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Wordsworth on the Second Edition of Lyrical Ballads

Posted: 03 Sep 2019, 20:39
by BobBradshaw
V2:

Wordsworth on the Second Edition of Lyrical Ballads


Dorothy smiles sadly
as Coleridge lumbers up the stairs,

his losses growing,
his heart heaving like a widow's--

William having turned down "Christabel"
for the second edition,
the poem like a relative
too embarrassing to be seen with.

Worse, Coleridge's name will be purged
from the title page.

Coleridge sighs
as he lies down on a thin mattress,
slips into an undercurrent
of laudanum's dreams,

only to surface hours later,
the sense of failure
overwhelming him.

He senses Wordsworth’s feeling:
that he tolerated
the Mariner
the first time around,
and would love to drop it
from this edition.

He knows what William’s
argument would be:
that it has no more place
in the Ballads
than operatic singing would have
in the middle
of a conversation.

He will never be a poet.
William is the one with talent.

Coleridge’s sighs grow heavier,
like surf, a storm just offshore:

he has always lacked focus,
and with his laudanum habits
he will forever be like a man
digging a hole in the desert,
its walls collapsing
sand.



note: this is a much revised version of an old poem, once published in a site long, long ago

V1:
Wordsworth on the Second Edition of Lyrical Ballads


I.

Dorothy smiles sadly
as Coleridge lumbers up the stairs,

his losses growing,
his heart heaving like a widow's--

William having turned down "Christabel"
for the second edition,
the poem like a relative
too embarrassing to be seen with.

Worse, Coleridge's name will be purged
from the title page.

Coleridge sighs heavily
as he lies down on a thin mattress,
slips into an undercurrent
of laudanum's dreams,

only to surface hours later,
the sense of failure
overwhelming him.


II.

Too bad, Wordsworth thinks,
that he tolerated
the Mariner
the first time around.
How can he suggest
that they drop it?

It has no more place
in the Ballads
than operatic singing would have
in the middle
of a conversation.

Still, what can he do?
Besides, Coleridge
is steadfastly
grateful.
And as a poet
Coleridge is no threat.
He is too distracted.
With his laudanum habits
he'll always be like a man
digging a hole
in the desert,
its walls
collapsing
sand.



note: this is a much revised version of an old poem, once published in a site long, long ago

Re: Wordsworth on the Second Edition of Lyrical Ballads

Posted: 04 Sep 2019, 03:07
by Kenneth2816
It is another great piece.

Re: Wordsworth on the Second Edition of Lyrical Ballads

Posted: 05 Sep 2019, 05:50
by BobBradshaw
I have revised the poem... let me know your thoughts

Re: Wordsworth on the Second Edition of Lyrical Ballads

Posted: 05 Sep 2019, 06:07
by Kenneth2816
Good either way Bob.

Re: Wordsworth on the Second Edition of Lyrical Ballads

Posted: 05 Sep 2019, 11:26
by meenas17
Both are good, Bob.

Re: Wordsworth on the Second Edition of Lyrical Ballads

Posted: 05 Sep 2019, 20:34
by BobBradshaw
Thanks, guys, for commenting

Re: Wordsworth on the Second Edition of Lyrical Ballads

Posted: 06 Sep 2019, 00:39
by Michael (MV)
 
 
Hi Bob,

here is an ekphrastic response to your poem:


"kindred spirits make guest appearances"

Bob, you are a Wordsworthian
and I admire your creativity in the finished works

yet, I, coleridgesque, lacking focus
because I am carried away
enchanted by the creative process
Spirit move me
with the cross-references
not distraction, attractions

that I freely associate to
because I don't believe in crucifixion
always an autobiographical aesthetic
of disjunctive discourse -

& then an autothanatography instead of a death mask



 
 
 
 

Re: Wordsworth on the Second Edition of Lyrical Ballads

Posted: 06 Sep 2019, 02:57
by BobBradshaw
Thx, Michael, for the interesting response. I googled auto Thanatographt, but found the articles confusing. Perhaps you could explain in layman terms... thx

Re: Wordsworth on the Second Edition of Lyrical Ballads

Posted: 06 Sep 2019, 17:40
by Kenneth2816
Michael is on mushrooms again 😎

Re: Wordsworth on the Second Edition of Lyrical Ballads

Posted: 08 Sep 2019, 21:32
by Michael (MV)
Hi Bob

Perhaps this example will clarify -

viewtopic.php?f=2&t=5704#p35891

autobiographical for life here;
autothanatographical for communicating about life after here

a thanatographic auto-bio

"on earth as it is in Heaven" -
the Haven of the Humane

😎

Michael (MV)

BobBradshaw wrote:
06 Sep 2019, 02:57
Thx, Michael, for the interesting response. I googled auto Thanatographt, but found the articles confusing. Perhaps you could explain in layman terms... thx