#this is what school poem interpretation is for

[kermitsbutton]

Hating on jimmy like he is one of the worst, most gruesome villains humanity as ever seen, and dont get me wrong he's quite irredeamable imo and deserves to be hated, sometimes feels like a simplification of his character.

It somehow feels like the whole we're hating jimmy all my bros and aunts and cousins hate jimmy is overshadowing the realness and true horror of the character.

The slow, creeping feeling that there are people out there like this, and not just one or two no, there are so many people who share at least a bit of his character (tho most PROBABLY would not crash a spaceship). Not just one fucked up person but a society build around them.

It's almost, not quite but almost, similar to putting curly on a pedastool, saying he did nothing wrong he's my lil blorbo uwu, putting only blame on the abuser (yet again folks he deserves a LOT of blame do not misinterpret my 6AM interpretation) and forgetting the people who were complacent, who turned an eye. The people who were in a position where they could act, a position of power they decide to ignore.

And I think thats really one of the interesting parts of the game. All the characters are somewhat flawed in their own way or represent something we need to think about. It's human, complex and a commentary on society which just doesn't work if you simplify the characters too much in any direction.

[hyperfixation-tangentopia]

I've discovered poetry is immensely more enjoyable when it's not being shoved in my face and I'm being demanded to analyze it for the One True Meaning

[thepandalion]

anyways so this is like the 3rd time I'm being forced to write some sort of biblical analysis for school things and the 2nd time of those where I'm given enough free range to effectively be allowed to say whatever I want

this is also the 2nd time I'm talking about WALL-E for half the essay.

there's correlation there

[eazy-peazy54]

i just had to get rid of a stinkbug at 2:30 in the morning WITHOUT waking anyone up oh my god.

it flew down on my desk, i panicked, since it landed on paper i opted to get a cup to throw it out the window.

PROBLEM: the window WAS NOT OPENING because it was TOO COLD OUTSIDE (FUCK)

so i go to look at it again and it is !!! GONE!!! YAY !!! luckily it is a mere 4 inches away from where it was so i just. shoved it onto another piece of paper.

and then came what i think i can say was the most stressful moment of my week.

my ass had to make a path out of my room, moving stuff so i wouldn't bump it and send it flying into the carpet, and open the door. i gave up on the "not waking up people" thing as soon as i hit the hallway, so i turned on the stair lights and booked it (as much as i could) for the kitchen.

i reached the kitchen, panicking, looking around frantically for a place to put this thing, and then I finally found a place. I let the water run.

I drowned it in the sink. It fell down the drain. I kept the water running to make sure it stayed down there for good. Mercilessly, I ended it's short little life, like some terrible god. Like it's life meant nothing to me. Because it didn't.

I could've let it live. Could've shoved it under a cup until the morning came, when I could properly send it outside. I could've let it buzz around my room until I found it again. But either way, it would've died. Whether it be from loss of air from the cup or the harsh winter, it would still meet the same fate. They only live about 6-8 months anyway, it was most likely nearing the end of it's time on this mortal coil.

I quickly turned on the light above the sink to make sure it didn't fly away. I turned off the sink, but hesitated. I then turned it back on again, shooting it directly down the drain. Just to be sure.

It's time was up. Either way it was. I just ended it a bit shorter than the universe would've ended it. For all you know, it could've died tomorrow. Smashing the bug wouldn't have done any good either. It would just be unpleasant for everyone. This was humane. This was safe. It was the best way to go, out of a slew of other horrific options. Besides, it won't remember it anyway. I'll most likely forget about this in a week. It was for the best.

It's an invasive species anyway.

i washed my hands. i went back upstairs and turned off the lights again. and then i opened tumblr

[give-grian-rights]

this is so horrific and beautiful . i hope Joe has seen it. also what video did he say this poem, what the hell

Deep Fried Sunrise, Minecraft map art Blocks placed by Magenta Original poem by Joe Hills

Built on the Joe Hills DeepSlate 9 Patreon Server

[starpros-sunshine]

Nothing like the feeling when you feel like you're supposed to be productive but there's not really much you can do so you just sit back and simmer in your inferiority complex and contemplate the fact that grades really are more of an arbitrary method of judgement in a way certainly influenced by personal bias and the teachers mood and opinions and the students day and overall mental state and that they really say nothing about a students abilities and capabilities and even if my teacher told me i produce a slodge of unhelpful wordmaterial that doesn't mean I suck at the english language and am incapable if bringing things to the, to put it in her words, " 'points' which are often repetitive" with my limited analytic vocabulary. As if the grasp I have on the english language isn't at least native level. As if I'm not perfectly capable of being short and concise. Just because I'm not the best at interpreting short stories and mark my quotations wrong which, I might add! wouldn't be a bloody issue if they actually told you what to do different when they correct their blasted rigged exams. But yeah sure me not revising is the issue.

[neolithicsheep]

I have once again seen a post asserting that songs have a single meaning and through heroic effort have not written an essay on the post-modern school of criticism "the death of the author".

Look though if you can support an interpretation from the text then you can build a case for that interpretation. So while it is not true that a text (intended broadly here to mean any piece of media) can mean absolutely anything - because it will be impossible to support some interpretations with evidence from the text - it is true that you can support multiple interpretations from any given text.

