A thing about me

[drwex]

Often when people say "let's go" or "it's time to go" I will respond with "Let us go then, you and I". Most people don't get it.

http://julianpeterscomics.com/page-1-the-love-song-of-j-alfred-prufrock-by-t-s-eliot/

(and if, like me, you feel compelled to reread the whole thing: http://www.bartleby.com/198/1.html)

If this is not my favorite poem then it is so close to favorite that the distance cannot be measured. I realize that is bourgeoisie and cliche and I do not give a rat's ass. Poetry is an "I like what I like" thing for me.

Comments

[badseed1980.livejournal.com]

Almost all art is, for me, an "I like what I like" thing. I am unabashedly subjective in my opinions of art.

[drwex]

I feel like this is different for me. I have much more articulable likes in prose, art, photography, film. Even theater and dance I think I'm a little more structured about.

[badseed1980.livejournal.com]

I find it easier to say what I like about art than what I dislike about it.

[solipsistnation.livejournal.com]

I also say "Let us go then, you and I"!

I think that and Jon Donne's "A Feaver" are my two favorite poems. Donne is great because he writes sentences that loop around themselves like knots. "O do not die, for I shall hate all women so when thou art gone that thee I shall not celebrate when I remember, thou wast one." And that's an easy one. His words flow really well when read out loud, too. (Or at least I think so...)

[hammercock.livejournal.com]

It's one of my favorites as well.

[intuition-ist.livejournal.com]

bourgeoisie? srsly? gack.

[mrw42.livejournal.com]

"The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock" has been my favorite poem since Junior High, and I guess I've never though about whether it is bourgeoisie or cliche... I have come to appreciate it in different ways over time.

[drwex]

Being fond of the poetry of dead English-speaking white guys gets me criticized now and then.

[desiringsubject.livejournal.com]

I believe there is nothing wrong with being fond of the poetry of dead English-speaking white guys. I only criticize people who believe (as too many still do!) that the *only* poetry *worth* being fond of was written by dead English-speaking white guys.

Prufrock is lovely. D has always loved it and has been known to be moved to tears by the line: "I do not think that they will sing to me." In fact, we just bought a salt cellar with a mermaid on it, inspired just by that line.

I even find some of Pound's poetry lovely, and he was far more of an inveterate ass than Eliot ever was.

Also, Eliot's dedication to his wife, is not only one of the most beautiful pieces of love poetry I know of, but is also a testimony to the human ability to grow. That the same man who wrote with disgust of "female smells in shuttered rooms" ("Rhapsody on a Windy Night") and "good old hearty female stench" (from source material for "The Wasteland") could later write with love "Of lovers whose bodies smell of each other" shows that anyone, even an old, white, half-dead misogynist, can grow and ultimately have one of the great loves known to poetry.

"Rhapsody" http://www.bartleby.com/198/4.html
"Dedication to my Wife" http://www.rjgeib.com/thoughts/eliot/eliot.html

If you ever want to look at the source material for the Wasteland, we have it here. It's a FASCINATING book to peer through. Facsimiles of Eliot's typescripts with Pound's handwritten edits.

[drwex]

I am somewhat afraid that learning the source material and story would affect my appreciation of the result. This has happened a couple times with music. Thank you for the thoughtful response and the offer. I shall go read the linked items now.

[desiringsubject.livejournal.com]

Yes, that can happen. Sometimes one really should not see the sausage being made. I like the process, but I'm sure I wouldn't in every case.

[desiringsubject.livejournal.com]

Also, have you seen this? http://www.slate.com/blogs/browbeat/2013/11/11/j_alfred_prufrock_comic_t_s_eliot_poem_illustrated_by_julian_peters.html

Prufrock as graphic novel... (er, graphic poem?)

[drwex]

The Peters comic was the link I made in the original entry.

[desiringsubject.livejournal.com]

D'oh. I just assumed you had linked to the poem, and didn't click through... ::sigh::

[davidfcooper.livejournal.com]

Is the dedication to his first wife (whom he had committed to a mental hospital) or his second wife (the happier of the two marriages)? If you like source material see The Gorgeous Nothings: Emily Dickinson's Envelope Poems (http://ndbooks.com/book/the-gorgeous-nothings) (see my review (http://www.nyjournalofbooks.com/review/gorgeous-nothings-emily-dickinsons-envelope-poems)).

[desiringsubject.livejournal.com]

Oh the dedication is most definitely to Valerie, not Vivian. She only died just a year ago, November 9, 2012.
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/11/13/arts/valerie-eliot-wife-and-editor-of-ts-eliot-dies-at-86.html?_r=0

[celticdragonfly.livejournal.com]

I salute poetry and enjoying it. I have various obscure ones I frequently quote myself.

But I'm actually here because I wanna know - what's the best way to reach you when you're not in WoW? I have a WoW/raid related question to ask you - or possibly more "whoever's scheduling people for the flex raids". Ellemir doesn't really need flex stuff. She will happily come kill stuff if that's what you need. Or I can regem/reforge my priest for holy instead of shadow and bring you another healer. She's at something like 524 at the moment, and I can jump that a few levels with a burden and various VP, if you want it done.

[drwex]

The best way to reach me for gaming things is probably to use the WoW in-game mail. I check it most mornings.

Posting things to the guild forums would also reach others if you want.