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[kidsmenu]

I am expanding my collection of poetry, lest my father think that my recent interest in the modern sciences has quite depleted me of all propriety and ladylike softness. Besides, the colleges I am applying to seem to encourage a diversity in 'coursework.'

Please share with me your favorite poems. The story behind your special affinity would also be welcome. As an alternative, I would be delighted to read of your favorite lyrical songs as well. I've much to learn of the music of the 20th century and beyond, as conventional Earth seems to have it.

Thank you,



Claudia de Lioncourt.

Comments

[slightlyoffchilt]

I was always rather a fan of Whitman.

[kidsmenu]

Bon soir.

Songwriter or poet? I haven't heard of him.

[choosetruth]

Propriety and ladylike softness are overrated. If you want to pursue science don't let your father or anyone else talk you out of it.

[kidsmenu]

You need not fear that. I am destined for my higher education.

Are you a scientist yourself, or merely an advocate of girls' education?

[jericoded]

I'm partial to more modern poets. Mostly 20th century, so you're in luck.

I second the recommendation of Walt Whitman, and add onto that Maya Angelou, Robert Frost, Emily Dickenson and Langston Hughes.

If you'd like something a little older, you could try Emily Dickinson or John Keats if you haven't already. I imagine you're likely already familiar.

[kidsmenu]

I'm not, actually. I left my world in the early 1800s-- if my Internet searching is accurate, those poets came later.

Have you got a favorite? Among all those names. You know quite a lot of poets. Or are they so different that you can't choose?

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[crassidy]

i love a good limerick!! course most the ones i no arent realy the sort i should be recitin to college kids. ive been told off for that sorta shite before lol

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[kidsmenu]

Ah. You speak of something salacious.

[recommendations]

I quite enjoy the haiku of Fukuda Chiyo-ni. (Also known as Kaga no Chiyo.)

Putting up my hair
no more
my hands to the kotatsu

There is something beautiful in the simplicity of it.

[kidsmenu]

I've heard of haiku, but I was not encouraged to read it before. That sounds very pretty.

What is a kotatsu?

[hampire]

I'm rather partial to the poetry of Lord Byron, myself.

[kidsmenu]

He was coming into popularity, last I was in my world.

You like love poems, then? An amorous sort?

[hellosirs]

Claudia! I'm sorry I don't have any poems, but you're applying for college??

omg its my tiny husband

[kidsmenu]

I am! It's quite exciting. I'm studying for a set of exams, as they're quite confused about why I look so young.

[Let's gently draw a curtain over the details.]

It's my first time doing so. Studying anything other than piano, or doing my independent research. I can't remember, did you go to college?

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[am_i_a_monster]

I knew someone who enjoyed John Donne's poetry, especially A Fever. I don't have a favourite poem myself.

I had a few lyrical songs on my CD. Piangero la sorte mia from the opera Giulio Cesare in Egitto. And I had more modern songs, Fight Song and Let It Go. Would you be interested in any of those lyrics?

[kidsmenu]

I would love those lyrics. Tell me the one that speaks to your heart.

I will also look at Donne's poetry. 'A Fever' sounds evocative enough. You know, that sort of plague used to kill people in my time.

[Her mother. Nearly herself.]

Video;

[pocketfulof]

John Donne, John Keats, Maya Angelou, Emily Dickinson, Whitman, Wordsworth, Frost...

Though if a particular poem would come to mind it would be Robert Frost's "Fire and Ice"

[And as a particular treat, this boy's going to recite it for you. Because what is a son of Apollo if not a poet and a lyricist?]

Some say the world will end in fire,
Some say in ice.
From what I've tasted of desire
I hold with those who favor fire.
But if it had to perish twice,
I think I know enough of hate
To say that for destruction ice
Is also great
And would suffice.

video;

[kidsmenu]

[Claudia is almost never on video. But today, her face pops into the screen, her luminous huge.]

