/lit/ - Literature

>tfw you realize you are too old to be on 4chan

God bless you younger folks though, honestly, keep on reading.

Any other sites, blogs, magazines, forums, whatever where you all also discuss philosophy and literature? Pic unrelated

What do you all think of Byron? Or the romantic era as a whole? I know a lot of /lit/ doesn't care about poetry but I rarely see Byron discussed.

She walks in beauty, like the night
Of cloudless climes and starry skies;
And all that’s best of dark and bright
Meet in her aspect and her eyes;
Thus mellowed to that tender light
Which heaven to gaudy day denies.

One shade the more, one ray the less,
Had half impaired the nameless grace
Which waves in every raven tress,
Or softly lightens o’er her face;
Where thoughts serenely sweet express,
How pure, how dear their dwelling-place.

And on that cheek, and o’er that brow,
So soft, so calm, yet eloquent,
I got into one little fight and my momma got scared
She said you're moving with ypur auntie and uncle in Bel-Air
A mind at peace with all below,
A heart whose love is innocent!

Is there a poet who communicates the terrible magnificence of Handel's 'Messiah'? I'm looking for verse which attains that shocking sublimity. It's dark, insofar as it sounds Gothic, but it's also illuminating and purifying. Also, there's a 'complexity' which comes with the enormity of the sound.

I suppose it'd be something like Byron at his most serious ('Manfred' or 'Darkness', but with less scepticism) in its immensity, Milton in its religiosity (but more formally convincing), Baudelaire in its sanguinity (but less vulgar) and maybe Donne in its convincing obscurity of imagery.

Kubla Khan might come close, but then it's expressly a failure.

I'm really desperate to find a poem, or poet, like this, but I'm worried that what I'm looking for is basically some incantatory spell to be found in the hands of a corpse in a Lovecraft story. I'm sure poetry seemed to have this lofty intensity when I began reading it.

Anyway, any recommendations?

>Age
Twenty one

>Country
Scotland

>Novelists
Richard Yates
Joseph Conrad
William Faulkner

>Poets
Percy Bysshe Shelley
Delmore Schwartz
Lord Byron

>Philosophers
Ludwig Wittgenstein
Plato
Ralph Waldo Emerson

I find 'reader's guides' - which are often just an individual's close analyses masquerading as fact - largely unhelpful. If you can find a text with a variety of critical responses appended, then that's perfect. Though, it's worth saying, heading straight to guides for help with difficult texts isn't always rewarding. For instance, the explanatory notes in the appendix of my copy of 'The Sound and the Fury' make it clear that great readers like JP Sartre and Cleanth Brooks were deeply confused on their first readings. If something is puzzling you (apart from diction, which you should look up), you should try to work it out yourself before going for help. It's more satisfying that way. Also, more like the experience the author intended.

In other cases, William Blake's poetry for example, meaning is generated from extensive reading of the corpus itself. Understanding Blake's mythology can be difficult unless you're willing to devote enough time to understanding his works in relation to one another. For the average, time-limited reader, it's totally reasonable to head for a 'Blake's terminology' book. However, working it out yourself will always be more meaningful.

see.

>>4150329
>I have such projects for the Don — but the Cant is so much stronger than the Cunt — now a days, — that the benefit of experience in a man who had well weighed the worth of both monosyllables — must be lost to despairing posterity.

Byron was a manlet (below 165cm), fat (90kg) and club-footed.

does this change your perception of his works?

Mornin, /lit/

I've been up all night reading stuff I wrote quite a few years ago.

It was all kind of stupid, and I ended up rewriting all of it. Changing words, adding, taking away etc.

Well, there's one small piece I'm stuck on.

Anyone here feel they're good enough with prose/poetry to give some feedback?

It's only a few sentences.

I'd prefer aim or msn, since it's a lot quicker, but whatever works.

AIM: withwingstied
MSN: lifeisneverending@live.com

Bitches used to beat each other up waiting for this guy's poetry. He created the most common and famous type of anti hero. Byron is the most influential figure in romance. Influenced authors like the Bronte sisters, Mary Shelley, Anne Rice, and you guessed it.. Edward Cullen is a byronic hero.

Show some love to the master.

Why Bitches Love Cock: Especially Mine