09-29-2023, 03:02 AM
My wife would have enjoyed arguing with you. Unlike me, she was well-read and
conversant in all manner of famous names. She told me once: "I was naive, I thought
you went to college to learn, not to get a job." She did this doubly so with degrees
in both philosophy and religious studies (of course she was an atheist). She would
have adamantly disagreed with you in a way all parties found enjoyable. Not the
least of the enjoyments being that here, once again, was proof that most people,
had they but the brains to understand, would consider themselves peasants.
Unlike my wife, I'm reduced to reading this from the outside. All I know about
most of these famous names is the famous part. For me this thread is like
listening to neurologists, geologists, fans of cooking or locomotives or movies.
I'm fascinated by the language, the structures that are constructed using these,
to me, mystical terms. I don't understand, but I enjoy the enthusiasm. I read a
lot of poetry and only realized late in my life that it was too much. It was usually
"new" stuff, fresh from the mouths of innocents. (Obviously some exceptions: I like
legacy poets that write short poems. I particularly like Emily Dickinson. Not only
because I feel a kinship with her, but because it's fun to try to translate her
poems into newspeak.) But in the old days it was dreadful chapbooks purchased,
when they weren't stolen*, from second-hand bookstores - by the pound.
The coming of the web was a wonderful thing - it's all free now. And since it's
robbed from the old stuff, all the ages are available.
One of my favorite sites
is Poetry International - https://www.poetryinternational.com/en/
I especially like the foreign poems that have been translated into English by
someone who's not that familiar with the language. Awkward translations let
the flavor of the original poem seep through and allow for the liberal
(mis)interpretation so necessary for my enjoyment.
*When I was poor, before I'd made a tiny fortune at a high-tech startup and
quickly lost when trying to start a company of my own, a task where I proved
myself a total incompetent.
conversant in all manner of famous names. She told me once: "I was naive, I thought
you went to college to learn, not to get a job." She did this doubly so with degrees
in both philosophy and religious studies (of course she was an atheist). She would
have adamantly disagreed with you in a way all parties found enjoyable. Not the
least of the enjoyments being that here, once again, was proof that most people,
had they but the brains to understand, would consider themselves peasants.
Unlike my wife, I'm reduced to reading this from the outside. All I know about
most of these famous names is the famous part. For me this thread is like
listening to neurologists, geologists, fans of cooking or locomotives or movies.
I'm fascinated by the language, the structures that are constructed using these,
to me, mystical terms. I don't understand, but I enjoy the enthusiasm. I read a
lot of poetry and only realized late in my life that it was too much. It was usually
"new" stuff, fresh from the mouths of innocents. (Obviously some exceptions: I like
legacy poets that write short poems. I particularly like Emily Dickinson. Not only
because I feel a kinship with her, but because it's fun to try to translate her
poems into newspeak.) But in the old days it was dreadful chapbooks purchased,
when they weren't stolen*, from second-hand bookstores - by the pound.
The coming of the web was a wonderful thing - it's all free now. And since it's
robbed from the old stuff, all the ages are available.
One of my favorite sites is Poetry International - https://www.poetryinternational.com/en/
I especially like the foreign poems that have been translated into English by
someone who's not that familiar with the language. Awkward translations let
the flavor of the original poem seep through and allow for the liberal
(mis)interpretation so necessary for my enjoyment.
*When I was poor, before I'd made a tiny fortune at a high-tech startup and
quickly lost when trying to start a company of my own, a task where I proved
myself a total incompetent.
a brightly colored fungus that grows in bark inclusions