Fandom is EXTREMELY good at this like oh, you want me to believe that Steve and Bucky are platonic best friends? I think the fuck not, Marvel screenplay writers and movie directors. And you can find fanvids that while they are perhaps not actually consciously made thinking "I am creating an act of textual criticism" are in fact doing that thing to support the argument that Steve and Bucky are in love and fucking.

For any song or poem or movie or novel it is possible to argue multiple and sometimes opposing subtextual meanings and while it is sometimes interesting to know what the author thought they were doing I ultimately find it less interesting than hearing from the people who then interact with the media outside of any relationship with the author.

There is no single meaning for any piece of media. You are not a Gnostic authority who has discovered the One True Message. Media belongs to everyone who interacts with it through the act of reading/listening/watching and therefore interpreting it through the lens of their own lives and experience and knowledge.

[beggars-opera]

You hate classic lit because:

Your were forced to read it in high school, and no one likes to be forced to do anything in school

Your teacher failed to explain that important things aren't always objectively enjoyable

Your class was focused on picking the book apart at the expense of appreciating the story or, more importantly, the context of the book and why you should care

You think that the book has to be relevant and nonthreatening to you to be worth reading

I had an English teacher in high school tell me word for word that Charles Dickens was the filet mignon of literature, and that my class clearly only liked hot dogs. I had another teacher ask me what I thought the meaning of a poem was and then told me that my interpretation was objectively wrong.

But I've also seen other teachers explaining what made a book a classic, why people at the time loved it, what new ideas or writing styles it pioneered, or what historical events it inspired. And I've read, throughout my life, plenty of classics without the constraints of an educational setting, and thoroughly enjoyed them. Hell, I've taken Les Miserables to the beach.

There have also been books that I have read and not enjoyed! Sometimes they had themes that I hated, but as a historian I can put those themes in context and still learn from the work as a whole. Sometimes I just didn't like the story, but I can accept that my ideal plotline doesn't always mesh with that of an average person in 1788. I also know when books feel disjointed because they were originally serialized, or paid by the word, or written in a dialect and culture not my own. And now I'm an adult, and I can choose to finish them or put them down.

The point is I encourage you to revisit books you once had to read and hated, or books you never had to read but have avoided because they fall in the same category. As an adult you get to make your own choices and form your own opinions, and that freedom allows you to dive as deeply or shallowly into literature as you want. You may never like War and Peace, but you might also find that you enjoy more than you thought you would.

[raven-at-the-writing-desk]

Hi , miss Raven

Their is something has been on my mind for while ;

In rook suitor suit vignette he Compose a flattering poem about Crowley

While Ace and Epel was talking about how rook would compliment anyone , rook insisted that he mean every word he say .

And there's this specific weird line

"if it weren't for your presence , I wouldn't be here"

Like what do you mean?????!!

Do you think this line is hinting at the fact that rook didn't join NRC via traditional way or he wasn't chosen by the dark mirror , since he is one of the light trio

Or To the fact that he transferred to another dorm smoothly without any problem?

For some reason I started suspecting rook recently 😭

The fact he was one of the reason vil overbloted by convincing him to watch neige performance and also he is the one who convinced vil to add Ace and deuce as part of VDC team while I thought lilia and cater was a better option

I would like to hear your opinion about it 👀

Ah, so if I'm understanding you correctly... You're theorizing that Rook might be an outside agent of some kind? One that Crowley intentionally brought into NRC to facilitate triggering overblots??

I’ll try to respond to one question at a time; hopefully this will make it easier to follow along! The post got quite long, so it's all below the cut~

Beginning with Rook’s poem, and, more specifically, “If it weren’t for your presence, I wouldn’t be here”. It’s funny that you mention this line, because when the vignette first came out (in JP; the terminology used is similar to “I would not exist/be here”), people interpreted it VERY literally. As in… “Rook is Crowley’s son because he literally could not be conceived without a father! They’re even both named after birds! They have to at least be blood related somehow!” Strange how in 2020, Crowley was suspected of being Rook’s father but now in 2024 Crowley’s being suspected of being Malleus’s father. The poor headmaster just can’t catch a break 😂

Personally, I don’t think that line is implying anything strange about Rook’s enrollment. As far as we know, he did not join NRC though any abnormal means, and nor did Silver. Of the “light trio” (a label that I must stress exists within the fandom but is not endorsed by TWST), only Kalim fits the bill. Kalim was originally homeschooled, but received an acceptance letter to NRC a month into the school year. Another month later, he transferred in. As far as we know, all students at NRC (save for Yuu and Grim) were chosen by the Mirror of Darkness, even the light trio. Again, I want to emphasize that TWST does not use “light trio” or a similar term to refer to or to characterize Kalim, Silverc and Rook. We’ve gotten no formal in-universe explanation as to why those three in particular have light cosmic magic instead of everyone else’s dark cosmic magic. (This is entirely separate from meta theories, which are out-of-universe explanations for why the “light trio” exists. The popular meta explanation is that it’s because Silver, Kalim, and Rook are not twisted from Disney villains but rather “good” characters like Aurora, the Sultan, and the Huntsman.)

