Aga_darkside

Oooh, Blake I had two classes and a lecture dedicated to him this semester, we did both versions of Nurse's Song and Holy Thursday from Songs of Innocence and Songs of Experience.

LGC

I wish I had a class or lecture about this poem in High School! It was long, but I enjoyed the truths I found while reading Thanks for posting it Joana!

Gelfling

funny how words that were written so long ago in different times can still resonate so loud and clear with us, uh?

Aga_darkside

Just goes to show us how people haven't really changed that much through the centuries... and as I'm spending a lot of time in the 15th century right now it's really surprising how little has changed if you look close enough. At least when it comes to money, which means basically nothing has changed

I have a semester test in British Literature on Thursday

Gelfling

two things you can always count on to stay the same: power and love. Only the shape changes but the core of it remains the same through time and culture.

You don't mean with a time machine, do you? that would be fun
What are you studying these days from the 15th century that you like best?

Aga_darkside

Sadly no I'd love that, it's a big dream of mine
Actually my thesis is a biography of a guy who was an official, a diplomat and a bishop in 15th century Poland. And I had no idea of his existence until I had to decide on the topic and of course I couldn't choose anyone thoroughly researched (I also wrote a biography for my BA and it was fun). There's something really modern about him (and he died in 1471!), he was cunning and had quite a temper, which led him into trouble on a number of occasions. And when he died (of a stroke after getting mad too much during the royal council ), the diocese turned out to be in such a debt that there was no money to give him a funeral and they had to borrow it Nothing changes, right?

Gelfling

you'd meet Joana on your time traveling.

Heh well at least you found someone interesting. Must be hard picking people after all these centuries of research! Like finding an unused gmail identity

Ha! I like him already!

Politicians are so much less involved these days (and I guess that's one of the reasons why: if they die of strokes, they can't collect their well earned pensions )

nope. Nothing.

You must be reading so many interesting history books!

Aga_darkside

I remember her saying something about a dream of having a time machine

Yeah but luckily it's not like nothing was written about him, there's just no separate book, otherwise my advisor wouldn't allow me to write It's really more like putting everything together like a puzzle and correcting some things. Really often happens that someone wrote sth incorrectly 100 years ago or so and then everyone repeated it...

Once he went as an envoy to mediate with the king's brother who rebelled and unfortunately the prince was even more bad tempered. He got slapped in the face and thrown into jail But he also could have provoked him on purpose to get a reason for war, there's really no way to tell...

I wish I had more time, but right now it's more like skimming through the name index

Gelfling

wow, that sounds fascinating! You're like a History investigator

Yeah I'm so not surprised by that. It's pretty much Wikipedia in two lines but it happened before the internet.

oh brother!

Not unless you have a time machine... although that probably wouldn't help either unless you can read minds. I do like his style though

Yeah I don't have time to read as much as I'd like either. And school is terrible for that.

I am currently reading A Prayer for Owen Meany again just because a whole day goes by sometimes without me opening my book and I know it very well so it's alright.

LGC

You are right, I still want to believe that not everything that appears in the poem applies to these days. We have changed in relation to the Heaven-God-Hell references. The guilt feeling was much more attached to religion in 1800. I think it is possible to enjoy life and nature and we should be able to discern what to value, what to care about and face the consequences of our actions

Gelfling

that's an excellent point.
I guess it still works for poets like Blake and others because they are so hyperbolic that any reference to the religious/holy becomes more about spirituality in various shapes.

Aga_darkside

And he was really resourceful. What I like about the late Middle Ages is that it was possible to make big careers without having been born in wealthy families or without any ties to them. It was all based on merit and personal traits. Try doing that now And the guy I wrote my BA about, Jan Radlica (there's a two line-long entry at the French wiki ), was even a better example. Born in a noble, but really insignificant family, he went to study theology and medicine in Paris and Montpellier. Then his fame as an excellent physician reached the French court and when the king of Hungary (who was also a king of Poland then) was looking for a new physician, Jan was recommended to him by the French king. And then he went from being a personal physician to being a Chancellor of Polish kingdom and a bishop of Kraków, which was the biggest and wealthiest diocese (but my other guy had no problem with bankrupting it )

I'm waiting for the summer break to start reading again...

Miss Femina

From one of my favourite Portuguese Authors, Eça de Queiróz

“(Prayer is) a fictitious consolation invented by those who have everything in order to keep those who have nothing contented. I belong to the bourgeoisie and I know the only reason my class bothers to show the lower classes that distant paradise full of ineffable pleasures that will one day be theirs is to divert attention from their own bulging coffers and from the abundance of their harvests.”

"Politicians and diapers should be changed frequently and all for the same reason."


now I'm jealous! You lucky girl! I used to love my literature classes, but I wish I had done more reading that I did! Plus it was mainly Portuguese literature, which I love, but very little on foreign authors! Well, never too late!

Aww... I'm so glad you girls liked it! I wasn't sure if I should post it or not, because of it's length! Glad I did!



One of my wishes I have waiting for when the genie appears to me!

LGC

Praying is a mistery for me but if it helps to release the pain or feel better, go for it!

I’ve heard this one before, so true!

Right? The same happened to me! Literature here is focused on Latin American writers. Now in private school I believe the kids have a broader scope.

Aga_darkside

I have English and American Literature at uni, the English for 5 semesters and the American for 3 But even at high school we read quite a lot of foreign authors, mostly European though. I guess it's just the way it is in Polish schools, because at History classes we always had both history of Poland and the general one.