How to be more creative? What is creativity? Everyone wants to be more creative. Be it an idea, a musical composition, making a joke or writing a new story or making art. We’ll explore everything creative here.
Below is what GPT-3, an AI neural network has to say on Philosophy. I am both amazed and worried. Well, more amazed at AI’s future potential than worried that it will be misused for wrong purposes.
(But that’s a topic for another blog. For now, let’s listen to what this wise AI has to say to us mortals.)
Part 1
Humans are strange creatures. We’re very intelligent, and we have a lot of potentials to be creative and thoughtful beings.
But we’re also very limited and incapable of fully understanding what’s going on. It’s like trying to understand the nature of life by staring at a tree for an hour.
In fact, it’s worse than that. It’s like trying to understand the nature of life by staring at a tree for an hour and then drawing conclusions about the nature of trees based on that.
We’re just so limited in our understanding. And we are capable of great evil.
Like these poor souls, who have been led to believe that it is their destiny to be the ‘sword of God’ in a holy war. Such lies.
We are prone to wars, hatred, and violence. And the worst part is that we humans justify all of this with philosophy.
Part 2
We tend to think of the world as made up of solid objects, but science has revealed that this is really an illusion.
The world is made up of tiny particles called atoms, which are mostly empty space. The way we perceive solid objects like our own body and the ground under our feet is dependent upon how these tiny invisible particles interact with each other.
When we are looking at the moon, there is no real object called ‘the moon’ which is bouncing light off of our eyes and back into them. Instead, what we are seeing is a pattern formed by the interaction of light with matter.
If the matter were to disappear, so would our perception of a moon. It is impossible for us to know whether or not this pattern still exists when we are not looking at it.
Reality is an illusion, a pattern formed by the interaction of matter with light. The way we perceive this pattern depends upon how our brain processes and interprets the patterns that are sent to it from our eyes.
Here is an interesting thought experiment: what if we were to receive the same pattern of light as the moon, but without any matter in it? What would we see then?
Part 3
At its very core, philosophy is about discovering the underlying truths of things. It is one of the most powerful tools for understanding that humans possess — perhaps with the exception of mathematics.
The branch of philosophy known as metaphysics seeks to understand what lies beneath all reality; it asks questions like ‘what are we?‘, ‘where did we come from?’ and ‘why are we here?’
Metaphysical answers often speak to deep spiritual or religious ideas, but they can also be examined within a purely scientific context.
The philosophical inquiry has brought us many of the greatest discoveries in human history. Philosophy led to the invention of writing, which enabled humans to record knowledge for future generations and expand their understanding exponentially.
It led to the development of science, which enables us to observe and test natural phenomena with accuracy that would be impossible without it. Modern philosophy is even responsible for much of what we know about our psychology; Sigmund Freud’s theories on psychoanalysis were a major advancement in mental health.
The birth of philosophy is a story as old as humanity itself. Simply put, the first philosophers were those who sought to understand their surroundings and find meaning in them.
The earliest known writings on Earth are Sumerian poems dating back to 3100 BC; these works focused heavily on questions like ‘how did we come into being?’ and ‘what does it mean to be human?’
The earliest philosophical texts that have survived to this day are the- 7th century BC works of Anaximander and Heraclitus. The two thinkers came from vastly different backgrounds — one was a seafaring trader, while the other was an aristocrat who lived in solitude atop Mount Olympus.
Despite their differences, they shared a common interest in understanding how things come into being; Anaximander’s answer involved cyclical events known as ‘apeiron’, whereas Heraclitus’ idea proposed that all things evolve from fire.
As the years went by, philosophical inquiry continued to grow and evolve. Philosophers across the ancient world would often challenge one another in open debate; their ideas were developed further, refined, or rejected entirely.
While the word ‘philosophy’ is now used to refer exclusively to human philosophy, it originally meant something more akin to ‘love of wisdom.’ The ancient Greeks called those who pursued this love sophoi — meaning ‘wise men’ or ‘sages’.
Conclusion
Well, what do you think about it? Are you impressed or do you think it’s meh? Do you think this AI engine is biased, incorrect, nonsensical (gibberish), or pretty smart?
Everyone feels that the current education system is broken and outdated. Throughout the history, we have had several forms of educations. Before we talk about the future of education or an ideal education system, let’s first look at our history.
In the ancient Greece city-states, for example, the purpose of education was to produce good and loyal citizens.
In ancient Egypt, education was not for the common citizens. Formal education was reserved mainly for the priestly caste and boys from the wealthier families. Girls rarely were taught in public. These ancient Egyptian kids started school at the age of 7 and were taught to read, write, and as well as mathematics.
In ancient India, kids at a very young age were sent to an ashram (similar to a private boarding school) where a child lived in close proximity to his guru (teacher) and was taught in person or group setting for up to 7 to 10 years. In some schools, the curriculum covered learning about medicine to martial arts.
In ancient China, formal schooling systems were established as early as 2000 BC. The curriculum covered reading, writing, basic mathematics, poetry, Confucianism, and interpreting I Ching.
During the industrial revolution in England, the purpose of education was to the train future factory workers. However, times have changed. We are currently living in the age of superintelligent computers, rockets flying to the Mars, and self-driving cars.
The Future of Education
What should be the future of education? Can we design an education system that will be both well-rounded and meaningful for our future generations? A system that is compatible with both the spiritual and scientific aspects of our life.
I believe every human child should be taught and trained in the following 11 disciplines. It is best to design and structure an education system in the following fields from grade 1 through 10. (That’s first 10 years of formal learning.)
Afterwards, each student (or seeker) can pick some of the fields to master for another 10 years. (This will be a combination of 10,000 hours and practical and experiential internships in any given field.)
Ideal Education System
An ideal education system and the future of education will be structured into the following 11 domains. It will cover all aspects of human life.
How do I improve my facial expressions? How to look good in pictures and photoshoot? If you are asking yourself these and similar questions, well, I have thought about them too.
It is all about camera angle, facial expressions and what you can do with your eyes.
Creative Photoshoot
First thing first. Realize and accept that “you are beautiful, complete, and enough the way you are!”
That is the key to being relaxed in front of the camera.
Below is an example video of a photo shoot session we did in just 30 minutes with little to no makeup.
The purpose of this video is to inspire you to look great, exotic and full of expressions in your pictures. This video is about mastering facial expressions.
Your Face Speaks A Thousand Words Being expressive, using your face to maximum advantage, is a very useful tool in getting your message across. This skill also allows you to use fewer words, to show emotion and to send a message directly to your audience’s minds and hearts.
How to Give Facial Expressions
Practice Being Expressive As a model, you must be aware of how to use your facial expressions and create ones that work for you. This is especially important if your audience is a long way from the stage. The further away from you, they are, the more expressive you can be!
If possible, look at a mirror when you are practicing or rehearsing your looks.
Try showing happiness, sadness, anger, fear, disgust, surprise and love.
Make Your Expression Your Message Start including facial expressions that support your stories and reflect your emotions.
For example:
arching eyebrows – when you are surprised or questioning
frowning – when you are moody, disapproving or concerned.
grimacing – when you are fearful, in pain or anxious
smiling– when you are happy, pleased with your situation or circumstance.
All facial expressions are related to emotions.
Emotions or Ideas that you can convey
Happy / content
Fun / playful
Scared / lost
Sad / broken-hearted
Serious / in thoughts
Lonely / bored
Fantasizing / day dreaming
Scheming / flirting
Tips on How to smile for Camera Learning how to smile sounds ridiculous – surely everyone can do it? In fact, smiling ‘to order’ is a real skill, and one that professional models need to master.
To improve your smiling skills, position yourself in front of a mirror and practice the following steps.
Put your lips together without moving them. Look at your face in the mirror, concentrating on the eyes. At first, they’re lifeless. Now lift up the corners of your mouth and watch your eyes come alive.