That is lovely, [she says.] You are so very talented in your recitation, but I also commend your impressive choice.

[cigarbribery]

Emily Dickinson wrote some poems that I read in college. And there's a guy named Pablo Neruda who's pretty famous for poetry. I'm not really much of a poetry guy, though.

Re: music, that's a different story. I don't know if it's here, but I loved Wicked when the cast album came out, and I grew up listening to Pirates of Penzance maybe a little too much.

[kidsmenu]

That is exactly why I asked about songs as well, truly. It seems the fame and renown of musicians and vocalists have greatly outstripped poets in this era, and I figured there might be reasons.

'Wicked' and the 'Pirates of Penzance.' Are you some sort of scoundrel, to fall in with such themes?

[bassriff]

first off? what your dad thinks doesn't matter, do what you want. and... grod, where do i start?? i'm a songwriter, always have been. i read a lot of poetry

[ a lot of digging old books out of stores and libraries when she was growing up, a lot of reading reprints made in more stable years. let's see, narrowing focus to poets who might have existed here... ]

as far as FAMOUS poets go there's christina rossetti. i don't know if you ever read goblin market, but that stuck with me. plus sappho, emily dickinson, oscar wilde... poe, william blake, byron. a lot of +1s to recs people already gave you. i really like june jordan and audre lorde, too.

songs are trickier. a lot of the stuff that i guess is normal for earth doesn't exist here

[kidsmenu]

Yes, I've heard many of these names tonight. It's very interesting. These poets are greatly accomplished. But no one had yet mentioned Rosetti, and I would like to know which titles are your favorites, if you have any.



I think your reservations about the music might not have much foundation. At least, plenty of people here seem eager to share. Perhaps ImPorts have brought in their collections, because of computers and Internets and similar downloadables.

[She's still learning, okay. But that was pretty good for a vampire from the 1800s!]

[a_good]

It seems like there are a lot of us looking at college.

I've never read much poetry, but I do like Robert Frost.

[kidsmenu]

Are there? What is your name?

I just read my first stanza from a Frost poem today. His work is beautiful! So savage and full.

[photophobic]

I write poetry. It's the task I was assigned on arrival here.
Of all the poetry of this world I have read, this is the one I liked best:

HE WISHES HIS BELOVED WERE DEAD

Were you but lying cold and dead,
And lights were paling out of the West,
You would come hither, and bend your head,
And I would lay my head on your breast;
And you would murmur tender words,
Forgiving me, because you were dead:
Nor would you rise and hasten away,
Though you have the will of wild birds,
But know your hair was bound and wound
About the stars and moon and sun:
O would, beloved, that you lay
Under the dock-leaves in the ground,
While lights were paling one by one.

-W. B. Yeats

It isn't the most famous of his works.

sory i was on vacations

[kidsmenu]

This poem is very grim, monsieur. But I cannot deny, it speaks to a part of me that has slept since I came to this world. Love is complicated, even for children.

['Children.']

[voice]

[pharmaka]

I am afraid I am no scholar or priest, able to reference works for your recommendation, but it is no bad idea to acquaint oneself with this time and place by reading. May I ask for suggestions in reverse -- what have you found worthwhile so far?

[ Her voice is oddly accented, lilting, vaguely European. ]

voice; sory i was on vacation btw!!

[kidsmenu]

I found this poem by a lady the name of Levertov. I will send it to you, demoiselle.

[And she does:
There's in my mind a woman
of innocence, unadorned but

fair-featured and smelling of
apples or grass. She wears

a utopian smock or shift, her hair
is light brown and smooth, and she

is kind and very clean without
ostentation -

but she has
no imagination

And there's a
turbulent moon-ridden girl

or old woman, or both,
dressed in opals and rags, feathers

and torn taffeta,
who knows strange songs

but she is not kind.

It's not long. It's a bit too modern. But she likes it.]

It reminds me of women I have known. There have been a few others, but I suspect I am not reading them properly.