I know, I know, it’s still summer. At least in some parts of the world. In the southern hemisphere August is the last month of winter. And in Finland, summer is the time of the year that it can be sizzling hot or snowing. It’s all a mater of perspective. This is what this poem for the fall conveys.
Note: what follows is an excerpt from my Self Versus Self project, that contains a narrative poem and a literary-fiction novel. It’s not available for sale, but see the bottom of this post for info on how to download it for free.
Fall can be a time of melancholy; or elation. It’s all a matter of perspective. This is what this poem for the fall attempts to convey(more…)
Hell, what a title, huh? Only a madman like myself could find a connection between Romantic poets and a modern band like Jinjer. But before we talk about Jinjer’s “Pisces”, meaning, duality, and the human tragedy, there’s something you need to know about Romantic poets.
They were bad-ass motherfuckers.
They were obviously the rock stars of their day – including drug use – in that they talked about things nobody else dared to. Romantic poets, in general, had the personal integrity to express what they believed. As a result of this integrity, they also often shared another characteristic.
They were tormented souls.
Perhaps it feels confusing to you to hear that. Can a bad-ass really be a frail, introvert creature, haunted and often misunderstood by society?
That’s what we’ll be talking about today. Drawing from Romantic poets such as William Blake as well as a song by a modern band, Jinjer’s “Pisces”, meaning, duality, and the tragedy of human existence will come full circle.
Romantic poets, Jinjer’s “Pisces”, meaning, duality, humanity. Some things are timeless and pervade all cultural instances(more…)
In today’s post I will talk about Negative Capability. In particular, I’ll try to answer the question, What is negative capability? There’s a reason I’ve used bold font. There’s also a reason I said that I’ll try to answer the question.
Honestly, few things in a literary context have troubled me more than negative capability. Can I give you a definition? Sure. That’s very easy. Let’s take the one offered by John Keats himself, who coined the term.
[S]everal things dovetailed in my mind, & at once it struck me, what quality went to form a Man of Achievement especially in Literature & which Shakespeare possessed so enormously – I mean Negative Capability, that is when a man is capable of being in uncertainties, Mysteries, doubts, without any irritable reaching after fact & reason – Coleridge, for instance, would let go by a fine isolated verisimilitude caught from the Penetralium of mystery, from being incapable of remaining content with half knowledge.