On the subject of transferring dorms, the option is always on the table. We see mob students talk about transferring dorms as early as 1-14:

In 6-67 (part 20 with the Pomefiore group), Vil describes the transfer process as being tedious and involving a lot of “complicated paperwork and ceremonies”. Crowley also says the process is “burdensome” in 1-20, but this phrasing is quite vague and could mean any number of things. (Burdensome to whom, the staff or the students? Why exactly is it burdensome?) Overall, it seems like transferring dorms would take a long time and require various formalities, but not necessarily be full of problems.

As long as you’re dedicated and consistently complete what is asked of you to complete the process, transferring should be no issue. I don’t think it’s a given that you’d normally experience troubles in trying to transfer. It should be smooth by default (unless the student backs out, is uncooperative, and/or fails to complete the required steps). So following that logic, I don’t think the poem line is saying anything about Rook’s dorm transfer either.

While it’s true that Rook encourages Vil to watch Neige’s performance and advises that Vil pick Ace and Deuce for the VDC/SDC Tribe, I do not believe there was malicious intent behind these actions. It’s hinted throughout book 5 that Rook’s reasoning for doing these things was to help Vil recognize the value of his “beauty” is something he gains from himself, not from the approval of others.

This is most likely Rook’s motivation for suggesting Vil observe the competition or to consider freshmen for the team. It’s exposing Vil to the contentedness that can come with imperfection or not being at the very top, something Vil fails to recognize in himself until the end of book 5. Being as perceptive as he is, Rook would have realized that outright telling Vil the moral of the week would not sway his strong-willed friend’s mind. Thus, Rook devised a more roundabout plan and involved Yuu (who, at this point, has a reputation for settling dorm-wide disputes) and co. (unpolished and clumsy underclassmen that Vil could shape as well as potentially also learn from in a reciprocal manner). Maybe Lilia and Cater would have been more technically skilled, being members of a club band and all, but they wouldn’t have provided the same opportunity for growth that Yuu and Adeuce did.

Rook is someone who has always been portrayed as a supporter of Vil’s, a good friend and a trusted confidant. He does have a nefarious side and is 100% capable of deception (like the time in Endless Halloween Night when he quickened his heartbeat to convince Sebek he was also scared and therefore was not a traitor). However, I don’t think Rook would want to betray his friends by actively harming them and putting their lives in danger (both during book 5’s overblot and immediately after in book 6’s rescue mission); he truly cares for them and wants to see them happy and healthy. (One could argue he should have voted for NRC instead of RSA to help Vil achieve his dream instead of betraying him, but that’s another discussion entirely.)

There’s no reason why Rook would go out of his way to do innocuous things like helping Epel with his UM or imparting wisdom to Deuce unless he actually cared and wanted to see them develop. Beyond the scope of book 5, why would Rook do even more innocuous things like trying to make Epel feel welcome and assisting him with learning table manners? Why wouldn’t he go out of his way to provoke Vil more often? Did Crowley hypothetically have even all of these little details down and instruct Rook to do (or not do) these things??? It sounds too far-fetched to attach a hidden motive behind everything Rook says or does. It could be as simple as “he wants to be there to support his friends”.

Before we wrap up, I’d like to quickly touch on the suggestion that Silver and Kalim too were catalysts for Malleus and Jamil’s OBs, respectively. It’s true that they were, but I doubt Silver or Kalim were aware and did so intentionally. Both seemed genuinely ignorant as to the true stress that Malleus and Jamil were under, and Silver + Kalim do not present as toxic people who would want to inflame their friends’ negativity. Of course, there’s always the possibility that Puppet Master Crowley (™) is orchestrating everything from the shadows (but I’m not going to get into the “time loop to gather all the necessary information and learn what the correct choices are” theory here www). I just don’t think Rook is Crowley’s accomplice in all of this if the time loop + intention overblots theories overlap.

This is one of those instances where I see Rook as being very honest with his intentions and because of his… generally strange character (?), his peers and players alike still suspect there is a deeper meaning to his words. I interpret his poem as nothing more than waxing poetic to expressing gratitude to the one man that makes it possible for him to be at NRC as a student: Crowley. Rook states that he wanted to give an exemplary poem using a subject that both Ace and Epel were already familiar with, so he went with the headmaster. Furthermore, we know that Rook is able to witness many wonderful and beautiful things at NRC, as well as make meaningful relationships with interesting people like Vil. He would not be able to do any of these things were he not extended an invitation to NRC—and it is for this reason that it would make sense for him to genuinely be appreciative of Crowley.

Those are all my thoughts on this matter all for now ^^ Hope it was an interesting read!

[jesterbells]

Tumblr New Word Dictionary

I love new words. So here's a list of recently created words and idioms I have learned through tumblr (not all of these terms were invented on tumblr but that's where I learned them--the citations specify whether the term was coined by a specific post, or cite a source for where I first heard the term even if that is not necessarily where the term originated):

blorbo: a fictional character you're a fan of. Coined by thelustiestargonianmaid.

"I'm so hungry I could get banned from facebook": coined by babyslime in response to a Wil Wheaton post

GORIMM: Gross Older Relation I Must Marry. Source: bethanydelleman

hlep: when a disabled person asks for a specific kind of help and "they do something that is not what you ask for but is what they think you should have asked for ... Sure, it looks like help; it kind of sounds like help too; and if it was adjusted just a little bit, it could be help. But it's not help. It's hlep." Source: giantkillerjack's therapist.

horse fantasy: something that is theoretically possible unicorn fantasy: something that is definitely (or almost definitely) impossible. Source: bemusedlybespectacled.

zomancy: soup divination. Source: cryptotheism.