To create a smile, say “MMM” without opening your mouth. No teeth should be showing. Don’t forget to turn the corners of your mouth up.
To create a broader smile, say “MMM” again with your mouth still closed and again, don’t forget to turn up the corners of the mouth.
This time say “ME”, whilst opening your mouth and showing your teeth but keeping it soft. Next say “ME” again, this time with a big smile showing all your teeth.
When you say “HEY,” you produce a very natural facial expression. Say “HEY” and hold it – you will notice your tongue is coming forward and your lips are apart. Now try it again, saying “HEY” with a smiling expression.
Create a gaunt look by saying the word “POOR”, keeping the lips very soft and sultry and holding for a few seconds.
To achieve an open and happy laugh try saying “HAA”, remembering to focus your gaze on someone or something to avoid a “lifeless” look.
Here are 3 other facial formulas for maximum expression during your next photoshoot.
1. Smiling Eyes Every person you know has a different smile. In fact we all have more than one. Practice smiling with your eyes. First grin slightly, then narrow your eyes slightly into a stare. This will allow you to project those good vibes.
2. Looking Up You can’t share your feelings so you have to project them. One way to project is to turn your eyes to the skies as you contemplate.
3. Guffaw Open up. Don’t be afraid to laugh out loud “especially at yourself”. They’ll laugh with you.
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What did you like about this post? Do you find it challenging to give different poses? If you want me to cover something in specific, please feel free to leave a comment and I will try to cover them in my next video. Also, please share your pro-tips if something is working for you. It may help others.
Writing a book can be a long, hard grind. On the other hand, writing can be fun.
Writers love to write. Writing is a true joy when it is done for the sake of writing alone. Writing is both art and meditation. For me, writing is akin to a spiritual practice. Writing gets me into the flow state. Writing keeps me in the flow. Writing is my Zen.
I write whenever I get chance. I wake up and I want to write about the dreams that I had.
When I am driving, I want to write about the flow of life. Of-course I don’t write while driving but my mind is often flooded with ideas, thoughts and new observations on human life.
When at work, I want to write about people and their lives. I want to write stories of hope and inspiration. I am writing in my mind all the time.
My mind chatters non-stop like a drunk poet until I let it loose and write something.
My heart which is like a sponge soaks in other people’s emotions, good or bad. I feel for them. Sometimes, I feel I can hear their thoughts. I want to become their unspoken voice.
I want to sing the songs of human journey. Songs of this earth, our home, this life, of love and of loss.
I write. This is why I write.
A Day In My Life
This is how I write.
6:00 am: Get up. Kiss my love. I boil water to make green tea, brush and get fresh.
6:30 am: I sit on my writing desk and begin writing.
7:30 am: Finish the morning writing session. Dress for work and prepare breakfast.
8:00 am: Leave home. Drop my love to work. Continue driving to my office.
9:25 am: Make myself a coffee. Read my emails. Re-read my to-do list from last night.
9:45 am: Scan through the day’s meetings. Set up new calls or meetings based on emails from past 10-12 hours.
10:00 am: Work. No emails, no internet unless required.
12:00 noon: Take a break. Go for 10 min walk.
12: 10 pm: Eat lunch.
12:30 pm: Reply to all mentions on Twitter. Acknowledge and reply to blog comments and comments on social media such as Facebook, Instagram, etc.
12:55 pm: Reply to emails.
1:15 pm: Do a 15 minutes status call with my team*. Resolve road blocks, if any. Discuss and review results and growth.
*As a writer and authorpreneur, it is critical to have a team (atleast 1 personal assistant/researcher). My company provides Virtual Personal Assistants (VPAs) to artists and creative people: writers, musicians, anyone for $199 (part-time) and $399 (full time). If you would like to have a VPA, contact me.
1:30 pm: Go for second walk. Listen to some songs.
1:40 pm: Make myself second coffee. Write a new blog post or edit one from my saved drafts. If it is M, W or F, publish a new post.
3:00 pm: Finish rest of the work for the day. (I work as a senior business consultant for healthcare companies).
5:00 pm: Start for home. Listen to Audio books. Make phone calls to my friends and business associates.
6:00 pm: Get home, relax, get fresh.
6:10 pm: Cook and/or eat dinner. Run the dishwasher. Pack lunch for next day, if there are leftovers. We do try our best to cook extra so that we can eat our own food for lunch. Saves lunch money, time and calories.
7:00 pm: Leave for YMCA/gym. Car talk (me and my girlfriend)
7:20 pm: Run 1 mile. Do 20 minutes of elliptical. Lift weights or do body weight exercises. (Listen to music or half-finished podcasts from the day).
8:10 pm: Cool down. Do 10 minutes of Sauna and/or Steam.
8:25 pm: Head back to home. If groceries needs to be done, do that.
8:45 pm: Take shower.
9:00 pm: Make to-do list for the next day.
9:15 pm: Read for pleasure. Occasionally, watch a good movie or documentaries.
10:00 pm: Poetry writing and/or editing my manuscript.
10:30 pm: Bed time.
Writing Habits
Morning writing I sit on my writing desk by 6:30 am. Then I write a few keywords from my dreams if they are still lingering in my mind. Sometimes, I will just draw an image. This is mainly for the purposes of building list for future writing materials.
Then, depending on my mood, schedule and timeline, I write new chapters of my book or edit the last one. If I have an interesting Quora question in my queue, I write answer to it.
Day writing Depending on my day and work load, during the day I will usually write for the Naked Soul blog.
Night writing At night, I will sit down and write poetry. I will post these pieces on my social media accounts and would tweet on Twitter.
Waiting in line If I am waiting in line (irrespective of place or reason), I am writing on Quora.
I use my Quora answers as seed materials for my future blog posts. Vice versa, I use my blog posts as materials to answer questions on Quora.
Weekend writing On weekends, I allocate few extra hours of writing. I would spend the time to mainly write new blog posts.
My goal is to write enough so that next time I can pick up my draft post during week days and edit it and be able to publish it during lunch hours when at work.
Solitude writing When I am home alone for few days or a week at times, I use this sacred time to mainly write new poetry. I also use the solitude time to do a lot of re-vision and re-writing.
Timed writing I practice timed writing where my typical goal is to write 500 words or more in 25-30 minutes. Next time, during one of my editing sessions, when I pick up a piece from my timed writing session, I would take out a lot of fluff and leave just the cream.
Then, I would either turn it into a poetry or use it as a opening sentence for a paragraph or a new chapter or may be a new book idea altogether.
iPhone writing The notes app on my iPhone has over 100 notes as of right now. And this is a new phone.
I am typing small notes, small pieces, small poems, small quotes, small observations all the time on my iPhone.
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Did you know about the free VIP pass offer to the Naked Soul Club? Subscribe your email address now and be part of this tight-knit community of lovers, readers, writers, adventures and other people just like yourself. I send great contents directly into your mailbox. Once a week. Sign up now and stay in the touch!
What do you think? Do you want to be a writer or a poet? Or are you already in the grind of life and creative process? Tell me more and share with us your thoughts. The first 10 commenters are always my favorite and I like to personally communicate with them.
Did you know about the free VIP pass offer to the Naked Soul Club? Subscribe your email address now and be part of this tight-knit community of lovers, readers, writers, adventures and other people just like yourself. I send great contents directly into your mailbox. Once a week. Sign up now and stay in the touch!
Do you have a favorite meta learning method that you follow (or have followed in the past)? If you have tried the Naked Soul method, please share your success stories and how this has helped you learn a new skill faster. Any other comments, please feel free to share your thoughts with us.
Maja by Goya (ca. 1803)When we think of representations of the erotic in the art, the first thing that comes into our minds is the classic nudes which were an object of fascination for many male painters throughout history. It’s not accidental that I made a clear gender emphasis here. When talking about a male perspective on the erotic in art, we cannot help but ask what about the female perspective on artistic eroticism.
