#aaron taylor poetry

[rivusapoems]

“casssandra climbs the palace steps unprompted. never before has death been greeted with so warm a kiss.”

[marisabsblog]

Anna Karenina (2012)

[theataraxianself]

But what do you do when you lose all hope and sense of living. The immense joy you once used to find in yourself, when you were your biggest supporter but now when people tell you to say three positive affirmations about yourself; all you see in the mirror is a monster who hates you and wants to ruin your life. The worst part is that you let that monster destroy you.

[rosestars]

Thank god Aaron Dessner's back with this beautiful old piano. It really gives the songs that haunted, cinematic feeling. I find the piano creates a sense of space and remove in the music, making it feel both lonelier and more intimate, but also adding a layer of voyeurism as if you're happening upon a character playing themselves the song in some dark hall of a half-abandoned mansion. The old piano is a well-loved and long-used instrument that feels like it has a history of its own. It's not an instrument you'd be able to bring out on stage and play for a stadium crowd. It's an instrument you'd find in your grandparents' living room, tucked into the back of an old diner or café, a prop in a period film, in a falling-apart country house where a failed pianist is trying to make peace with their creative alienation. I'm glad the woods in which we found Swift's imagination throughout folklore and evermore are still calling to her.

More TTPD reflections under {#an experiential read of the tortured poets department} follow along!

[veinsglisten]

the taylor’s universe is fascinating 🤍🖤

📝 the alcott x happiness 🌅✨

x the black dog 🐕‍🦺🪶

the alcott: “shred my evening gown”

happiness: “from the dress I wore at midnight, leave it all behind”

the alcott: “I love this curse on our house”

the black dog:

“now I want to sell my house

and set fire to all my clothes

and hire a priest to come and exorcise my demons

even if I die screaming”

[1uc0z4dee]

but i can see us lost in the memory august slipped away into a moment in time cause it was never mine

[encoreswooly]

no one... nobody... not a single person on this website understands how much I'm in love with Aaron's eyes

send heLP

[randomrichards]

A THOUSAND AND ONE:

Unfiltered woman

Pulls kid out of foster care

Tries to fix his life

[jagodabluey]

“chop chop movie boy” is gonna make me laugh every single time

[allysonthepoet]

A Misanthropic Savior

I feel the absence of the decisive force within myself to guide all my acts of consequence and circumstance. Oh, do I recall a time not too long ago wherein my flesh was no different from that of my creator; when wine spilled communion from two drunken lips across one table. No longer exists the trinity of you, I, and we. One cannot provide faith in a divinity they never believed in. Was I a disciple or a satellite? Such is a lonely feeling when idols fall.

[queer-ragnelle]

Seeking a book to read this winter break?

Brand "New" List of Additions to the Arthurian Preservation Project Archive

In time, all books will be added to my Retellings List or Medieval Literature List respectively, and possibly a third page for handbooks/informational resources. Retellings may be under construction for a bit as I reformat to accommodate the influx in links. There are some duplicates—Alan Lupack's and Mike Ashley's anthologies occasionally contain a one-off story I've otherwise included in an individual volume of collected works by the author.

Links connect to corresponding PDFs on my Google drive where they can be read and downloaded for free. But if you like what I do, consider supporting me on Ko-Fi. I haven't yet read these listings in full; I cannot attest to their content or quality. A big thank you to @wandrenowle for the help collecting!

Modern Retellings

Merlin in Love by Aaron Hill (1790) — Opera about Merlin & his love interest Columbine.

The Fortunate Island by Max Adeler (1882) — A family shipwrecks on an island only to discover its populated with Arthurian knights, including Dinadan, Bleoberis, & Agravaine.

Sir Marrok by Allen French (1902) — Werewolf knight.

The Story of Sir Galahad by Mary Blackwell Stirling (1908) — Illustrated retelling of Malory's Grail Quest.

The Story of Parzival by Mary Blackwell Stirling (1911) — Illustrated retelling of Eschenbach's Parzival.

Stories From King Arthur and His Round Table by Beatrice Clay (1913) — Illustrated retelling of Malory.

Cloud Castle and Other Papers by Edward Thomas (1922) — Contains two Arthurian entries: the story Bronwen The Welsh Idyll about Agravaine & his lady Bronwen, & the essay Isoud about the Prose Tristan.