UFOs: unfinished objects--"something that is unfinished but in hibernation," as distinct from WIPs. Source: knitting community and bylambd.

autoenshittification: turning cars into digital extraction machines to steal your data and money through digital infrastructure and microchips, and the endless repair nightmare of digital car systems and cybersecurity vulnerabilities. Source: mostlysignssomeportents

nude: "when your clothes are off." naked: "when you're clothes are off when you're up to something." nakey: "when you are an animal and your collar has been removed." Source.

sideways fan: following a fandom second-hand. Source: capricorn-0mnikorn.

spoken Garamond: "the over-emphasized voice people use to read poems." Source: Frances Klein's friend.

nongry/nungry: when you're starving but also don't want to eat any of the food in your kitchen. Coined by tathrin.

scrumbling: scrolling on tumblr. Coined by the mum of anti-terf-posts.

window shipping: "any shipping done without actually watching/reading the work in question." Coined by lurker-no-more.

friend John / a Friend John answer: "when someone asks a relatively reasonable question in context and the enquiree 1) speaks at length without answering the question, and 2) implies the enquirer has injured the enquiree by even asking such a thing how could you." Coined by sileana.

bitism: a new school of media criticism which asks the simple question: is the work committed to the bit? Coined by linecoveredinjellyfish

snors d'oeuvre: having a little nap on the sofa before taking onseself to bed for main sleep. Coined by SJKSalisbury (can't find the tumblr repost now).

socratic terror: "what every athenian felt when they went down to the agora in the 5th century and saw an old man with a beard approaching them." Coined by lesbianshepard.

introvirtuous: "when you're introverted but have taken on numerous leadership and outgoing roles in your life." "I'm here to help. But I'd rather not be." "Someone around here has to get things done. and unfortunately it's going to be me." Coined by soundslikerhetorical.

grundlous: "of or pertaining to grundle." Coined by IMLIZY.

concretes: specific aspects of a character that persist across interpretations. The essential, structural essence that makes a character recognizable as the same person. Rarely physical traits; subjective. Coined by Ladylark and kayanem.

skeletonin: "the happiness chemical released when you see a ghoul or perhaps a ghost." Coined by gwentrification.

broflakes: "the weak, fragile 'alpha' males who are so easily threatened by strong women." Source: rickladd (can't find the tumblr reblog atm).

the planet of hats: "the thing where a people only have one thing going for them, like 'everyone wears a silly hat.'" Source: Star Trek fandom & TV tropes, learned via homonculus-argument.

feelings yakuza: "those who turn their personal discomfort into a social evil and try to erase the target completely." Source: Japanese fandom via マロミチャン.

Ship of Thesaurus / Rogetism: "When a student copies an essay online instead of writing it and then painstakingly changes every word to a synonym until the text no longer makes any sense." Coined by trek-tracks and Chris Sadler respectively.

Flemming's law / vibe dysphoria: "the most toxic person you've ever met over-relates to woodland creatures on social media." Coined by Chris Flemming and canadianwheatpirates.

fight with a gorilla: "any secret or invisible struggle." Coined by punksandcannonballers.

squimbus from my polls: the poll version of blorbo except for obscure fan favorite characters. Coined by yardsards.

pebbling: "the act of sending your friends & family little videos and tweets and memes you find online, like how penguins bring back pebbles to their little penguin loved ones." Source: NurseKelsey (can't find the tumblr reblog atm).

serpentineabouts: roundabouts that aren't round. Coined by paulgadzikowski.

luft: air equivalent of wet. Coined by questbedhead.

getting the good bologna: "when you experience something of better quality and then you’re doomed to no longer be satisfied." Coined by the family of kelssiel.

hypofixation: "the kind of things that you've autisticly decided you Do Not Care About." Antonym of hyperfixation. Coined by animate-mush.

[whencyclopedia]

The Home of the Fish

The Home of the Fish is a Sumerian poetic monologue, most likely from the Ur III Period (2047-1750 BCE), in which the speaker tries to coax various fish into a newly built home. The meaning of the poem depends on whether the speaker is sincere in his or her invitation or has actually built a trap.

According to some interpretations (including that of scholar Jeremy Black), the speaker is a fisherman who has constructed an elaborate trap he then tries to entice the fish to enter. This interpretation casts all the praises of the speaker in a sinister light as they are only being used to lure the fish into the trap. Another interpretation, however, gives the speaker as Nanshe, the Sumerian goddess of social justice and divination, who also presided over water and aquatic life. The fish, in fact, was one of her symbols. If the speaker is Nanshe, she is sincere in her praise of the fish and her welcome to the home she has created for them.

Both interpretations cite the final line of the work – "Just you come to me! Nanshe, the queen of the fishermen, will be delighted with you" (C17) – in support. If the speaker is a fisherman, Nanshe would be invoked in her capacity as his patron goddess – who cared for those who caught fish as well as the fish themselves – and, if the speaker is Nanshe, it would not be unusual for the goddess to refer to herself in the third person as this is quite common in Sumerian poetry. The goddess Inanna, for example (Nanshe's sister), refers to herself in this same way in some works.

