/lit/ - Literature

[Anonymous No.3195407]

So how come every time I read some universally acclaimed poet's work, it turns out to be a perfect example of pretentious wanking over hermetic references to trivia that only a handful of people will know of and thus understand?

[Anonymous No.3195411]

Why do you wish to understand?

[Anonymous No.3195422]

>>3195411

Because I cannot for the life of me conceive that things like:

I shall not want Honour in Heaven
For I shall meet Sir Philip Sidney 10
And have talk with Coriolanus
And other heroes of that kidney.

I shall not want Capital in Heaven
For I shall meet Sir Alfred Mond:
We two shall lie together, lapt 15
In a five per cent Exchequer Bond.

I shall not want Society in Heaven,
Lucretia Borgia shall be my Bride;
Her anecdotes will be more amusing
Than Pipit’s experience could provide.

can possibly be enjoyable to read without knowing what the fuck he's talking about there.

[Anonymous No.3195430]

>>3195407
to be and to seem, monsieur, are they the same? and where is your subjunctive mood? and yet you are writing in the optative, aren't you? do as i do, and be an idiot!!!!

[Anonymous No.3195435]

>>3195430

I'd rather not create a cringe-inducing persona on the Internet, thank you.

[Anonymous No.3195438]

Does anyone else feel like poetry is rather boring? Seems like the only people who write it are writers without the determination to write novels/short stories, or good writers who want to release more work for a means of easy income.

[Anonymous No.3195443]

>>3195438
I like short, succinct poetry that is guaranteed not to bore me

[Anonymous No.3195451]

>>3195435
ah, not wittingly or willingly, monsieur?

[Anonymous No.3195458]

>>3195451
Please, someone make it stop. I feel embarrassed by the simple act of reading his posts.

[Anonymous No.3195460]

>>3195451

Hahaha, u r 1 cheeky kunt m8, i swear on y mums lyf.

Clever.

[Anonymous No.3195467]

>>3195438

I have found poetry I've actually enjoyed, but it is a rare find. As a spaniard, my language teacher used to recite Francisco de Quevedo's poetry to us sometimes. His caustic wit made me love him instantly, and to this day I still remember my teacher's voice pronouncing the first verses of one of those poems:

No he de callar por más que con el dedo,
ya tocando la boca o ya la frente,
silencio avises o amenaces miedo.

¿No ha de haber un espíritu valiente?
¿Siempre se ha de sentir lo que se dice?
¿Nunca se ha de decir lo que se siente?

Agh, sorry for not translating, but poetry translation is not my best skill.

[Anonymous No.3195469]

>>3195467
Thank you for making us having to resort to unreliable translation sites like Babelfish and Google translate.

[Anonymous No.3195472]

The apparition of these faces in the crowd;
Petals on a wet, black bough.

[Anonymous No.3195477]

>>3195438
>easy income.

Fuck me. Laugh? I nearly bought a round of drinks.

You don't know a great deal about the poetry market matey.

[Anonymous No.3195490]

Poetry is shit and for people who have a blind spot in their right brain. People who do crosswords and namedrop stuff like tomatoes are actually fruit.

[Anonymous No.3195495]

>>3195477

>You don't know a great deal about the poetry market matey.

No, I don't. But I'd assume if a writer has a number of dedicated fans, then they would, without question, buy whatever work the writer releases. Even if it's a compilation half ass poems.

[Anonymous No.3195501]

>>3195495

[Anonymous No.3195502]

>>3195495

Nah, usually you don't get paid. I published a small volume of poems and the publisher paid me by giving me free books that I could flog at readings. Not some shady vanity press, either, a real publishers. It's the standard way to pay poets.

Even something like the Paris Review only pays $10 a line, I think, and that's like bonanza for a poet, it's exceptionally hard to get accepted.

You get mad pussy though.

[Anonymous No.3195504]

>>3195495

[Anonymous No.3195507]

>>3195502
>You get mad pussy though.
Obviously, considering prostitution is the only way for a mediocre poet to survive on such a lowly income

[Anonymous No.3195508]

>>3195469

I know, I was looking for the poem translated by some professional, but it seems to lack an actual name and that makes things difficult. And the other poems I do find translated doesn't satisfy me one bit.

[Anonymous No.3195537]

I think you mean "hermeneutic". Hermetic is when you seal something all tight like.

[Anonymous No.3195542]

>>3195537

No, "hermetic", as in "closed circuit and you plebeian reader can't understand my references so fuck you".