Collected Poems by Rolfe Humphries (1924-1966) — Contains Dream of Rhonabwy about Owain & Arthur's chess game, A Brecon Version about Essylt/Trystan, Under Craig y Ddynas about Arthur's "sleeping" warriors, & The Return of Peredwr about the Grail Hero's arrival to court.

Peronnik the Fool by George Moore (1926) — The quest for the Holy Grail based on Breton folklore.

The Merriest Knight by Theodore Goodridge Roberts (1946-2001) — Anthology of short stories all about Dinadan.

The Eagles Have Flown by Henry Treece (1954) — A third Arthurian novel from Treece detailing the rivalry between Artos & Medrawt, with illustrations this time.

Launcelot, my Brother by Dorothy James Roberts (1954) — The fall of Camelot from Bors perspective, as a brother of Launcelot.

To the Chapel Perilous by Naomi Mitchison (1955) — Two rival journalists report about the goings on in Camelot.

The Pagan King by Edison Marshall (1959) — Historical fiction from the perspective of Pagan King Arthur.

Kinsmen of the Grail by Dorothy James Roberts (1963) — The Grail Quest but Gawain is Perceval's step dad.

Stories of King Arthur by Blanche Winder (1968) — Illustrated retelling of Malory.

Drustan the Wanderer by Anna Taylor (1971) — Retelling of Essylt/Drustan.

Merlin's Ring by H. Warner Munn (1974) Gwalchmai is a godson of Merlin's that uses his ring to travel through the magical & real worlds.

Lionors, Arthur's Uncrowned Queen by Barbara Ferry Johnson (1975) — Story of Arthur's sweetheart & mother of his son, Loholt.

Gawain and The Green Knight by Y. R. Ponsor (1979) — Illustrated prose retelling of SGATGK poem.

Firelord (#1), Beloved Exile (#2), The Lovers: Trystan and Yseult (#3) by Parke Godwin (pseudonym Kate Hawks) (1980-1999) — Book 1 Arthur, book 2 Guinevere, book 3 Trystan/Yseult.

Bride of the Spear by Kathleen Herbert (1982) — "Historical" romance retelling of Teneu/Owain.

Invitation to Camelot edited by Parke Godwin (1988) — Anthology of assorted Arthurian stories from authors like Phyllis Ann Karr & Sharan Newman.

Arthur, The Greatest King - An Anthology of Modern Arthurian Poems by Alan Lupack (1988) — Anthology of modern Arthurian poetry by various authors including E. A. Robinson, William Morris, C. S. Lewis, & Ralph Waldo Emerson.

The White Raven by Diana L Paxson (1988) — "Historical" romance retelling of Drustan/Esseilte.

Merlin Dreams by Peter Dickinson (1988) — Illustrated by Alan Lee.

The Pendragon Chronicles edited by Mike Ashley (1990) — An anthology of Arthurian stories, including some translations such as the Lady of the Fountain, and retellings by John Steinbeck & Phyllis Ann Karr.

Grails: Quest of the Dawn edited by Richard Gilliam (1992-1994) — Anthology of Grail Quest stories.

The Merlin Chronicles edited by Mike Ashley (1995) — Anthology about Merlin from authors like Theodore Goodridge Roberts & Phyllis Ann Karr.

The Chronicles of the Holy Grail edited by Mike Ashley (1996) — Anthology about the Holy Grail from authors like Cherith Baldry & Phyllis Ann Karr.

The Chronicles of the Round Table edited by Mike Ashley (1997) — Anthology of assorted Arthurian stories from authors like Cherith Baldry & Phyllis Ann Karr.

Sleepless Knights by Mark H Williams (2013) — 1,500 years have passed but Lucan the Butler’s still on the clock.