It is up to a reader to decide who is speaking and what their intentions are, but both interpretations, relying on the same words, can be equally valid. The work was part of the curriculum of the edubba ("House of Tablets"), the Sumerian scribal school and would have been used to help students memorize the names of different fish and their defining characteristics. The poem is among the more popular works of Mesopotamian literature today and seems to have also been in its time based on the number of fragments discovered, beginning in the 19th century, in the ruins of ancient cities throughout Iraq.

Commentary & Summary

The poem was most likely composed around the same time – c. 2000 BCE – as The Debate Between Bird and Fish, The Debate Between Sheep and Grain, and the other literary debates which were popular during the Ur III Period. Shulgi of Ur (r. 2029-1982 BCE) made literacy a priority in his kingdom and so established more scribal schools and commissioned more works for the curriculum. Scribes in ancient Mesopotamia learned their craft from a young age (possibly beginning at eight years old) through their early twenties, progressing from simple to more difficult compositions. The Home of the Fish would have most likely been included in the texts toward the end of a student's education when one was expected to be able to memorize and copy intricate works.

This probability is suggested by the names of the fish and their characteristics that appear throughout as scribes were expected to be well educated in all disciplines. Black writes:

Many different kinds are specified and are described in vivid and probably humorous terms. Mostly the varieties cannot be securely identified with modern species, so here their names are left in Sumerian. There is an intimate lexical relationship between the names of the fish enumerated here and those in the traditional list of fish, one among the many word lists which had been learnt for centuries by apprentice scribes in Mesopotamian schools. This strongly suggests that the composition had been adapted for school use by incorporating extra pedagogical material. (240)

The poem, if the speaker is understood as Nanshe, would have also underscored the goddess' care for the creatures of the waters of Mesopotamia as she has built them a new home where they will be safe from predators and could therefore be considered a song of praise. If the speaker is a fisherman, the work would still function as a praise song, as Nanshe would have inspired the fisherman to create his elaborate trap.

The poem begins with the speaker announcing a "new home" for the fish, and throughout Segment A, it is described as a place of safety to which all fish should come quickly. The house is described as a haven to which all are welcome – in keeping with Nanshe's role as a protectress of refugees and the homeless – and the fish are encouraged to bring all their friends and neighbors. Lines A45-67 reference Dumuzid and Acimbabbar Suen – a fertility/underworld god and the moon god, respectively – both having to do with transformation. The earlier lines (A25-33) encouraging the fish to enter quickly before the night comes, in some interpretations, may be referencing stability (the house) in the face of change (the water) – the concept of transformation from the world of mutability to that of unchanging eternity.

In Segments B and C, the speaker notes how, in this new home, the fish will be safe from birds who carry them off in their claws, and the work concludes with a call to hurry because "time is pressing" before ending with the ambiguous line, "Nanshe, the queen of fishermen, will be delighted with you", the pivotal line in interpreting who is speaking and what their intention might actually be.

Continue reading...

[sgtpeppers]

So after I posted those photos of Linda and Paul yesterday, taken by Allen Ginsberg, I started doing some digging into their relationship with Allen. Maybe this is all old news to everyone, but I found some cool stuff, so thought I'd share!

So Allen first met the Beatles on his 39th birthday, although at this point it was just John, Cyn, George and Pattie (x):

"At the party Allen got completely drunk and stripped off his clothes, putting his baggy underpants on his head and hanging a hotel ‘Do not disturb’ notice around his cock. It was at this moment that two of The Beatles arrived: John with Cynthia, and George with Pattie. John and George quickly checked that no photographers were present. Allen kissed John on the cheek, and John told him that he used to draw a magazine at art school called the Daily Howl [in reference to Ginsberg’s poem Howl]; they were friendly enough and accepted drinks, but then made quickly for the door. I asked John why he was leaving so soon. ‘You don’t do that in front of the birds!’ he hissed in my ear." 

Many Years From Now, Barry Miles

Despite this interesting first meeting, it looks like they went on to be friends with all of them, including Paul. In 1967 Allen gifted Paul an early copy of his book 'TV Baby Poems', with the following inscription:

“For Paul McCartney That all fantasies harmonise sweetly & also Hari Krishna!”

(x)

In the same book, Allen actually name drops John and Paul, in the poem Middle of a Long Poem on These States: Kansas City to St. Louis.

You can read the full poem here, but also... here's the section that they're mentioned in:

Paul later goes on to use the phrase 'Electric Arguments' as the title of his 2008 The Fireman album. And I'm just gonna... leave that there.

It seems like they became closer friends in the 90s, and Allen talks about his friendship with Paul in this interview:

I had been talking quite a bit to [Paul] McCartney, visiting him and bringing him poetry and haiku, and looking at Linda McCartney’s photographs and giving him some photos I’d taken of them.

And around this point, Allen and Paul collaborated on an accompanied version of Allen's poem The Ballad of the Skeletons.

Here's Paul talking about how he got involved, but the TLDR is that Allen called him asking if he knew a guitarist that would accompany him at the Royal Albert Hall, and after recommending a couple of people, Paul assumed it was Allen's round about way of asking him.

The performance is so so good, you can watch the full thing here:

Paul just looks so happy doing it!