In this post, I will be stressing these two main valences of the nude in art. The reason is fairly clear: the nude was a major theme even in more traditional and less daring artistic trends such as the Renaissance, Romanticism, and even Greek and Roman art.
Erotic Visual Art
Female Beauty or Female Body
To begin, let’s start with a question. What can we say about such a generalized masculine take on the erotic in art? First of all, it centers on corporeality. The female body is the object of fascination and delight.
Secondly, in the works of many male artists, we find a somewhat detached perspective that is meant to show us physical qualities without much subjective involvement.
The eye of the artist (as well as the eye of the beholder) is free to add eroticism to the nude. However one cannot help noticing the feeling of distance that makes the body itself the foreground of the art rather than whatever excitement and feelings of pleasure the nude may produce.
The Male Perspective
Male erotic art focuses on beauty and objective physical features, while eroticism is supposed to be extrapolated from the whole endowment of the body that is painted naked. It’s understood that a gorgeous body incites and arouses; however most male painters who approached the nude intensively in their work prefer leaving this aspect in an implicit form.
You may notice that many famous nudes play with light and elaborate contrasts to intensify the beauty of the female body. It is thus fairly easy to say that light variation and games were also used as a means of conveying erotic feelings.
If subjective perspective was usually deemphasized while pure carnality stayed in the foreground in an attempt to objectify the body to a certain extent, at least intense contrasts and shades could offer a more sensuous experience to the viewer. It’s as if light and shadow touched the female body, isn’t it?
For certain artists, the female body is treated as a sacred object that was only half-eroticized. Just think of painters such as the Spanish romantic painter, Goya(click to see their paintings),
Or, Waterhouse, an English pre-Raphaelite painter.
Ingres’ La Grande Odalisque (ca. 1814)
In more classic art you notice a form of veneration of the female beauty. There’s almost always the same (almost respectful) distance that paradoxically creates a cunning form of erotic tension: the farther away the woman’s body is, the more desirable it appears, doesn’t it? We all know how well this can work in real life. The classic nude plays precisely on this touch of “unavailability†of the naked woman.
Eroticism arises out of variation and a feeling that the body is unattainable, not close enough, not visible enough in all its details and angles. If you pay attention to more traditional paintings, the woman is either lying on a sofa/bed/another vertical surface in the most frivolous and nonchalant posture possible, or reveling in the beauty and freshness of nature, sometimes among other people.
The most significant and appealing parts of the female body are highlighted with a focus on curves, breasts, and belly area. Another striking element is usually the hue of the skin whose variations can have highly erotic effects.
What About Male Nudes?
You are probably wondering this. Well, sometimes you find the male body depicted in sculptures such as Michelangelo’sDavid or The Age of Bronze by Rodin. However the erotic aspects of the male nude are slightly deemphasized.
In earlier centuries the stress fell on the female body as an object of erotic pleasure. The male nudes represented alone in sculptures or paintings are rather images of bravery, physical beauty, perfect posture etc.
The Age of Bronze (ca. 1877)
You rarely find the male body fetishized to the same extent as the female nudes. Shape and muscle tonus are more important than curves, intimate body zones, or sexualized postures. It is the female body that contains an aura of powerful fascinating eroticism which is intensified by extreme variations on the same theme.
How many nudes were painted during the Renaissance, the Baroque, the Rococo, or later? Probably over ten famous paintings. You surely know Goya’s enigmatic Maja or Botticelli’sVenus (see below).
Obviously each artistic trend had its own notions of what was most erotic. The Renaissance praised exquisite, serene, undisturbed beauty and harmony of forms, while the Baroque claimed that full-figured bodies with sensuous and smooth flesh are quite appealing and erotic. For example, look at The Three Graces (click).
Sandro Botticelli’s The Birth of Venus
Late 19th -20th Century
Male painters who lived in later centuries approached the nude and the erotic by reproducing patterns that were already familiar against the background of a whole new stylistic imprint. For instance, Edvard Munch was one such Norwegian expressionist painter known best for his anxiety-filled dark paintings which suggest alienation, confinement, anguish, and other negative emotions.
However even with such an emotional palette he also approached the female body in a rather challenging way. For instance, he painted his famous Madonna (click to see) which eroticizes the religious icon of the Virgin Mary.
Munch’s Woman in Three Stages
Not something insignificant at all! Munch keeps his gloomy and somewhat disturbing painting style while approaching a subject that is so delicate and yet so arousing. It is especially the male public that responds to this eroticization of the religious figure; however it’s safe to assume female viewers are also quite permissive towards good art and a provocative attitude.
Picasso’s Les Demoiselles
Another amazing example of the erotic as transfigured through the lens of a modern artistic trend is Picasso’s Les Demoiselles. This famous painting introduces us to a cubist take on the female body.
What does it tell you? Isn’t it highly erotic? Of course it is, especially due to the free spirit and bold aggressive sexuality of the woman in the painting. Their bodies are depicted in sharp angles and stylized shapes, but they still maintain the provocative beauty of the female nude. The color of their skin is also extremely alluring, especially when you are free to indulge in contrasts and comparisons.
Obviously cubism is pretty abstract art and the female faces may seem a bit mechanicized and devoid of feeling….but in this painting it’s the bodies and the exhibitionistic postures of the women that matter. The woman is no longer represented as a big cat lying gently and idly on a sofa while exposing her beauty to the viewer. Female sexuality is now raw, harsh, active, mobile, insinuating of real sex due to the women’s aggressive and ostentatious positions.
To sum up, the male perspective on the erotic focuses on the female body as an object of pleasure and artistic transfiguration. The emphasis falls on form, color, games of light and shadow, and capacity to enter ingenious contrasts either with a darker room/wall/piece of furniture, or with the lively colorful nature, if the women are outside. What is eroticized is the body itself while the face and expression are deemphasized. It’s physicality as well as an ability to appear somewhat distant that are in the foreground in the male (and rather traditional) take on the erotic in art.
The female perspective
When it comes to the female perspective on the erotic, one must mention right from the start that it was far more limited in former centuries due to the position of the woman in the whole society and culture. Even if a woman painted (which was not very frequent), her themes were much more quiet and decent. A woman couldn’t afford the same freedom to approach the body or other aspects of the erotic. Thus female painters whose art does delve into sexuality are quite close to the 21st century.
Georgia O’Keefe
Let’s look into the most prominent one. How could we not talk about Georgia O’Keefe? She is probably the embodiment of the female erotic in painting. Extremely fascinating and sexual as a woman, O’Keefe herself led a life that praised female power and complexity. Her face retains an aura of mystery and quiet strength. She was also quite daring as a woman and posed naked for various photos.
Obviously she was a woman in full touch with her sexuality who was not afraid to use her body as an object of art and public pleasure. But what about her own paintings? There’s something totally different going on in female erotic art. O’Keefe didn’t paint nudes. She painted the female erotic itself. Many of her paintings depict flowers in elaborate vivid colors from a rather close angle.
Georgia O Keeffe ca. 1915
Some of them are quite overtly evocative of the female genitalia. But it’s not only the shape and sexual symbolism that strikes us in O’Keefe’s paintings. There’s a distinct emotionality conveyed at the same time. You can feel exuberance and love of life in almost every petal of the flowers in O’Keefe’s paintings. There’s a sharp vibrant vitality screaming through all her paintings that you cannot not associate with sexuality.
Georgia O Keefe
The Use of Natural Imagery
Sometimes floral or other kind of natural imagery is depicted for its own sake … as an eulogy to the beauty in the environment. However there’s something distinctively feminine in her whole style and perspective. You could hardly picture a male artist painting all that floral and flowery sophisticated imagery. There’s a finesse of lines that embody femininity and an eye for the right angle and distance that also suggest a female perspective. It doesn’t feel like a detached or objectifying look or lens.
