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Byron, studying of
Nov. 27th, 2010 12:31 amI did more reading for college. Byron, The Corsair. Canto the first so far.
I liked the bit about the sea and fighting and then I got bored with the bit about love and oh noes he has to go away.
... I'm predictable.
I was reading it and thinking I so know this guy. I mean I've never read this one, but this guy, he's all over all the stories.
---
That man of loneliness and mystery,
Scarce seen to smile, and seldom heard to sigh;
Whose name appals the fiercest of his crew,
And tints each swarthy cheek with sallower hue;
Still sways their souls with that commanding art
That dazzles, leads, yet chills the vulgar heart.
---
We've met that guy a lot, right? And it goes on more about sable locks and him not looking like much until you take a second glance and, well,
---
In Conrad's form seems little to admire,
Though his dark eyebrow shades a glance of fire:
Robust but not Herculean—to the sight
No giant frame sets forth his common height;
Yet, in the whole, who paused to look again,
Saw more than marks the crowd of vulgar men;
They gaze and marvel how—and still confess
That thus it is, but why they cannot guess.
Sun-burnt his cheek, his forehead high and pale
The sable curls in wild profusion veil;
---
See? Firey glance, sable locks, pale with red cheeks, we have met this guy a lot. And then there's a bit about how he's mean and bad and scary but oh look he's in love.
The thing with having read this a lot is it's hard to read it for itself. I mean, it may be Byron we can blame for all the other dudes, and yet, having read the other dudes first, Byron don't half seem cliched.
Quite good though. Nice turn of phrase. Not much in the way of awkward squishing the words to make it fit the dedums, and the rhymes tend to work, so that's nice.
Actually I liked the beginning bit rather a lot, and I'll probably like the rest again later, it's just weird trying to read it without thinking 'Mary-Sue' a lot.
Have some of the start bit with the fighting spirit stuff:
---
Oh, who can tell, save he whose heart hath tried,
And danced in triumph o'er the waters wide,
The exulting sense—the pulse's maddening play,
That thrills the wanderer of that trackless way?
That for itself can woo the approaching fight,
And turn what some deem danger to delight;
That seeks what cravens shun with more than zeal,
And where the feebler faint can only feel—
Feel—to the rising bosom's inmost core,
Its hope awaken and its spirit soar?
No dread of Death—if with us die our foes—
Save that it seems even duller than repose;
Come when it will—we snatch the life of Life—
When lost—what recks it by disease or strife?
---
... I looked up reck and then felt stupid, because I know what reckless means, so I should know reck. It's like careless and care. It's not concerned by disease or strife. So it's proper fighting spirit stuff, all lalala what's the problem with death, except for it looks boring.
... most belief systems don't go for 'boredom' as the primary death related problem. Most of them guarantee all sorts of excitement, one way or the other. And this canto kicks off with a bit from Dante so it surely knows. Contrast.
"——nessun maggior dolore,
Che ricordarsi del tempo felice
Nella miseria,——"
Dante, Inferno, v. 121.
which I could almost remember to translate, comes out as
There is no greater sorrow
Than to be mindful of the happy time
In misery.
(Longfellow's translation)
The internet has the knowing of things.
If I'd gone to university when I was 18 there would be much less internet. Most of the gutenberg e-texts I've used instead of actually buying the books wouldn't have been there. The magazine articles we find with searches on JStor or whatever they've got working at the minute would not have been online for the finding like that. Even actual paper textbooks, many of them wouldn't have been written yet... well, a few, anyway, paper texts on the reading list tend to the old. Some of the theoretical frameworks we use were barely argued then, if at all. It has, basically, been a hell of a long time since I was at school, and there is more knowing to be had this way. It's kind of cool.
... frustrating that I didn't get more actual life done as well, but still, learnings is cool.
I liked the bit about the sea and fighting and then I got bored with the bit about love and oh noes he has to go away.
... I'm predictable.
I was reading it and thinking I so know this guy. I mean I've never read this one, but this guy, he's all over all the stories.
---
That man of loneliness and mystery,
Scarce seen to smile, and seldom heard to sigh;
Whose name appals the fiercest of his crew,
And tints each swarthy cheek with sallower hue;
Still sways their souls with that commanding art
That dazzles, leads, yet chills the vulgar heart.
---
We've met that guy a lot, right? And it goes on more about sable locks and him not looking like much until you take a second glance and, well,
---
In Conrad's form seems little to admire,
Though his dark eyebrow shades a glance of fire:
Robust but not Herculean—to the sight
No giant frame sets forth his common height;
Yet, in the whole, who paused to look again,
Saw more than marks the crowd of vulgar men;
They gaze and marvel how—and still confess
That thus it is, but why they cannot guess.
Sun-burnt his cheek, his forehead high and pale
The sable curls in wild profusion veil;
---
See? Firey glance, sable locks, pale with red cheeks, we have met this guy a lot. And then there's a bit about how he's mean and bad and scary but oh look he's in love.
The thing with having read this a lot is it's hard to read it for itself. I mean, it may be Byron we can blame for all the other dudes, and yet, having read the other dudes first, Byron don't half seem cliched.
Quite good though. Nice turn of phrase. Not much in the way of awkward squishing the words to make it fit the dedums, and the rhymes tend to work, so that's nice.
Actually I liked the beginning bit rather a lot, and I'll probably like the rest again later, it's just weird trying to read it without thinking 'Mary-Sue' a lot.
Have some of the start bit with the fighting spirit stuff:
---
Oh, who can tell, save he whose heart hath tried,
And danced in triumph o'er the waters wide,
The exulting sense—the pulse's maddening play,
That thrills the wanderer of that trackless way?
That for itself can woo the approaching fight,
And turn what some deem danger to delight;
That seeks what cravens shun with more than zeal,
And where the feebler faint can only feel—
Feel—to the rising bosom's inmost core,
Its hope awaken and its spirit soar?
No dread of Death—if with us die our foes—
Save that it seems even duller than repose;
Come when it will—we snatch the life of Life—
When lost—what recks it by disease or strife?
---
... I looked up reck and then felt stupid, because I know what reckless means, so I should know reck. It's like careless and care. It's not concerned by disease or strife. So it's proper fighting spirit stuff, all lalala what's the problem with death, except for it looks boring.
... most belief systems don't go for 'boredom' as the primary death related problem. Most of them guarantee all sorts of excitement, one way or the other. And this canto kicks off with a bit from Dante so it surely knows. Contrast.
"——nessun maggior dolore,
Che ricordarsi del tempo felice
Nella miseria,——"
Dante, Inferno, v. 121.
which I could almost remember to translate, comes out as
There is no greater sorrow
Than to be mindful of the happy time
In misery.
(Longfellow's translation)
The internet has the knowing of things.
If I'd gone to university when I was 18 there would be much less internet. Most of the gutenberg e-texts I've used instead of actually buying the books wouldn't have been there. The magazine articles we find with searches on JStor or whatever they've got working at the minute would not have been online for the finding like that. Even actual paper textbooks, many of them wouldn't have been written yet... well, a few, anyway, paper texts on the reading list tend to the old. Some of the theoretical frameworks we use were barely argued then, if at all. It has, basically, been a hell of a long time since I was at school, and there is more knowing to be had this way. It's kind of cool.
... frustrating that I didn't get more actual life done as well, but still, learnings is cool.