/lit/ - Literature

>>14334401
>Whether you think he's the greatest musician of the Romantic period, and further the completion of the great musical geniuses doesn't yet matter, any man can see his value.

Oh, I do. No Wagner means no John Williams, no Yoko Shimomura. The Ring Cycle is a masterpiece, one of the greatest things humans have ever done. I'll need to read up more on his thoughts on art. Though, for me personally, I'd say Tchaikovsky was the greatest Romantic composer.
>>14334416
I mean, if I had a literal metapoem, it would be Wish I Greatness In My Words:
>>14331182

But, as I was saying, my metatheme hook would be as I laid out here:
>>14334307
>Moreover, I suppose my real selling point is that it's an anthology of poetry written by a budding poet between the ages of 8 and 24. As you read the book (and it's presented in chronological order with all the poems dated and stated what city they were written in), you see the evolution of the author (me) not only as a writer but as an individual. You watch me grow up into my own through the writing, and I think that's pretty special and nearly unprecedented.
>>14334432
I was half kidding. But, let's be real, it was a big part of Wagner's ideology.

>>14334352
>have you read any of Wagner's writings?

like....Richard Wagner? Germanic supremacy/anti-semitic stuff?

>>14334224
That's not my cover or my book, just an example of a contemporaneous poet. Funny you say it's a horrible cover, because his book is selling quite well.

I posted five in the thread already, and you can find them linked conveniently here:
>>14331328

Also, I probably shouldn't be doing this, but pic related is the cover with title of my book, with my name blackbarred.

>>14334228
No, but I'd agree with the sentiment. It's a lovely, lovely poem.
>>14334234
ayyy, haha. I guess I should've stopped while I was ahead.
>>14334258
Because every poem is different from each other, so there's a wide variety to keep you interested. Some are about nature, some are about the city, some are about love, some are about loss, some are about animals, some are about people, some are autobiographical, some are fantastical, some are about art, some are science, etc. Many of the poems rhyme, but some don't. There are a few "word art" poems where the poem is in the shape of an object, there are some poems within poems, there are some dialogue heavy poems, etc. Some are haikus, some are half a page long, some are 1 page long, some are 2 pages long, some are 3 pages long, some are 4 pages long, some are 5 pages long, and there's even one that's 14 pages long. Moreover, I suppose my real selling point is that it's an anthology of poetry written by a budding poet between the ages of 8 and 24. As you read the book (and it's presented in chronological order with all the poems dated and stated what city they were written in), you see the evolution of the author (me) not only as a writer but as an individual. You watch me grow up into my own through the writing, and I think that's pretty special and nearly unprecedented.

>>14334185
>but the most likely thing if you get published is it will not be a world-breaking paradigm shift.
Sure, I know, but a guy can dream.
>And then what, will you give up?
Of course not. I'll be working on the next book, of course. I already have 55 poems planned in advance for that one. And I have 3 more titles planned out after the second book. I'll be at the poetry game for a long time, improving my craft, getting more nuanced and better at my work. I'm only 24. I have a lifetime of improvement ahead of me to make the best poems possible.
>i get it, i feel the exact same thing in my lane
All we can to do is lead through example and hope others follow the same path.

>>14334129
Don't make me become a tripfag. Nobody wants that. Just fuck off my thread if you don't like it.

Disregard, I suck cocks

>>14334056
No. And try spelling "sage" right next time. I thought this was the literature board. You'd think people here would be better read.

>>14333848
Thanks for the insight. Yeah, I mean, I'm basically looking to turn the tide. If this gets published and gets big, it could be a paradigm shift. Similar to the paradigm shift that Rupi Kaur did with her shit instapoetry, but this could be in the opposite direction: good, quality, high-effort, novel, thoughtful, diverse in subject, RHYMING, or even, God-forbid, METERED poetry from contemporary poets. People will actually have to try again with writing poetry, because they won't be able to carry on with the same instashit anymore. I have a funny feeling that this exact type of poetry I'm advocating for is what the public is hungry for after all the vacuous garbage that's been spewed out over the past decade. What they want and need but might not even know it.