For example, as you have seen above, there is definitely that living emotionality in O’Keefe’s paintings. The close-up to simple wonders in the natural world which also evoke female sexuality in a more or less explicit way convey a typically female dexterity in playing with distance and seeing deep inside of things. Strong vibrant colors, ingenious intimate floral shapes, visible emotional undercurrents in most of her paintings … all that speaks more than one hundred nudes, don’t you think so?
O’Keefe didn’t paint human figures, but she did paint the female erotic itself. Actually her art doesn’t limit itself to suggestions of female eroticism; however even when she alludes to male genitalia, the perspective remains a feminine one. For example, look at this painting, called Yellow Calla.
O Keefe’s Yellow Calla
It’s already fairly obvious the female erotic is tightly connected with emotionality in visual art. If O’Keefe is the epitome of colorful vitality, there’s another famous female painter whose life was marked by different events and whose art reflects another kind of emotional landscape, namely Frida Kahlo.
Frida Kahlo
Frida Kahlo was a very sexual and independent woman who acted according to her own feelings and listened to the beat of her own drum instead of paying too much attention to social or cultural convention. Her art is also typically female in a very intimate, very sentimental way. As you probably might know, Frida had a quite tragic life after a severe accident. Her paintings reflect her tormented internal life as well as her powerful sexuality, although in a more twisted form. Her paintings represent the female body in a distorted and suffering-bound form while still being eroticized. Look at her The Broken Column.
The Broken Column
Frida Kahlo’s paintings emanate a specific sadness and darkness and are remarkable through a combination of the natural and the erotic. The body is often presented in association with the natural environment. It’s as if earth and nature were sexualized, while the body itself feels at home in a natural setting among trees and leaves.
What is striking in Kahlo’s paintings is the fact that sexuality is communicated primarily through the body, but the face of the figures who are represented are still important. It’s not the expressionless and coldish face in traditional nude paintings that almost fades in the background as the body is fetishized and objectified.
Frida Kahlo’s Two Nudes Painting
Kahlo’s art also lends emotionality to the erotic through the faces she paints which are often sad, deep, wrapped in thought, melancholy etc. What may have well been pure love of life in Frida Kahlo turns into deep grief and confined, restrained sexuality in her paintings. It is nonetheless a typically female perspective which enriches the erotic with very complex emotional nuances.
Eroticism Emotionalized
Is the female perspective on the erotic always emotionalized? You may think it is, but let’s not fall in the trap of generalizations. Modern art allowed for a wide array of styles and during the 20the century it was fairly easy for a woman to play an active part on the cultural scene. Her style didn’t have to closely respect existing trends, originality and purely personal views were more welcome, and she could even challenge men through a bold and unconventional approach, if she wanted to.
In this context some female artists chose the path of high emotionality and subjectivity in which the erotic was treated as a part of their more encompassing vision. Others preferred walking the more common road of “en vogue†styles and didn’t intend to distinguish themselves as particularly feminine through their perspective.
The Grey Zone – Tamara de Lempicka
Such an artist is Tamara de Lempicka whose art deco style is so neutral and dry, yet impressive, that you can easily forget she’s female. And yet she did approach the erotic in her own way. She painted many nudes whose harsh and slightly coarse lines and angles remind us of Picasso’s style.
Tamara de Lempicka, portrait photograph, Paris, ca. 1929
There is a sharpness and an aggressive impulse in her paintings that almost seems male. Look at this one for example. Does that lower the value of her art? By no means. She’s just a very interesting case. She is a female painter who chose to “ungender†herself as an artist and approached the classic figure of the nude in a novel, even daring way without resorting to emotionality or allusions of feminine sensitivity.
Tamara’s approach to physicality and sexuality are straightforward, exhibitionistic, and provocative through a slightly ironic tinge. Quite wonderful for a female painter! She is an interesting example that suggests an escape from femininity into a grey area in terms of gender imprint.
I will end my post with a more “casual†form of art, but not less valuable – photography. I won’t get into what male photographers (and perspective) does with the human body and sexuality. Especially in modern and contemporary times the erotic often becomes NSFW when it comes to this very accessible and less demanding art. However let’s not consider it easy!
Photography can be highly sophisticated and meaningful when we’re talking about an extremely talented artist. To illustrate what both photography and a female perspective can do with the erotic I decided to look into Sally Mann’s work a bit. She is one of the most gifted photographers ever alive and she’s a woman! Why am I stressing this aspect now? It’s precisely because of the nature of her works. Had she photographed only landscape, buildings, or fashion models, her gender wouldn’t have been so significant. But she had her personal pet figures and motifs, namely children.
Sally Mann is incredibly creative and ingenious. She has an extraordinary eye for detail, she senses light and shadow as the air that one breathes, and she has a gift for very inventive, provoking, and ambivalent scenes and images that stir contradictory reactions. On the one hand, you notice her refinement and her use of subtle and even graceful expressions, postures, and facial features; on the other hand, you can’t help responding to the challenging and thought-provoking side of her photographs.
Some of her works arouse mixed emotional responses. Yes, the children she photographs are very special and it’s obvious she chose unique looks, a strange convincing gaze, a fragile body. At the same time she juxtaposes this allusion of innocence and spontaneity with a few bold provocative images such as a dead doe, a fire that breaks out during a picnic …and last, but not least, an erotic feeling.
Well, as you probably already know that Sally Mann eroticizes some of her children. It depends on the photograph. Sometimes you get an ambiguous image in which atmosphere and vibe seem to prevail and a naked body looks accidental. The gymnast girl on the table is a great example.
Other times Sally Mann pushes boundaries full force as she literally represents a child dressed in adult clothes and embellished with make-up while displaying a naked upper body. The girl’s expression is serene, confident, unflinching, adult-like.
What’s even more provocative and edgy is the way she sometimes overtly sexualizes children when she places them in clearly sexual postures whose realism is amazing. Look at this girl sitting on a wooden fence.
Conclusion
As you could see, the female perspective on the erotic can range from a rather classical emotionality or sentimentality typically associated with this gender to highly daring and even slightly transgressive approaches that somewhat defy and even overthrow gender conventions.
Does it make a clear difference if the artist is male or female when it comes to the erotic? As you could see from this post, the answer is affirmative: more often than not the artist will let their own gender have a say in their imagery, vision, and approach to the erotic. This difference is by no means meant to create a boundary though; it is only about fascinating distinctions and fine nuances that derive from a gendered perspective on the erotic.
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What is your perspective on the erotic art? Do you think man and woman view and approach it differently? The first 10 commenters are always my favorite and I like to personally communicate with them via email (sort of like buddies). So share your thoughts. Any other questions please feel free to share with the community.
It’s getting late, you’ve been working on your article for days now, thankfully, after several “final” drafts and edits, as well as the umpteenth reread, you’re now feeling confident enough to submit your work to your client or ready to hit the publish button.
Moments after you’ve hit “send”, you let out a heavy sigh; you are relieved, elated; and it feels good because the deadline has been met or the project is now complete. Adrenalin is kicking in, you’re actually even feeling slightly emotional, but happy.
This should be where the chapter ends; the beginning of your mind focusing on something else, or at least, as it’s late, you should be turning in for the night. But when you do, you can’t sleep.
Instead of enjoying some satisfying well-earned slumber time, your mind is slowly succumbing to niggling self-doubt. You let out another sigh, this time it’s one of dread. What if the client hates what I have written? Oh, why did I press “publish” tonight when I could have revised it one more time? I should’ve waited until the morning before submitting.
The Pain of Perfectionism
And so it goes on and on until you finally manage to get to sleep, just as the birds are beginning their chorus. And when your alarm goes off a little while later, the article (or the blog post) is the first thing on your mind. At this point you want to scream out loud and groan, you do both, annoyed and angry at yourself for caring so much. Sound familiar to you?
