Knygatin Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> ... slept in a bunk ... .

... slept on a bunk. Perhaps more gramatically correct, especially when it is a simple bunk that you don't sink into.

Knygatin Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> The kind of poetry
> that would seem natural to come from a talent like
> CAS, who lived in the countryside far from the
> bustling city, and who slept outside the shack on
> a bunk underneath the stars.

That's a poetic description right there, Knygatin! And you remind us of an important point about CAS' semi-isolated rural lifestyle and its impact on his artistic endeavors. His letters often refer to his preference for writing in the summer months, when he could do so outdoors. That does sound like a wonderfully conducive environment for creative pursuits.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 26 Nov 20 | 07:43AM by Oldjoe.

Oldjoe Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Knygatin Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > The kind of poetry
> > that would seem natural to come from a talent like
> > CAS, who lived in the countryside far from the
> > bustling city, and who slept outside the shack on
> > a bunk underneath the stars.
>
> That's a poetic description right there, Knygatin!
> And you remind us of an important point about
> CAS' semi-isolated rural lifestyle and its impact
> on his artistic endeavors. His letters often
> refer to his preference for writing in the summer
> months, when he could do so outdoors. That does
> sound like a wonderfully conducive environment for
> creative pursuits.

!!!? That was a kind comment, Oldjoe!

I think he surely also must have spent some time by the sea, on some occasion, to write this poem. It is a late poem. Perhaps written when he lived with his wife in Pacific Grove?

Knygatin Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
>
> Perhaps written when he lived with his wife in Pacific Grove?

Or in-between when up in Auburn (sometimes a step back from beauty is needed to transmute it into art). He alternated back and forth between the locations, before permanently moving to Pacific Grove.

There was some earlier discussion in this thread about the poet Lilith Lorraine. I had not previously realized that CAS' poem "Lines on A Picture" was written in tribute to her:

[www.eldritchdark.com]

CAS explained the origin of the poem in a letter to August Derleth from January 1944:

Quote:

Here's my first poem of the year. It was suggested by a photo of herself that Lilith Lorraine sent me.

It's hard to imagine higher praise for a fellow fantastic poet than CAS delivers in "Lines on A Picture"!

I see Oldjoe hasn't posted in a while, neither here nor on his blog. I hope everything is alright.

Anyway, how about this one?

[www.eldritchdark.com]

I was actually surprised to discover that it was first published, and hence presumably written, as late as 1951, since I always kinda assumed that it served as an inspiration for the Averoigne setting.

Some really powerful imagery of knights charging at stars.

And a perfect ending.

Quote:

Dreamer, awake!... but I remain
To ride with them in Amithaine.

It has been a while since I've been able to lurk on The Eldritch Dark, but hopefully the long winter days ahead will allow me to do so more often!

"Amithaine" is a wonderful selection from CAS' body of poetic work. The Joshi and Schultz edition of The Complete Poetry and Translations dates it to October 1950, so it is indeed a late work.

I love the way that CAS changes some descriptive phrases as the poem progresses. For example, early on he gives us "the bale-red stars", whereas in the last stanza we have "the doom-preparing stars". There is a similarity in meaning between those phrases, but the transition from the passive "bale-red" to the active "doom-preparing" grants those stars a more malicious role. Those brave knights will "Ride forth to ghostly, glamorous wars", but what a dark fate awaits them!



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 25 Nov 21 | 01:24PM by Oldjoe.

Good to see you back, OJ!

--Sawfish

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"The food at the new restaurant is awful, but at least the portions are large."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Thanks Sawfish!

While we're on the topic of CAS' poetry, I can't help quoting one of his most indelible passages, which seems to always be with me:

Quote:

There have been many kings, and they are dead,
And have no power in death save what the wind
Confers upon their blown and brainless dust
To vex the eyeballs of posterity.

This is of course from the poem "Nero", one of the greatest things that CAS ever wrote. Not surprisingly, the full text is available right here on The Eldritch Dark:

[www.eldritchdark.com]

Those brief lines quoted above capture a healthy viewpoint from which to consider the dubious accomplishments of so-called leaders and "influencers". Even in the age of social media, CAS' words still ring with wisdom and relevancy!

"Amithane" is the poem by Smith I remember best, much because of its beautiful word melody in the stanzas. I shall never forget the strong impression it made upon me when I first read it in Poseidonis (Ballantine) a long time ago.

