A.k.a. Poem #258 in the Franklin numbering; #320 in Johnson
The relevant part of John’s TED Talk
And then, when I was in 10th grade, I went to this school: Indian Springs School, a small boarding school outside of Birmingham, Alabama. And all at once, I became a learner. And I became a learner because I found myself in a community of learners. I found myself surrounded by people who celebrating intellectualism and engagement, and who thought that my ironic, oh-so-cool disengagement wasn’t clever or funny, but like it was a simple and unspectacular response to very complicated and compelling problems. And so I started to learn, because learning was cool. I learned that some infinite sets are bigger than other infinite sets and I learned was iambic pentameter is and why it sounds so good to human ears. I learned that the Civil War was a nationalizing conflict, I learned some physics, I learned that correlation shouldn’t be confused with causation. All of these things, by the way, enrich my life on a literally daily basis. And it’s true I don’t use most of them for my job, but that’s not what it’s about for me. It’s about cartography.
What is the process of cartography? It’s, you know, sailing upon some land, then thinking, “I think I’ll draw that bit of land.” And then wondering, “Maybe there’s some more land to draw.” And that’s where learning really began for me. It’s true that I had teachers that didn’t give up on me and I was very fortunate to have those teachers because I often gave them cause to think there was no reason to invest in me. But a lot of the learning I did in high school wasn’t about what happened inside of the classroom, it was about what happened outside of the classroom. For instance, I can tell you that,
(quotes poem)
Not because I memorized Emily Dickinson in school when I was in high school, but because there was a girl when I was in high school, and her name was Amanda, and I had a crush on her, and she liked Emily Dickinson poetry.
TEDx Indianapolis | Paper Towns
There’s a certain Slant of light,
Winter Afternoons –
That oppresses, like the Heft
Of Cathedral Tunes –
(Unquoted remainder)
Heavenly Hurt, it gives us –
We can find no scar,
But internal difference –
Where the Meanings, are –
None may teach it – Any –
‘Tis the seal Despair –
An imperial affliction
Sent us of the Air –
When it comes, the Landscape listens –
Shadows – hold their breath –
When it goes, ’tis like the Distance
On the look of Death –
John Green Reads Poetry 