Have you ever felt: I am so unhappy with what I sent yesterday, so today I am going to spend time correcting all the things I’ve been feeling unhappy with. In whatever free time you have, you focus on editing until it’s time to take a break, but then the next time you pick up you have lost your flow.
So you re-read the entire thing again before once more, you painstakingly begin deleting words, adding sentences, removing paragraphs and adding other smaller details and arguments to polish your work, word by word, paragraph by paragraph. One page at a time.
Zen and The Art of Writing
Writing well is the formation of thoughts in coherent topics and subtopics. Think of your grand idea as a big house. And your subplots as various rooms in the house. You start with the boundary or the overall description of the house but then you move inside.
You talk about the lawn and the backyard and the fences. Inside each room, you describe what is present there. You do these things until your hands give up due to being tired.
Next time you pick up, you remember the grand plot and move on to the next room and talk about it. You then go on to the kitchen and to the bathroom. But once finished, usually depending on:
1) the completion of the main story,
2) word count goal,
3) time, you edit it
You read your edited work and again find several holes. You find tangential stories which are not really driving the main plot or main argument that you are making. You remove them.
Similarly, you find holes where you are missing information so you find phrases that act like glue, joining the two chains of thoughts or paragraphs into one story. As you find these holes, you re-write and complete your story. You edit it again. Sometimes re-inserting a lot of what you have previously deleted!
You keep working on it until you have no time, energy or emotional interest left in the project. This is when your work is complete. It is not perfect yet, and you realize it will never be.
Creative by nature is anti-perfection. “What is imperfect is complete,” says Zen wisdom. Finally, you re-send the piece, hoping that your client hasn’t been anywhere near the article you have sent previously.
Work-Related Anxieties
I am devoting this blog to this topic because while I am sure many of us feel it, I haven’t seen too much written about it. Anxiety-like this is perfectly natural. It is a working style of the creatives, I believe.
First, you have to let your idea come out. You watch it from a little distance, then the draft is written and corrected. We don’t polish when we create, nor do we know how to complete the full story. Only after 80 percent of it is laid out, do we go on to finish the remainder.
I am not as crazy as those “other” writers
My first book Naked Soul: The Erotic Love Poems was written and published this way. I sent a manuscript with 150 poems and finally selected 95 for publishing. Then I later added 13 more poems (during various rounds of editing) and made changes to the Introduction and book’s back matter.
I sent the book for editing a third time (with my second editor). That’s how the book came out nicely. But ask me today, I can tell you, if the book still exists as a manuscript, I would replace certain words and leave out a certain poem and I would add another one and then rewrite some lines, and so on and so forth.
A book really never ends. There is always something more that you can do to make it perfect, a masterpiece.
“Everyone has talent. What is rare is the courage to follow the talent to the dark place where it leads.” – Erica Jong
Courage to Write
The “courage” in the above quote is highly important. I think us writers are actually too hard on ourselves at times, but the very nature of the beast dictates that we will be judged.
Writing invites judgment; judgment from others and judgment from ourselves, but we are probably our own harshest critics when we should really be kinder to ourselves.
I believe that writing takes commitment, skill, patience and most of all, courage. We need to remember this whenever any hint of self-loathing or the confidence-wrecking gremlin kicks in.
“A lot of writers believe that the trauma and the angst that you feel is an essential part of the craft.” – Amy Tan
If it leaves a writer in a negative state then I don’t know if I would agree with Amy Tan‘s “essential” part, but normal yes! Is it essential? I am not so sure. It depends (writer to writer).
However, in his book The Courage to Write: How Writers Transcend Fear, writer, Ralph Keyes documents many of the anxieties that writers feel and acknowledges that fear and anxiety are both normal. But he, like Amy Tan, also believes that anxiety is an important and essential part of the writing process.
His book includes anecdotes and strategies from other writers (naked writing anyone?) and offers useful suggestions for his readers such as scheduling your writing time into your most productive time of day.
I know that this isn’t always possible, but not writing during your least productive time of day (in my case, late at night), is, and in my opinion, should be avoided at all costs.
Fear is the Opposite of Courage
Other famous writers have spoken about their coping strategies too. In an interview writer Jonathan Franzen confesses that, in the past, he has feared fame and reproach continually. And the way he has taken refuge from himself and transcended his fear?
Well, through writing and trying to create good sentences, which he feels loyal enough to continue with. So, basically, he overcomes his writing anxieties, with, more writing! As he is a bestselling author, this strategy has obviously been working well for him.
It doesn’t seem to matter how little or well known a writer you are, similar demons seem to manifest in so many of us. Author, Cynthia Ozick has also confessed her fears in this quote from brainyquote.com:
“I am afraid that the act of writing is so scary and anxiety filled that I never laugh at all. In fact, when people tell me that such and such a scene or story is comical, I tend to gape. I did not intend comedy ever, as far as I know. It’s probably all a mistake. I am essentially a lugubrious writer.”
She explains how she overcomes her fears stating, “I have to talk myself into bravery”. Cynthia acknowledges that she does fear-setting before she writes, with every sentence and sometimes with every syllable.
I totally get that. For me, writing is my soul mate but can be my nemesis too, it’s love and hate, success and failure, but I’ve come to understand that the good parts always weigh heavier than the bad.
The more I read up on writer anxieties, the more I come to understand that all writers feel this way at times. Knowing that even extremely well-known writers have felt (and still may feel) the same feelings as we do, can bring some comfort to an anxious author.
Actually, it’s not even just authors I should be addressing here as what I am talking about isn’t only something that affects authors or other creative types (although we might be the ones to beat ourselves up a bit more about our work, etc.)
Even composing something as simple as an email or text message to a person we are trying to impress can encourage negative/self-deprecating feelings no doubt to a lesser degree, but maybe enough to bring on those gremlins.
Work without anxiety or be ready to be punished
What Can Writers Do
What can writers do about their writing anxieties? I’d be lying if I said a “one size fits all” cure was in existence to alleviate every writer’s anxieties. Using a combination of strategies can go a long way when it comes to steering us poor creatives into a better place.
Know Yourself as a Writer
Be aware of the warning signs and distress triggers before your anxieties build up and take you to an impossible place. e.g. If you know you get anxious near deadline time worrying about whether you’ll make the deadline at all, set yourself a deadline one day before the piece is actually due.
Moreover, get a friend to look at your work with fresh eyes one day before you submit it as well, to ensure that it’s grammatically correct, etc. when it’s finally time to hit the “submit” you’ll hopefully feel less stressed.
Tiredness is not your Friend
I mentioned earlier that writing during your least productive time should be avoided. Rise early to complete a piece if the morning is when you do your best work.
If you know that the last time you submitted your work to client during the evening, you lay awake worrying about it, submit during the day instead, that way if you feel low about it afterward, re-writing or re-reading in the day is more productive than feeling overwhelmed at night when the gremlins can take over.
Be Rational
If you don’t hear from a client, see your work on their website or in their publication when you were expecting it to go in, it does not necessarily mean they hate it.
The client may be busy dealing with office catastrophes or scheduling your work to fit into a different magazine issue etc. Or she/he could be at lunch or on vacation. All manner of things could be occurring, so hold fire on beating yourself up. I know, it’s a cliche, but sometimes, no news really is good news!
Step Away from your PC
We all know that things can get more than frustrating when you’ve been working on something for a long time. Fresh air is your friend, go get some then surprise yourself on your return the Frantzen way, by creating some kick-ass sentences to ignite your confidence and lessen the frustration.
Love and Laugh
Ok, forgive me for rounding this off by getting a little sentimental, but writing can be like love in some ways. The reason why we become consumed by love is because we have an overwhelming desire for someone. We let writing anxiety consume us because we care so much about doing a good job once we’ve had the guts to expose ourselves within the writing arena.