>>14333855
I wouldn't mind wearing different hats as different character narrators, but nothing so caricature and reductionist as "a black guy", vs. "some guy named David Williams who happens to be black", and certainly not for your sick fetishization kink.

>>14333728
Doesn't rhyme.

Simply a, wait for it....'watered down' (get it?) version of mine.


4/10

>>14333214
>>14333231
>>14333251

Here, I've edited it for you.

If I Were a Furry

If I were a furry
Which animal would I be?
I don’t have the courage of the lion
Great protector of Mount Zion.
I also couldn’t choose a doggo
Or a furless animal like the froggo.
If only I could chose the Sphinx
But alas they don’t exist methinks.
So given my acute guile
I guess I'll be a crocodile.

>>14333214
>>14333231
also, add "methinks" at the end of "don't exist", so it reads as

"But alas they don’t exist methinks"

>>14333214
*furry, not "furrie"
*alas, not "al last"

Change the last lines to

"So given my acute guile
I guess I'll be a crocodile."


Make all these changes and it'll be unironically solid.

>>14333115
Kiss Mai Yass

>>14332854
>rhyming 'form' with 'form'

5/10, needs work

>>14332775
I get you.

>Fuck you they should all be best ones.

no [FUCK] u


Yeah, I do think they're all good and worth reading, but I'm just saying due to the post word limit, and because I don't want to give out all my best stuff on one measly thread on 4chan, that I'm holding onto some of the bestest stuff.

You sound like you know what you're talking about. If you'd care to throw me some throwaway contact or something, I'd like to keep in touch and, if you'd be willing to grace me the opportunity, send you a copy of the manuscript so you can really rip me to shreds.

>>14332194
>you should be extremely hard on your work

I have been. Every step of the way, I have been. I should say that compared to the crap that comes out today that passes for poetry, it's good. I only know now it's good today by being so hard on myself and thinking for the longest time it was all shit. I only now have acquired that certain confidence.
>your ideas about breaking through at this time are fantastical

No, what's fantastical is the bullshit that comes out today that is gobbled up passing on nothing but being from an author of color, or a woman author, or being an attractive author, or being a "woke" author peddling in virtue-signaling, while the quality of the writing itself is shit to mediocre. There are dozens of 'poets' out there who have already "broken through" (and all I mean by that is to say have been published and have sold 5000+ copies, not joined the ranks of fucking Keats or Poe or anything) and I just wish to do the same for my above average work.
>>14332205
Maybe that could be the follow-up poem to that one. Thanks for the suggestion.
>>14332230
No thanks.
>>14332272
I just meant that there are plenty of bad books that sell well to really well, so my stuff that is, if not great, better than theirs and has the potential to sell really, really well.

This is only a selection of 5 poems out of the total 66, and I haven't even shared the best ones.

Nonetheless, thanks for all the good advice.
>>14332319
One of them will be published on a relatively prestigious website at the end of the month. I've submitted others to a handful of contests whose deadlines aren't done yet.
>but turning up on the door with a 130 page manuscript is not a publishers idea of low-hanging fruit

yes, but it does show I'm serious about it, and that I've done more than most other poets can do, if not in quality then at least in quantity, and not sparse 3 sentence greeting card tier poems, but fully fleshed poetry.

Thanks for the tips.

To bump or not to bump

For bookkeeping's sake, here are the five poems I've posted in the thread:

>>14330742
If I Were A Tree
>>14330748
Windowpane
>>14330888
Jetsam
>>14331074
Dayseizer
>>14331182
>>14331189
Wish I Greatness in My Words

>>14331182
Crave I to awaken from my slumber of self-gratifying in juvenile numbers,
Flaunting foolish youthful amateurish brash lack of polish as some grand new poetic fad.
Confusing precociousness for genius, twisting prodigy for excellence, scamming tricks as wonders,
Counterfeiting novelty for timelessness. How pathetic, how wrong, how worthless, how sad.
I say nay. None more. I shall shed away all my mediocrity and transform anew,
Like the butterfly and its chrysalis, the moth and its cocoon. Anon to these I’ll bid adieu.