Medieval Literature

Three Arthurian Romances (Caradoc, The Knight with The Sword, The Perilous Graveyard) [This is on the Internet Archive & cannot be downloaded. If someone could help with that, lmk!] translated by Ross G. Arthur

Le Bel Inconnu (The Fair Unknown) translated by Colleen P. Donagher

Segurant The Knight of the Dragon (Portuguese) edited by Emanuele Arioli

An Anglo-Norman Reader by Jane Bliss

Stanzaic Morte Arthur / Alliterative Morte Arthure edited by Larry D. Benson

Sir Perceval de Galles / Ywain and Gawain edited by Mary Flowers Braswell

Sir Gawain: Eleven Romances and Tales edited by Thomas Hahn

Prose Merlin edited by John Conlee

The Middle English Breton Lays edited by Eve Sailsbury & Anne Laskaya

Il Ciclo Di Guiron Le Courtois Volumes 1-7 (Italian)

Wace's Roman de Brut / Layamon's Brut by Robert Wace & Eugene Mason

Arthurian Literature by Women edited by Alan Lupack & Barbara Tepa Lupack

Handbooks

Studies in the Fairy Mythology of Arthurian Romance by Lucy Allen Paton (1960)

A Companion to the Gawain-Poet edited by Derek Brewer (1990)

The Mammoth Book of King Arthur edited by Mike Ashley (2005)

A Bibliography of Modern Arthuriana 1500-2000 by Ann F. Howey & Stephen R. Reimer (2006)

[di-kot-o-me]

Thoughts on Matt Gaetz and US Democracy...

"I'm a lawyer. Hearing that Trump nominated this pedophile thing to be the nation's attorney made my stomach hurt and it has not stopped hurting since.

I found myself in law school and I marveled at the ability of words and laws to shape justice. I was radicalized when I was supposed to be studying something but sat on my bed, my books ignored, transfixed watching Anita Hill explain why Clarence Thomas was a vile man unfit for the highest bench in the world.

I carry a copy of the Constitution in my purse. I have parts of the Declaration of Independence memorized. It sounds like poetry to me. It was written by a great mind (but a flawed man) writing a great idea.

America has always been an idea. (Aarons Sorkin said that in an episode of The West Wing, which I'm rewatching on HBO Max because I so need a real President now, and Jed Bartlet is better than most, even if fictional.) So far we have done a really shitty job of translating that idea into a reality. But we have never scrapped the idea.

But that's what we did on November 5. People are so offended by transsexuals, people with dark skin, women, and the cost of eggs being inflated by bird flu, that they're willing to give up on the idea. They went with a game show host and the prize he will award to America is hate, despair, racism, and fascism.

2016 Trump was hot garbage. But there were guardrails. He had a team that didn't so strongly resemble the Star Wars Cantina Band. There was Congress. There was SCOTUS. There was the fact he had to run for re-election. That's all gone. He outsourced the actual thinking about governing to the Heritage Foundation and they came up with a doozy of a plan. A fine blueprint for a Fourth Reich. AG Matt Gaetz will be a big part of that. But Trump's so chaotic he may go off script and make things even worse.

And I keep hearing in my head that line that Trump said. "I am your retribution." Trump is a man well acquainted with hate. His own siblings and parents despised him. He is thin-skinned, insecure, and bitter. And he spews out, without shame, who he hates. Taylor Swift, for pete's sake. Trump will give orders that hurt people he hates, and he will get actual pleasure, perhaps sexual pleasure, from watching people he hates suffer. There are names for those people. Biden. Obama. Harris. Clinton. You don't think they'll be exempt from retribution, do you? AG Gaetz will sign their death warrants.

There are no guardrails. Law should be a guardrail. Good lawyers should be a guardrail. That's all gone. Trump's at he head of the most powerful nation in the world, and he has nothing but hate as a motivation. He has no love for America or its people. It has provided him some good money and some adoration. But he's not capable of love, or honor, or even imagination. He is incapable of understanding the idea. He hasn't read the poetry. He doesn't have an American soul. I don't think he has a soul at all, TBH.

What does this mean? It means the Constitution in my purse is about to be a forgotten idea. It means that the fundamentals of this nation are about to be eviscerated. Things will be worse than we can imagine. People will die. Democracy will die. The nation will die. The idea will die. The poetry will die."

