thank GOD every day.
The school then put me with a roommate who was deaf
And we got along swell, we showed each other how
It was to live in each others hell.
He covered up my ears so that I could not hear a sound
And I learned how to get around.
I did the same thing to him and blindfolded him
So that he could not see, and with all this we lived in harmony.
By doing this we learned a lesson that no one could teach
That even being deaf and blind, they could be reached.
I showed him that with a metal tip on a walking stick
You could feel the vibrations of different things
Foot steps, cars, “even music.’
Now that he could hear through the tip of a stick
He learned to dance really quick.
And although I could not see.
I held on to his waist
And he said: “follow me.’
Now I am going for some surgery, that they said
May help me see.
HOPE has rekindled in my heart, but from my friend
I did not want to part.
He let me know that he would stay by my side
And not to give up my hope, but to continue to strive.
He was with me every step of the way, and to GOD
I did pray. I thanked my lord up above for sending
Me this friend and sharing his love.
Three weeks later they took the band aids from my eyes
And the first thing that I saw when my eyes were clear
Was my friend standing there.
Tears filled our eyes as we embraced
For I was blessed by the HOLY GRACE.
He still can not hear, but he was the best man
At my wedding, and showed all the guests how to dance
If there Is someone who will give you a chance.
HOPE IS THE KEY TO SET YOU FREE
poem by Louis Rams
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On His Deafness
'Speak up - no need to shout -I'm not THAT deaf! '
- do I have real reason to complain,
if years of partial listening have brought
now partial hearing in their fateful train?
O Milton - isn't it curious: the blind
evoke our instant feelings of compassion -
while deafness calls some idiot state to mind,
evoking, far from pity - irritation?
Those saintly mystics would just praise their God
that He, to speed their simple saintliness,
brings outer deafness so that inner Word
in cloistered silence, bring a greater bliss...
So may I bear affliction in good part
and hope to hear the louder in the heart.
poem by Michael Shepherd
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I know deaf people. I have discussed the issues with them I've also thought about them a lot so I have some insights that go a little further than people who haven't had contact with the deaf community.
quote by Richard Masur
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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One of the things I did when I was in New York, which has a wonderful deaf community, is I have worked on making Broadway more accessible to deaf people.
quote by Camryn Manheim
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Sonnet: On His Deafness
‘Speak up! No need to shout – I’m not t h a t deaf..! ’
-do I have any real right to complain
if years of partial listening have brought
now partial hearing in their fateful train?
O Milton – isn’t it curious: the blind
evoke our instant feelings of compassion;
while deafness calls some idiot state to mind –
evoking, far from pity – irritation!
Those saintly mystics would just praise their God
that He, to speed their simple saintliness,
brings outer deafness, so that inner Word
in cloistered silence brings a greater bliss..
So may I bear affliction in good part:
and hear a greater, louder word in heart.
poem by Michael Shepherd
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Pinball Wizard
(pete townshend)
[tommy (1914-1984), various artists, 1972]
Ever since I was a young boy,
I played the silver ball;
From soho down to brighton
I must have played em all.
But I aint seen nothin like him
In any amusement hall
That deaf, dumb an blind kid
Sure plays a mean pinball.
He stands like a statue,
Becomes part of the machine.
Feelin all the bumpers
Always playin clean.
Plays by intuition,
The digit counters fall.
That deaf, dumb an blind kid
Sure plays a mean pinball!
Hes a pinball wizard
There has to be a twist,
A pinball wizard,
Got such a supple wrist.
How do you think he does it?
What makes him so good?
Aint got no distractions,
Cant hear those buzzes and bells,
Dont see lights aflashin
Plays by sense of smell.
Always gets a replay,
Never tilts at all
That deaf, dumb an blind kid
Sure plays a mean pinball.
Even my usual table,
He can beat my best,
His disciples lead him in
And he just does the rest.
Hes got crazy flipper fingers,
Never seen him fall.
That deaf, dumb and blind kid
Sure plays a mean pinball.
song performed by by Rod Stewart
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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One of the reasons I wanted to teach deaf children was because it made me very sad that they spoke so clumsily and that they moved with less grace that I knew was possible of deaf people.
quote by Stephanie Beacham
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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