They also went on to record a version of this as well, which had a more complicated instrumental composed by Paul and then recorded with Allen on vocals, Philip Glass on keyboards, Paul on guitar, drums, Hammond organ and maracas, Lenny Kaye on bass, Marc Ribot on guitar and David Mansfield on guitar. - you can read more about it here.

And I just love this quote from Allen about working with Paul (from this interview again):

He reacts to the words in an intelligent way. You can hear it on the tape. Like if I say on the recording, “What’s cooking,” all of a sudden he brings in the maracas to get that really funny excitement. When I say, “Blow Nancy blow,” he blows on the Hammond organ. He added a lot of enthusiasm and a lot of interpretation. And sometimes, when I made a flub, he covered it. He left his lead sheet in his guitar case, so we had to share my lead sheet [at Albert Hall], which was fun.

I just love finding out all these random little things Paul has been involved in, he gets everywhere!

Allen also (tried) to give Paul advice on his poetry (x), and Allen's comments about Eleanor Rigby were one of the things that lead Paul to publish his own poetry in Blackbird Singing.

I used to hang out a bit with Allen Ginsberg in the Sixties, and later on during the last couple of years of his life we became good friends. And he said to me “That Eleanor Rigby is a f- good poem, man.” So I thought, well, he’s no slouch, and so, with Adrian pushing me, I looked at them again, and thought, yes, some of them could be read.

(x)

Allen Ginsberg unfortunately passed away on the 5th April 1997, about a year before Linda, but it seems like those last few years of Allen's life included a really beautiful, collaborative friendship with them!

[lizardsfromspace]

In middle school we were asked to recite poems and the poem I was assigned was about an invisible creature and in retrospect it was probably a metaphor, for the Problems and Issues, but at the time I saw that but I also went "but I also want to roleplay being killed by a Creature" so I came up with my death throes from being Stabbed by the Claws of a Creature. Which I casually rehearsed in the middle of study hall to an array of stares I interpreted as encouraging horror. Then the teacher told me not to reenact a Death By Creature while reading a poem so I just read the poem but I did at least get to show some people what it would like like if a Creature ate me

[artemlegere]

The Death of Dante

Artist: Eugenio Moretti Larese (Italian, 1823-1874)

Date: 1852-1853

Medium: Oil on canvas

Collection: Luigi Bailo Museum, Treviso, Italy

The Death of Dante Alighieri 14th September 1321

“Dante and Shakespeare divide the world between them, there is no third.” So said T.S. Eliot. Dante is undoubtedly one of the finest writers that ever walked the earth but it is the afterlife for which he is better known. His work “The Divine Comedy” is a classic of literature. It is an allegory about his walk through the three stages of the Christian afterlife – Hell, Purgatory and Heaven. It is written in the first person as a warning to politicians and others about corruption, set in 1300 and written in vernacular Italian rather than what was more usual at the time - Greek or Latin.

Born in Florence in 1265 to low aristocratic parents, but not wealthy ones, Durante, as he was fully called (Dante is a nickname) lost his mother when he was two. At school he was taught rhetoric, grammar, philosophy, literature and theology. He went on to study Tuscan poetry, painting and music. He was particularly struck with Homer, Virgil and Cicero. By the age of 12 his marriage was arranged to Gemma di Manetto Donati and they were to have three, possibly four, children, it is not known for certain. Dante though had already fallen in love with a girl called Beatrice Portinari. He claimed that this was love at first sight but was to remain unrequited; a courtly love. Beatrice died in 1290 and Dante never fully got over it. After her death he wrote a poem entitled “La Vita Nouvo” or the New Life. Also written in Italian this spoke of courtly love which Dante saw as the ideal and he centred his work not on himself but on his interpretation of love.

Dante worked his way up through the political system and became a Priore, which was a little like a governor. However, as usual in Italian cities, and Florence in particular, there were a lot of political machinations. There were two distinct groups fighting for power – the Guelphs and the Ghibellines. Dante was on the side of the former who won this particular struggle. However the Guelphs were to split between the White Guelphs and the Black Guelphs. Again Dante was on the side of the former who took control. They were more sceptical of the motives of the Pope, Boniface VIII, and went to Rome to seek out his intentions. Whilst they were there the Black Guelphs seized Florence and destroyed much of it. Dante was never to return to his own City. He was banned for life.

Much of the writing for the Divine Comedy was undertaken in Ravenna. The work tells of his own path to salvation and offers moral and philosophical judgements along the way. Each of the three sections, Hell (Inferno), Purgatory (Purgatorio) and Heaven (Paradiso) has nine further subsections with a tenth as a top, final stage. In Hell this is where Lucifer himself dwells. In this section Satan is up to his waist in ice and chewing on the three greatest sinners - Judas, Brutus and Cassius. The ninth stage is reserved for treacherous people who are buried up to their necks in the same ice. On his journey Dante speaks to various sinners at different levels.

In his journeys through Hell and Purgatory his guide is the Roman poet, Virgil. Once inside Purgatorio he climbs the Mount of Purgatory that has the first seven levels (One for each of the seven deadly sins). Eventually he reaches the top level, the Garden of Eden, where he must learn to reject earthly paradise for the heavenly one that awaits.