And like the love arena, you feel so bad about your work when you don’t know where you are with the client, the same way as being unsure of how things stand with a loved one exposes vulnerabilities. But being elated in either arena can make everything okay (which is why we love and which is why writers write; love is a worthy risk despite its torture.)
Being a writer is a worthy risk despite its torture too. It takes courage to love and courage to write, be proud of yourself for caring so much, despite the pain.
Take it easy, boy
On a final note, try not to take yourself too seriously, laugh lots and enjoy your craft. Whenever you or any of your writer friends need something to ignite a smile, read this edition of the Pessimist about writing:
It will most likely turn every single coping mechanism I’ve written about on its head, but if it’s humorous anxiety obliteration you’re after don’t hesitate and click on the link.
If you’d like to share any coping strategies that I haven’t mentioned here, be sure to get in touch.
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Do you suffer from trying to be perfect? If you have relatable thoughts or experiences of having or dealing with the pain of perfectionism, please share. The first 10 commenters are always my favorite and I like to personally communicate with them via email. So share your thoughts. Any other questions please feel free to share with the community.
Reading is a favorite pursuit of many but it can be daunting when faced with lengthier novels and assigned academic reading.
How is it possible that some people are able to read volumes of work faster than others? Is there truly an art to speed-reading?
How To Read Faster
This article will explore techniques that instruct readers on how they can perfect this sought after skill. Reading more allows you to learn more and reading faster allows you to save time.
First, let’s talk about some of the immediate benefits of speed-reading to you as a reader and/or writer.
1. Faster reading skills will help you read more books and therefore allow you to review more books or simply more reading entertainment.2. Faster reading skills will help you to read more books which in turn helps you write more books.3. Faster reading skills will help you to research faster. Research, after all, is a lot of reading and note-taking.4. Faster reading skills will help you to read emails, comments and social mentions in less time. You can respond faster to your friends, family and fans.5. Faster reading skills help you save time. Time is the most valuable currency we have. And remember, time is a finite resource.
Read Faster Without Losing Comprehension
Now, let us begin on this journey that will help you to become a great speed reader.
Our first train stop is a WikiHow article entitled How to Learn Speed Reading that can be found by visiting the link. This article gives a step by step guide to increasing your productivity while reading. But, I have summarized it here.
The first step proposed is to stop visualizing the spoken word and focus on blocks of text. The second step is to hold the book or screen at a distance as you read to absorb more text at once. Once you have mastered these steps, progress by hiding words you’ve already read so you won’t be tempted to re-read them to understand the context better.
A key part of the efficient reading experience is to read without distractions in a space that is quiet and well lit. Posture is essential when it comes to reading. Reading while being in the bed can make you feel more tired.
Additionally, you should try to read at a time when you’re most awake and focused. Concentrate on the most crucial aspects of the text first and ask yourself insightful questions about what you’re reading to stop yourself from daydreaming or becoming distracted by your thoughts.
Even when practicing these techniques, you should try to understand the different types of reading and practice good reading techniques such as carefully reading instead of skimming to understand more difficult parts of the book you’re reading.
When you’re practicing these steps, try reading an easy and light book first so you won’t have to think so deeply about the material.
You should time your reading speed by perhaps setting a timer and seeing how much reading you can do in a set amount of time. When you encounter a text such as a magazine or newspaper, look at the section headings and headlines to see what you want to read and what you already understand.
Another article written by the Student Counseling Service at the University of Chicago that can be found here presents some techniques that have already been mentioned but also suggests using a pen to guide your eyes as you read.
You can begin reading at your normal pace and mark where you left off before re-reading the same passage for a minute at a faster speed than before. Reiterate this step by reading three times faster than your slowest speed and then asking yourself how much you remember from the passage.
The counseling service recommended practicing this process for 10 minutes a day for two weeks to become more comfortable with the art of speed reading, increase your reading speed, and improve your understanding of the text.
1. Read earlier in the day when you are most awake and can maintain focus on important material. 2. Organize your reading materials by their degree of importance and then read the material in the order of importance. This will help improve your reading speed. 3. Skim for main ideas in nonfiction books by scanning the table of contents and beginnings and ends of each paragraph. Understanding the book’s structure will help you to know which parts to skim and which parts require more careful reading. 4. Turn headings and subheadings into questions to ponder and then examine the text to find the answers to these questions. 5. Use a bookstand and have your book angled at 45 degrees to avoid straining your eyes. 6. Write short notes after reading letters and then refer to these notes when you’re ready to reply to the sender. 7. Avoid highlighting key portions of the text as this will not improve comprehension of the book. 8. Preview the text before beginning reading. 9. Adjust your reading speed to the type of reading material and purpose for reading. 10. Enroll in a speed reading class taught by an expert on the subject.
Speed Reading Techniques
Glendale Community College wrote a five method primer on self-pacing while speed-reading. The primer can be found on their website. The five methods are:
The Hand
The Card
The Sweep
The Hop
The Zig-Zag
The Hand is a method that has the reader place their right hand on the page and move it straight down the page so you move your eyes down as you read. Do this at a slow and even pace.
The Card technique has you use a card or a folded piece of paper above the line you are trying to read and draw it down the page slowly and evenly and try to read the passage before covering up the words. Slide the card down faster than you can go.
The Sweep has you use your hand to draw your eyes across the page. Cup your right hand and keep your fingers together. Using light and smooth motion, sweep fingers from left to right underlining the line with the tip of your finger. Use your whole arm to move and balance on your arm.
The Hophas you lift your fingers and make two bounces on each line. Each time you bounce, you hopefully will read sets of three or four words. This makes it easier for you to keep a steady pace as you read.
The Zig-Zag has you take your hand and cut diagonally across the page for three lines and then back to the text. Scan the entire page and pick out the main ideas.
Speed Reading 101
According to a 2012 Forbes article that published the results of a speed-reading test sponsored by Staples as part of an e-book promotion, the typical speeds at which we read and understand at different points in our educational development are as follows:
Third-grade students – 150 words per minute
Eighth-grade students – 250 words per minute
Average college student – 450 words per minute
Average high-level executive – 575 words per minute
Average college professor – 675 words per minute
Speed readers – 1,500 words per minute
World speed reading champion – 4,700 words per minute
Average adult – 300 words per minute
The article’s author then put these rates into context by applying them to typical reading materials of very successful business people.
For newspapers and blogs, at the average adult speed of 300 WPM you would spend 33 minutes a day on that part of your reading routine.
For magazines with an average length between 60 and 150 pages, you would spend 75 minutes reading one magazine and successful individuals normally read about five magazines per day. For them, the reading time over the course of a month would be 50 minutes a day.
For books with an estimated word count of 100,000 words and the goal to read one book a month, that comes to 11 minutes a day at the average adult reading speed.
Factoring all of this in, you could easily spend at least two hours a day reading at the rate of 300 WPM. For more of the author’s insights on this topic, visit this Forbes link.
One reader of this article gave her tips for speed-reading which included reading in phrases rather than word by word and learning to skim the article for its core concepts.
The layout of the article would also impact how fast you are able to read it.
Another insightful commenter mentioned that absorbing more useful content could be obtained by listening to the news as you drive to become well-informed and able to reference important stories.
You could also listen to audiobooks to cram more content into a busy week.
One reader mentioned that there should be some scholarly analysis into how reading speed correlates with typing rates as many individuals spend a good part of their day typing.
She compared the speed of listening to a book on tape versus reading it in print and then compared this to how fast that text could then be transcribed by writing or typing.
She found that reading and typing at the same time averaged out at between three and four times faster than the typical speaking rate of a book-on-tape reader.
An interesting article that criticized the outlandish claims of some speed reading instructors and courses was published on the website of the Skeptic’s Dictionary.