-PersimmonTea

[satosuguhastakenovermylife]

okay so. ten listens and many hours of desperately trying to like the album I concur that it is mid asf. the production by jack antonoff is lazy and most of the lyrics are badly written. there are some songs i like though but I've kinda given up on most of the album. also I really didn't like how this album was literally just made as clout for the tiktok swifties to go omg poetry omg she's so relatable and for them to overanalyze the lyrics and go hate on joe alwyn. also the glorification of the absolutely shitty guy matty is until things didn't end well with him. I've liked her music for like seven years now and this album was genuinely such a letdown. Although, I enjoyed the songs Aaron dessner produced. i honestly feel like this album is a vent made into a cash grab where she constantly doesn't realise that sometimes taylor fucking swift isn't always right. I've disliked her lately tbh because of a lot of shit like the carbon emissions, the ignorance when it comes to the Gaza genocide, and doing nothing to stop the threats Joe alwyn is getting just because of how in her songs it's hinted that his mental health is super bad and he didn't want to marry her so he's at fault and also not to forget defending that absolute dick matty healy. Liking her and her music for so long has like permanently wired my brain to always defend her and her actions but honestly I'm so done. I'm so conflicted right now just making this post criticising her (and it feels wrong because I do like her older music) but it can't be helped. I'm also really disappointed because she was someone I used to look up to as a kid. Idk I guess this is just my breaking point.

[theataraxianself]

I often find the exact words to describe everybody’s emotions except mine.

[skywalking-through-life]

hope you're doing well 💗💗💗 would love to know your favorite books and the ones that have inspired you as a writer <3

Hello my darling! 💙 What a wonderful, wonderful ask, because there are SO many I could list off! All of my writing is always an amalgamation of every book, fic, movie, TV show, piece of music, article, and life experience I've ever had, but there are definitely some writers whose stories and/or writing styles have stuck with me more than others.

In general, I was very influenced by the fantasy, science fiction, and historical mysteries that I read when I was younger, and look back on all the things I read then with great fondness! Some of my favorites as a kid/teenager were: Susan Cooper (The Dark is Rising), Tamora Pierce (everything!), JRR Tolkien, JK Rowling (I know, I know - but I can't go back and unread them), Diana Wynne Jones (but I preferred Chrestomanci over Howl's Moving Castle), CS Lewis, Rick Riordan, Robin Hobb (The Blue Sword), Lloyd Alexander (Prydain), Ellis Peters (Cadfael), Lindsey Davis (The Silver Pigs), Candace Robb (The Nun's Tale), Timothy Zahn (Star Wars - Thrawn), Aaron Allston (Star Wars - X-Wings), Michael Stackpole (Star Wars - X-Wings)...I could go on for awhile here, lol. I read constantly as a kid, both things I should and things I shouldn't have been reading, so much so that there were weeks when I was reading a new book every day! I also loved myths and legends, so I read Le Mort d'Arthur, The Odyssey, Gilgamesh - all the usual suspects.

As I got older I mixed fiction with nonfiction and poetry, and started reading a lot of subject-specific academic material in undergrad and in my master's program after that. Quite a few writers from that time now influence me as well, building on the foundation of everything that came before: James Baldwin, bell hooks, Barbara Brown Taylor, Anne Lamott, Mary Oliver, Henri Nouwen, Kate Bowler, William Stafford, Howard Thurman, Audre Lorde, Wendell Barry, Rachel Held Evans, Thomas Merton, Nelson Mandela...there are also too many to name here, lol, and if you follow the common thread that unites all these folks, you'll probably learn a lot about how I see the world. And that, too, is something that always makes its way into my writing! 😅

I'm sort of inspired by everything, haha, but I've tried to give a pretty good list of authors, so that maybe they'll inspire you, too! 💙

[formulaonedirection]

Hi I'm intrigued about the 'TTPD if Taylor had an editor' playlist because you're 100% up to something (and yes how did Fortnight get nominated. HOW?)

Oh of course you can see it here. I had to make some brutal cuts but I think starting the album with The Albatross instead of Fortnight made more sense if we're talking about TORTURED POETS. We need some POETRY and IMAGERY to kick us off and set the tone. And then it gets into the Down Bad / Daddy I Love Him / Who's Afraid of Little Old Me section which I just call the Taylor Alison Writing Tropes Master Class. And then MY PERSONAL TRACK 5. To ME. Is How Did It End. Like I love So Long London but I need Track 5 to be more RAW than that and How Did It End is really a stab through the heart like THAT BRIDGE. Ouch. And then I just like the grouping of The Bolter and So High School at the end like I think it shows her storytelling at it's best and they feel pure Taylor where I think some songs can get lost as Jack songs or Aaron songs. And then I just ended it with I Can Do It With A Broken Heart as a sort of New Romantics throwback like I don't think it's a very TTPD song but I had to keep it in!