At this stage Virgil leaves him and the love of his life Beatrice takes him through the final stage of Heaven, or Paradiso. On his way up he meets Thomas Aquinas and King Solomon before reaching the top level symbolised by three rings for the Holy Trinity - The Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit - where he meets God himself.

Dante died in 1321 and was buried in Ravenna. Florence regretted exiling one of the finest and foremost writers of any generation and asked for his body to be returned. Officials in Ravenna refused and were so worried that his remains might be stolen they hid them between the walls of a monastery. Nevertheless Florence had a tomb built for him in 1829 in the basilica of Santa Croce and it remains empty to this day. The words on it read: “Onorate l'altissimo poeta” which translate as, honour the most exalted poet.

Many of Dante’s phrases are household expressions today. “The darkest places in hell are reserved for those who maintain their neutrality in times of moral crisis.” “The secret of getting things done is to act” and “All hope abandon, ye who enter here.”

One of the most telling quotes, I believe, is “Consider your origins. You were not made to live as brutes, but to follow virtue and knowledge.” Perhaps this is a message that is as relevant to world leaders today as it was to those in the fourteenth century.

Biography

[curtis-brothers-hug]

okay i don’t know why but i relate to Ponyboy’s character so much i just need to rant about it and try to get someone to agree with me but i feel like the sunsetting was a symbol of the emotion and humanity in everyone. Ponyboy liked the sunsets because he saw color in world like what poem said about being young and stuff. Darry didn’t notice the beauty in sunsets because he was too busy to take it in and that showed he neglected his emotions. Soda probably did notice because of his little brother showing him (and let’s be honest he had that most emotional intelligence) but also when Pony and Cherry talked about it the human in them connects and the mask of who they were supposed to be came off, but what bugs me is that Cherry, as soon as she realized she put the mask back on and push Pony away 😒🥺. My friends say i’m looking to much into this but like they basically failed 7th grade soooooo 😜

You are not at all reading too much into it. You’re spot on about the symbolism of sunsets in the book, and it’s a perfect example of symbolism in literature.

I don’t know if I would interpret Cherry’s behavior the same way, or at least it’s not quite as simple as that. She says that line “if I don’t say hi to you at school…..” but in the end she’s the one who seeks him out when they have that last conversation. And then he’s the one who pushes her away before he finally relents.

[mostotherthings]

The On1y One's ending is pre-empting you for a reunion, there is hope for the future

Can you believe, I sat down with my father for his advice on this. I must disclaim, I am an English-language user, but I know enough Mandarin to get by. Together with my father and Baidu, and after thinking about this for a few nights, my thoughts on that… the ending is hopeful – but bittersweet

The literature teacher starts off Episode 11 with the reciting of the poem 江城子 (Melody of a River Town) by Su Shi (otherwise, Su Dongpo) translations for this poem is taken from this site

十年生死兩茫茫。Ten years of separation by the immeasurable distance between life and death

不思量， 自難忘。  Is not something I'd like to think about, yet unforgettable it is already.

千里��墳, A thousands miles away is your lonely grave,

無處話淒涼, I've nowhere to visit and my grief express.

縱使相逢應不識，Even if we could meet, we probably wouldn't each other recognise,

塵滿面，鬢如霜。For my faces has aged and my sideburns greyed as I have life's hardship sustained.

The teacher continues:

這就傳達了一種經過時間的滄桑 This expresses the inevitable change in the circumstances of life

再見面時 When we meet again

卻已幽冥兩隔的哀戚 We have already mourned our separation because of life and death

At this point, the teacher asks if the students understand. At my first watch, I’m going what the ever loving HECK (we were taught Mandarin for usage, not literature interpretation). My Mandarin is not even Taiwanese high school level, so I had to go study. Anyway!

The second part of the poem they do not go through in the show, is following,

夜來幽夢忽還。Last night out of the blue I dreamt of homecoming,

小軒窗，正梳妝。And there you were, putting on make-up after combing your hair.

相顧無言，Our eyes meet yet reticent we remained,

惟有淚千行。Yet rolling down our cheeks are tears forming far too many trails.

料得年年腸斷處，Then I realise we are where I'd visit year after year when my heart aches

明月夜，短松。On a night with a bright moon, on the hillock, among the pine saplings I'd stay.

Director Liu has indicated- instead of a 6 year separation according to the book (which I am TRYING to read; emphasis, trying), they have changed it to a ten year period. Su Shi wrote this poem 10 years after the death of his first wife, who died at the age of 17, exactly the age that the boys are now. It means the boys' separation, according to the poem, is inevitable. This pain, will be inevitable too, as Su Shi was known to be very affected by the loss of his first wife

Notice that the poem also states the night with a bright moon- this probably leads to the next part of the  show, where Jiang Tian tells Sheng Wang that he chooses the moon.

But the teacher follows up with asking Jiang Tian to explain what the idiom 破鏡重圓 means. (Note: when I asked my Dad his interpretation of it, his first words, 'this idiom is not for just anybody getting back together, it is meant for husbands and wives, you know that, right?' and I swear I disassociated for a moment)

Jiang Tian notes well- it is the story of Le Chang, a princess from the dying Chen Dynasty. Seeing that the country is at war, her husband Xu Deyan tells her, as she is a great beauty, after the war is lost, they are bound to be separated as she will be given or taken as a spoil of war by the invaders. He tells her that if they both survive the war, there will be a chance that they can meet again. He breaks a bronze mirror and tells her on the fifth 元宵节 (fifteenth day of the first lunar month) after the loss of the war, to bring the mirror out and pretend to sell it- he will look for her amongst the vendors, so that they will have a chance to meet again.