Last night I re-watched Kubrick's and Clarke's 2001: A Space Odyssey, for the first time since I was a kid (when I found it plain boring). What an exciting and beautiful film it is! I mention it here because I find in it some connection to Smith's poem. Although Smith's poem is more romantic, and deals with the emotional catastrophe of failed romance and unwillingness to let go, both the poem and film stretch far out and let alien life that is more evolved than us completely consume the human entity, which surrenders to it, detaches itself from Earth, and becomes transformed into another more cosmic life form. I think this vision was central in Arthur C. Clarke's perspective, and is clearly expressed in his earlier book Childhood's End. Clark has much in common with Smith and Lovecraft regarding the cosmic outlook, although he took it to a more intellectually or scientifically sophisticated level.

Knygatin Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
>
> ... alien life that is more evolved than us
>

Or, perhaps rather, I should say differently evolved. In the film it was perfectly incomprehensible, beyond our grasp.

Evolvement is difficult to measure or evaluate in linear quantity. Man is an ambitious misfit in the Earth ecology system. For all sensible reasoning, if we do measure evolution by degree of adaptation to the ecology system, then delicate refined insects may be more evolved than Man. They are certainly much older than Man, by millions of years.

Dolphin and Man have the same size of brain, but use these differently. Who is more evolved? Dolphins do not strive for world domination; does this make them less evolved? The dolphin cerebral cortex has a more convoluted and complicated network than Man's brain does. In some respects their mental capabilities exceed that of Man.

Knygatin Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
>
> ... Dolphin and Man have the same size of brain
>

The dolphin brain is actually slightly larger. Elephant and whale brains are much larger than the human brain.

Whew! Where to start...

Kubrick is a strange case, in my opinion. He is an intuitive artist rather than a clear storyteller, or a narrative lesson-teacher/philospoher. I think many overlook this because of his technical proficiency, and assume that his message, and indeed, his thinking, is as clearly formed as his visual style.

He seems to like ambiguity, and is at his best when dealing with ambiguous themes. I think that this concern with ambiguity appeals to many viewers because much in life is ambiguous--like it or not--and he reminds us of this.

To me, 2001 is thematically over-rated. It is visually powerful (except for the "light show" sequence), but after many years considering it, I came to the conclusion that any attempt to make sense of the last part of the film ultimately results in "...and so who cares?". Who cares if unnamed aliens steered humanity's evolution, apparently toward a higher form of existence?

Now, understand that this evalution comes from an early enthusiastic fan, ne, who saw it on first release--probably more than once. I can still recall the sort of generational shibboleth it represented--it was as if it was saying something to *us* (although what that might be is another story), the 60's generation, that was lost on our parents.

Dope helped this a lot, I think.

So far as relative brain size, this matters, some, but we must not forget that a lot of the processing capacity of cetaceans is sensory and used for nagivation, so until we can accurately account for specialized mental needs induced by the environment, as the organism's corporeal body interfaces with it, comparative size is not overly useful.

--Sawfish

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"The food at the new restaurant is awful, but at least the portions are large."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Sawfish Wrote:
> To me, 2001 is thematically over-rated. It is
> visually powerful (except for the "light show"
> sequence), but after many years considering it, I
> came to the conclusion that any attempt to make
> sense of the last part of the film ultimately
> results in "...and so who cares?". Who cares if
> unnamed aliens steered humanity's evolution,
> apparently toward a higher form of existence?

A fair summary. To me, the highlights of the film are the quasi-realistic space sequences, and the battle with HAL.

Platypus Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Sawfish Wrote:
> > To me, 2001 is thematically over-rated. It is
> > visually powerful (except for the "light show"
> > sequence), but after many years considering it,
> I
> > came to the conclusion that any attempt to make
> > sense of the last part of the film ultimately
> > results in "...and so who cares?". Who cares if
> > unnamed aliens steered humanity's evolution,
> > apparently toward a higher form of existence?
>
> A fair summary. To me, the highlights of the film
> are the quasi-realistic space sequences, and the
> battle with HAL.

Yes. That's what the positive reception of the film is based on. The magnificent spaces sequences to Blue Danube, etc.

--Sawfish

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"The food at the new restaurant is awful, but at least the portions are large."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~