But I could bathe in the ink of a thousand and one poems,
Would it mean I could absorb even the meagerest of skills and secrets.
If nothing’s original under the Sun, I’ll move to another one.
There will I be free, from cynicism, from excuses, and from self-borne misery.

May I speak my greatest truth. May I promote good thoughts, good words, and good deeds.
May I achieve beauty, wisdom, humor, emersion, brilliance, narrative, expression,
Humility, authenticity, innovation, humanity, and excellence in my letters.
May my craft sit well beside history, literature, journalism, comedy, tragedy, music, psalms, and eulogy.

Grant me the might, O Greats, O Christ, and O Lord Almighty God, and see I do all these things for thee.
All in your name, for the Greater Glory of God, for the Greater Glory of Art, for my Country,
For my City, for my kin, and for me.

Owe I much to the world, and I must live with the thoughts in my head
That my debts shall never be repaid, save only with my remorseful death.
Fear I no great endeavors shall the saints and the seraphim deem worth for my atonement.
My spine shivers and my blood flushes in dread that lost forever shall be all I’ve ever done and all I’ve ever said.

Then, what’s the cure? Only greatness offers the magical elixir.
Chiefly, greatness will present to me a fountain of youth,
My wine of immortality, upon which generations to come shall drink from
And know the name of the vineyard maker who made once their vintage.

Intoxicating words to stimulate the mind, arouse the heart, and release the soul.
Only can greatness achieve my goal.

Okay, last one. It's too long for just one post, so I'm breaking it up into two, but it's supposed to be just one work. Wrote this poem this past July, age 24:


Wish I Greatness in My Words
Wish I greatness in my words.
Such pressure to stand alone never have before I known,
With steam escaping, skin cracking, eyes drying, and shouts out to the birds.
Wish I to synthesize an original style all my own,
Unique to me as my hands and bones,
As distinct as my fingerprints, my freckles, my means,
My handwriting, my voice, my wit, my gait, my genes.
An everlasting flair surviving past longevity.
To truly know the true meaning of poetry.

O ye Past Masters, give me strength. Grant me powers weird and wonderful!
Reinforce my iron will, forge my pen mightier than the sword.
Bless my verse with the ability to climb mountains of enlightenment,
To swiftly over the rivers of Doubt and Loss ford.

Desire I my mouth become honey-tongued and my pen turn golden-capped.
Every symbol silvery gilded in magnificence, dripping in dewy pearls, and incensed with sage and rose.
Let me know the best words of cosmic vocabulary, like the treasured splendor of encrusted trinkets.
So too shall my prose wrap up those clothed in awe, like finely stitched sweaters and carpets.

Declare I my works shall have method in’t.
Between rhyme and reason, structure and meter,
Through all these tools and frames let my art speak through the ages,
Echoing in the chambers of time. Tintinnabulation most melodious.

Allow readers to feel my pain, bask in my joy, and meditate on my ideas.
Out over everywhere, they will see with my eyes and hear with my ears.
Both lands naïve and antique. From the West to the East.
Both kinds of writers spellbind, from the best to the least.
From then to now, for old and young, for rich and poor.
For the learnèd and the lay, for the novice and the connoisseur.
From the North to the South. ‘Cross every continent flat and steep.
Enchant my lines to move all folk. Bring them laughter and make them weep.

>>14331132
I actually am fortunate enough to have an interesting name that looks good, so I'm not worried about that. It's a white name but unusual, like a "Walt Disney" or "Xander Boyce"

>>14331096
>poem about women being women

How is that not a huge cliché? It's a worse sin that the entire concept topic is stock than a few phrases here and there.

One more shorter one. Also wrote this past October, age 24:
Dayseizer


Burn night oil ere dawn’s early light of day.
Swiftly gather the flowers while you may.
Dayseizer, seize quick all my hopes today.


Cross true through blinding light and darkest night.
Bonding charm to keep us close in the fight.
Wayfinder, find my good friends are all right.


Maintain hope and soak up moonlight for me.
Willow hoop woven with feathers and beads.
Dreamcatcher, catch every vision I see.