which was meant to be a quiet academic space, become a place where three separate fights are going on? No fighting, gen
-
dbentley666 — 5 years ago(April 26, 2020 08:01 PM)
That phrase about "writing passive-aggressive explications" reminds me of Coleridge's Ancient Mariner, and those dreadful (and yet very Coleridgean and readable) prose glosses he wrote in fake mediaeval English!
I'm also reminded (by you saying Milton was inspired to rival Virgil) of Harold Bloom's thesis about the anxiety of influence. -
Cerridwen — 5 years ago(April 26, 2020 08:10 PM)
Speaking of Coleridge, have you ever tried to suffer through
Biographia Literaria
? It's a nonsensical, opium-addled nightmare of a glimpse into his brain. His half-formed philosophies are poor imitations of Kant's brilliance.
It's always been humourous to me that the poet who, alongside Wordsworth, championed the usage of the language of the common man in poetry was lambasted for using archaic terminology in
Rime of the Ancient Mariner
. What happened to the accessible optimism of
Lyrical Ballads
?
I've not yet read that thesis, but I will do so now. Do you have a link, or is it easily found online?
Hark! Harold the angel sings. -
dbentley666 — 5 years ago(April 26, 2020 08:19 PM)
I'm somewhat embarrassed to admit that I rather like Biographia Literaria! I know he lifted from Kant without acknowledgement, but some parts are so brilliantly written….
Bloom's book is called The Anxiety of Influence and it's very easy to get hold of. He's not always a very lucid writer (somewhat Blakean: lots of mysticism and Kabbalah and all that) but his basic thesis very interesting: basically a Freudian/Nietzschean assumption that all "strong" poets are caught up in an agonistic struggle against other strong poets. Presumably Milton's anxiety is triggered (in a good way) by Virgil and/or Shakespeare (but probably not Homer). -
dbentley666 — 5 years ago(April 26, 2020 08:39 PM)
The Kurgan said...
Go on. I barely remembered him myself!
I actually taught the Inferno section (in English, of course) years ago. Anyway, my Dante story. I visited Rome and Florence about 4 years ago, and I was reading about how Dante was banned from visiting Florence because he fought on the wrong side (I think he was a Ghibelline). Anyway, he was an exile, and not allowed to visit Florence, on pain of death. Do you know when the ban against him was lifted? About 2008, a few years before we visited! So the Florentine city fathers didn't forgive Dante for more than seven centuries! Talk about Italian vendettas and long memories for revenge! I was so impressed by that story. I kept thinking about it when I was in Florence (maybe the most beautiful city I've ever seen). -
Cerridwen — 5 years ago(April 26, 2020 08:22 PM)
Don't be embarrassed! Different books for different nooks. It's obviously many people's cup of tea, hence its inclusion in the canon.
That's an absolutely fascinating, and likely true, look at the influence famous authors absolutely have on later writers. I will be reading it as soon as I can.
Hark! Harold the angel sings.
Schrodinger's Cat walks into a bar, and doesn't. 