One of these speed reading instructors, Howard Berg, author of Speed Reading the Easy Way, claims that he is able to read 25,000 words per minute which is about 80-90 pages a minute.
A professor at UC Berkeley, Anne Cunningham, examined test results that measured eye movements while reading that determined that the maximum amount of words a person can read accurately is about 300 per minute.
People who claim to read 10,000 words per minute are really just skimming the material. Well, I agree with Anne. I am a proponent of speed reading but not at the cost of not really reading anything. Would you?
The author of the Skeptic’s Dictionary article believes that a better way to increase reading speed would be to enroll in a community college course that would improve study skills, vocabulary, and reading comprehension. It would certainly cost less than a speed reading course such as the Evelyn Wood Reading Dynamics course.
The Evelyn Wood speed reading course is a very well-known program with techniques that have been practiced by US presidents including John F. Kennedy, Richard Nixon, and Jimmy Carter.
John F. Kennedy had Evelyn Wood instructors teach top-level staff members how to increase their reading speed as did Richard Nixon. Jimmy Carter took the course and was able to reach a 1,200 word per minute reading rate with a high comprehension rate.
One technique mentioned was the visual-vertical approach which involves eliminating vocalization of words and replacing it with a visual perception of the material that entails sweeping the eyes vertically down the page.
The book stated that the full emotional impact and intellectual understanding of most passages in books are enhanced with the visual-vertical approach to reading.
Another technique is the multiple reading process or layering technique which involves seeing and accepting words and phrases out of their expected order. The layering technique is a five-step process which includes:
1. Overview
a. Quickly skimming the book to determine its organization, structure, and tone b. See what the cover and jacket state about the contents and author c. Examine the preface and introduction if there is one d. Flip through the pages at about one second per page
2. Preview
a. Read at about four seconds per page to draft an outline of the details of the book. b. Divide the chapter you are reading into sections if it is a nonfiction text. If the work is fictitious, you can preview the book by identifying main characters, setting, time period, and general direction of the plot. c. Look for key facts and concepts paying close attention to the introduction, summaries, and questions posed by the author.
3. Read
Preview the first subsection in a nonfiction book and read that section at your fastest comfortable reading speed and make notations to pinpoint important or difficult material to study later on. This will help you to remain actively engaged with the book.
4. Postview
Review the entire reading assignment and think about the relationship of each part of the book to the whole.
5. Review
Regularly try to remember what you’ve read and see how it relates to other course materials.
It is evident now that there are a variety of techniques for reading faster and with practice perhaps you could also become a great speed reader. Try to remember though that speed reading should not replace savoring the experience of a good book.
The various ways to speed read could certainly apply however to lengthy assigned readings for academic courses.
Hopefully, this article has allowed you to understand the methods of speed reading and helped you to determine whether speed reading is a skill that you wish to perfect.
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What do you think about speed-reading techniques? Do you consider yourself to be a slow reader or speed-reader? Please leave your thoughts and input in the Comments below.
There is something particularly delightful and passionately engaging about reading erotic poetry. We all can agree to that. But, do people prefer it to watching erotic films or admiring the eros in other arts such as sculptures or paintings?
Let’s look a little dipper into this question in this blog post.
Erotic Poetry and Literature
Erotic poetry and literature is an extremely special, but also delicate genre. You probably wonder why. The answer is fairly simple.
One the one hand, erotic literature is constituted along two distinct and related coordinates: it introduces the reader into a world of myriad feelings by means of which sexual relationships are woven into being and at the same time it seeks to arise in the readers sensations of pleasure and thus awake their own eroticism.
On the other hand, erotic literature is a borderline genre situated in-between high culture and more interested enjoyment, so to speak. Obviously reading erotic poetry is different from reading drama (tragedy, for instance).
Erotic literature goes beyond purely aesthetic pleasure. We don’t necessarily read erotic literature to immerse in a coherent fictional universe that can teach us things and change our perspective on life.
We don’t read erotic poetry in order to engage in a cool-headed analysis of the way a poet constructs setting, mood, rhyme, and rhythm, etc. — unless we actually specialize in literary theory or literature as such. However such cases are extremely rare.
The appeal of erotic poetry
What makes up the immense appeal of erotic poetry for the majority of readers?
First and foremost, erotic poetry acts almost as a release for our brains, since we are so used to repression and societal models which sometimes turn sexuality into taboo and may even claim it could be “dirty”.
Erotic poetry is an excellent proof that sexuality is actually something beautiful that can be transfigured into art. This transformation can be a form of sublimation, to use a concept that was promoted by Freud. [1]
By means of art, people experience a form of purging (or catharsis) instead of repressing their desires. Erotic poetry is simply a fantastic source of pleasure which acknowledges the beauty and the high priority of sexuality while allowing for a half-abstract experience. Why is it not concrete?
Well, reading erotic poetry requires a degree of abstraction implied by any form of art: the readers move through an array of feelings and experiences that are not their own. For this reason, erotic poetry is not only about sublimation in the purely psychoanalytical sense, since it doesn’t only equal a transformation of one’s own impulses except in a very general way.
Of course through reading erotic literature one gets to indulge in phenomena and sensations that one usually finds pleasurable without committing any transgression from the point of view of one’s own morality.
Instead of betraying one’s spouse with other people, erotic literature permits the readers to escape the boundaries of their own concrete couple in order to find pleasure somewhere else.
However erotic poetry does much more than, say, allowing for the sublimation of the need for erotic diversity: it raises the erotic at the level of the aesthetic and thus it opens the gates towards a different kind of sublimation, literally speaking.
Erotic poetry allows us to experience the sublime itself in the philosophical sense (as a highly impressive and moving quality of greatness) that was so well theorized by Kant. [2]
Why erotic poetry?
What makes us enjoy reading or writing it so much? Is it the same thing that we experience when watching an erotic film or examining a painting/sculpture which shows us a nude figure or builds on direct representation of sexuality?
We all know about famous works of art that know no restraint in presenting the body as it is for both the aesthetic and the erotic. Of course, we have heard of Michelangelo’s David and we have probably seen it not only once.
How about Goya’s Maja Desnuda? Apart from such widely known examples, there are myriad erotic artworks that may even have been created by contemporary artists you might not have heard of yet. As you can picture, our century is extremely prolific and permissive regarding the erotic and this trend is not limited to literature.
If you are interested in more powerful and even more exotic works of art that could even challenge your own frame concerning what art can do about sexuality, you can take a look at all 15 examples that have made history in this respect.
For many people, the erotic is reduced to pornography and they unwillingly choose to experience it by means of cinema, photography, or magazines that specialize in eroticized displays of the body meant to arouse the readers. Why “unwillingly”?
Because these channels are actually the easiest to access and people often receive information through these media without questioning its purpose or its broader identity.
Why look for something just as delightful when you can watch erotic films anytime on numerous TV channels or you can buy as many DVDs you want?
Some people may have less commercial preferences and are quite familiar with a different kind of erotic movies that relies much less on cliche and objectification, namely erotic art film such as Ai no corrida.
People who are versed in both art and eros surely know this film already. They must also have an excellent understanding about the extent to which drawing on the erotic in art has amazing and high-quality results. Surely other people still have prejudice regarding erotic art or literature in particular.
An Aphrodisiac
Some may still consider this genre to verge on superficiality or to function only as an aphrodisiac. This couldn’t be farther from the truth.
The charm and the mystery of erotic literature lie precisely in its ability to be both arousing and aesthetically valuable. Hardly anyone reads erotic poetry only to get turned on. Most readers want an artistic experience together with the more simple delight of the senses that could easily be achieved by other means.
However what makes erotic literature worth so much for such a large public? One of the deeper reasons is related to the fact that literature has been for a good while a great channel for erotic expression when society encouraged repression.
Not only did literature allow for what social norms tried to forbid, but also it created a very propitious space for the expression of sexual deviations. By this term, we don’t mean anomaly since sexuality shouldn’t be treated normatively.