After the war, Le Chang princess indeed is taken away and the lovers separated. Every year on the agreed date, Xu Deyan takes his half of the mirror and goes to sell it, and as he traverses the vendors, one year he finds a servant selling the other half, and it was then that he finds out that Le Chang is now a concubine of a ranking official of the new dynasty. In sadness, Xu Deyan writes a poem on it and gives his half to the servant.

Jiang Tian continues as the light gets brighter behind him, and his explanation is the content of the poem that Xu Deyan wrote to his wife in the half of his bronze mirror

可是這個美好故事的背後 But behind this beautiful story

卻有很深的意思 There is a deep meaning

在他們無法詳見的幾十年 In the decades that they were unable to meet

他們只能看著鏡子 They could only look at the mirror

思念當初美好的對方 And miss the other beautiful partner

團員後 Even after the reunion

在鏡中 In the Mirror

我再也看不到你當初嫦娥版的倩影 I can no longer see your Chang-Er like silhouette

只留下歲月映照後  Only leaving the impression left behind by the years

淒涼的月光 A desolate moonlight

GUYS, c’mon man I’m dying at this point. This mirrors the poem that Xu Deyan wrote to Le Chang on the mirror

鏡與人俱去，鏡歸人未歸。無復嫦娥影，空留明月輝

The mirror goes away with the person, but the mirror returns without the person. Chang'er's shadow is gone, the bright moon remains in the sky (this is from Google translate, don't come at me LOL, but you get the gist)

And perhaps they are saying now, that even reunited 10 years later, it will not be the same- you and I, will not be the same, and we will have this pain of separation be an impression on our lives in the future.

The story is psyching us up for the 10-year separation coming up ahead in the nerd-iest way and I’m still dying here please

And it’s JIANG TIAN that says this, in his glasses, and wearing his vest, the curtains of the room drawn leaving only 1 source of light behind him. He takes off his glasses at the end- two lenses signifying 2 halves of the mirror, perhaps???

The ending of the story is- the mirror is returned to Le Chang princess by her servant, and after receiving it, she goes into a turmoil so deep she doesn't eat or sleep or even wash. Her new husband, after hearing the news, allows her to return to Xu Deyan. Her new husband summons Xu Deyan to the residence and the lovers are reunited, at which he says 破鏡重圓 (literally- the broken mirror, has become whole again) - could this be a hint that any opposition to their relationship will finally be relented after a forced separation?

Of course in the later ensuring conversation, Jiang Tian expresses that he chooses the moon (ie, Sheng Wang)

Perhaps like Xu Deyan, he has already made up his mind, or prepared for the inevitable separation. I will wait for you, and not only that, I will find a way that we will be back together again.

At the end of Episode 12, another Su Shi poem appears (translations from here

山頭斜照卻相迎 The setting sun (slanting) over the mountain offers greetings still

回首向來蕭瑟處 Looking back over the bleak passage survived

歸去The return in time

也無風雨也無晴 Shall not be affected by windswept rain or shine

THE RETURN IN TIME SHALL NOT BE AFFECTED BY WINDSWEPT RAIN OR SHINE and it’s RAINING OUTSIDE THE CLASSROOM (lying on the ground in a puddle, POETRY)

I’m also going to link the Baidu article for this poem (if you wish to translate it for a read), but basically, the poem expresses the author returning after a drinking session when it starts to rain, and when everyone is rushing to return and to look for shelter, he takes his time going back. The teacher continues with the explanation of this -

這些日子他被流放到外地 In the days where he was in exile

寫下抒發自己內心的文字 he wrote down the feelings he had in his heart

他表示他不會害怕 He expressed that he would not be afraid

他會勇往直前 He will forge bravely ahead

且不會畏懼 and without fear

他也很期待 He also looks forward

回去的日子to the day he will return

And here, they focus on Jiang Tian tying the broken bracelet back and pronouncing that he will wait for Sheng Wang’s return.

The rain outside the window is the beginning of the separation! The bleak passage survived from the poem!

To match this poem, the POV changes to Sheng Wang

暗戀是一個人的兵荒馬亂 To be secretly in love with someone is a turmoil (the idiom 兵荒馬亂 literally translates to soldiers in a panic and horses in a mess – the war/fortress analogy is BACKKK)

因為太喜歡你 Because I like you so much

所以我如臨深淵 如履薄冰 I feel like I am facing a deep abyss, like walking on thin ice (the pure linguistic poetry of this line, it kills me)

以至於差點忘了 to the point I almost forgot

我17歲了I’m 17

這個年紀裡 整個世界都是我的 At this age, the world is my oyster

不需要猶豫 No need for hesitation

也用不著權衡 And I don’t have to compromise

我無堅不摧 I’m indestructible

也無所不能 And there’s nothing I can’t do

And the entire dialogue ends with Jiang Tian's voice asking Sheng Wang, Can you try to pass the test and return?

And Sheng Wang says Yes

Is it the test for returning to Class A, or is it the test of the NEXT TEN YEARS?