The bottom line is that literature was the perfect terrain for seeding ideas that would have usually been considered to be less mainstream even by sexually open-minded people.
Why is Venus in Furs by Sacher-Masoch so appreciated? Why is an author like Marquise de Sade not only renowned, but also valuable in his own way? Why has a poet and critic like Swinburne also made history through his treatment of the erotic?
Not only thanks to his abundant talent. It was also partly because of his homoerotic tendencies, partly due to his having approached more “exotic†topics (and fetishes) such as flagellation.
50 Shades of Grey
Why is a book like 50 Shades of Grey so successful nowadays? Strangely enough, we live in an era that treasures openness and liberalism, so how come BDSM is still impressive?
The explanation comes down to novelty rather than deviation. Not many erotic works have ventured that far and this is still unexplored territory.
BDSM may be rather commonplacefor some people nowadays “we can no longer regard such practices as deviant,” since many people express interest in experimenting at least and some do it quite openly, adopting it as a real lifestyle.
Moreover, there’s plenty of information about BDSM in the media and anybody who desires to discover why it is worth trying only has to look up things on the web.
Erotic Films
Erotic films are also extremely open to such practices since they are part of what plays. However, in literature as well as in other arts such phenomena are still fresh and in very high demand.
What makes erotic poetry so special against all this background? Why does the public appreciate it so much when there are plenty of other ways of enhancing the erotic experience or of experiencing the erotic through art?
Why erotic poetry? What distinguishes it from other genres?
First of all, no genre makes use of imagination the way poetry does. Lyricism and subjectivity are exploited to the maximum, metaphor is the tissue of poetry, and the artist has immeasurable freedom of transfiguring actual sensation and turning it into an almost otherworldly experience.
When reading erotic fiction everything looks almost as in a porn film and the readers are quite familiar with many aspects of sexuality and of the acts described.
There’s scarcely anything surprising except for things like the sex positions that are going to be employed, the moment when people climax, the denouement, etc.
Poetry offers much more: the erotic is often represented figuratively while still phenomenally impactful. Yes, most readers are aroused when reading erotic poetry.
However, at the same time, they are in awe at the fine expression, at the sophistication of feeling, at the synesthetic combination of impressions stirred by the senses and so on.
Poetry doesn’t only describe a sexual act more often than not. Erotic poetry is both about sensitivity and sexuality. The readers are kept in suspense that is not necessarily one that has to do with erotic climax or the development of the relationship between two people.
Poetry cultivates another kind of unexpected: it is the emotion that takes the readers by surprise and also makes them vicariously live through the figure (or the voice) in the poem.
This highly enjoyable feeling of living vicariously through characters is particularly exciting in erotic literature, as you may picture and you may well know.
It’s not necessarily a matter of empathizing with characters or getting inside their brain to understand their point of view and perceptions.
When reading erotic literature we live vicariously through others in an equally erotic way: we are aroused almost as the characters are, we experience similar sensations.
However erotic poetry is even more valuable than that, because it allows us to live vicariously not only through our bodily reflexes. Erotic poetry offers us rich and complex emotional content, intellectual pleasure, and erotically stimulating experience.
Naturally not any erotic poem is going to have the same impact on us on a physical level it highly depends on how overt and striking it is.
However, we almost always enjoy reading erotic poetry from a mental standpoint at least. Often we can really identify with an emotional shade described in the poem. Maybe our own understanding of the erotic was awakened through the right words; maybe a feeling we have for someone was struck through a well-placed and evocative image. It is much more than a representation of the sexual act we search for when reading erotic poetry.
How about the metric part? How does form contribute to the beauty of the erotic? Doesn’t rhyme imply a certain rigor? How can poetic rhythm grasp the actual flow of the erotic?
Although some could expect these demands that may go hand in hand with the lyrical genre (though white verse is quite fashionable) to be a hindrance rather than an advantage, the truth is much more nuanced.
Meter has its own charm because it contains an element of the game: it is a challenge to put sexuality into verse! Have you ever thought of comparing rhyme and rhythm in erotic poetry to actual the actual form and pace of the erotic? This is also a metaphor, of course, but all in all, there’s truth to it since meter can play the role a sex position plays.
How come? It’s simple: it gives shape and structure to the erotic, an experience that in itself is the epitome of wilderness. For this reason, poetry as a genre can actually enhance the value of the erotic. It’s not a mere description of a succession of steps that lead to climax.
Erotic poetry has a flow of its own because of metric elements. Each feeling and fascicle of sensations can be put into different verses depicted in so many ways! It’s almost the equivalent of experimenting with sexuality directly, don’t you think so?
Of course, free verse is also an option and a rather successful one. But let’s not forget more conventional forms of poetry. There’s a special charm to them because they organize experience and hold it in restraint. Everybody knows too much freedom may actually undermine pleasure in a way.
It’s already a truism that forbidden fruit tastes better. Aren’t we attracted more to what is not easily accessible — at least not at once? Poetry offers us a sense of structure and refraining.
We don’t have the same kind of delightful experience when reading erotic fiction. We can only imagine the characters involved and build a picture of what everything must look and feel like. But there’s hardly any form of teasing, is there? Metric demands can act as a challenge for people who love erotic poetry — both writers and readers.
For the writer, it’s both a game and a way of sublimating erotic experience through yet another filter and form. Maybe it’s not as appealing and complex to simply describe things as they are.
Imagination and musicality are extremely potent. For readers meter and rhythm enhance the experience. They create music apart from describing the erotic. Sonority adds layers to the feelings or sensation described, just as a color can sometimes express a mood or a specific atmosphere better than a whole stanza.
If you are not yet familiar with all the joys of erotic poetry, now it is time to expand your horizons. Don’t miss out on such an interesting and promising genre only because you are accustomed with other arts or media. Obviously, poetry will not give you the unambiguous concreteness you can find in a film, but it lets your imagination do some work as well.
This is a terrific gift that enhances the potential of the erotic. Your mind is stimulated to reproduce the eroticism it discovers in verse. One could say poetry is a double act of creation: it is not only the poet who creates a world by means of imagery and meter; it is also the reader who transfigures the text into a picture of their own that only builds on what the eyes read.
Every reading is thus also an act of creation, as interpretations enriches the text. Unlike other genres, erotic poetry allows for much more space for what Umberto Eco called opera aperta (the open text).
The poet and the reader work in unison in order to grasp the uniqueness of erotic feeling. Just think about how much reading a novel or short stories offers you out of this multilayered experience. Only then will you understand why erotic poetry has unequaled force and is still widely appreciated and enjoyed.
People love it when their experiences rise above the mundane and this is something erotic poetry promises and delivers without fail. You will simply not find as much pleasure when you read an utterly realistic novel that does nothing more than describing sexual acts in order to turn the readers on. Erotic poetry reflects a specific purity of intent even when it is rather explicit. In erotic poetry aesthetic delight never comes second to anything else.
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What do you think about the expression of Eros in the form of erotic poetry and literature? Please leave your thoughts and input in the Comments below.
“I love to write poetry, I love to sing,” chirped American poet and singer, Jill Scott, by way of introduction on her debut album at the turn of the millennium.
A few tunes in, I could tell she meant business.
Interconnectedness of Music and Poetry
The fusion of music and poetry on her track Exclusively is a prime example of how musical subtleties can illuminate and enhance the spoken word.
As Scott tells her story – sharing intimate details of a sexily charged morning spent with a lover the sultry syllables which unfurl from her tongue and sweetly tumble from her mouth are in total harmony with the melodic, soulful and rhythmic sounds.
She grips the listener with her Philly twang, its beat pattern subtly changing every so often, until suddenly her voice tone hugely alters; as does the music.
This abrupt shift brings us to the end of her tale. The story teller’s sentiments have changed and we, the listeners, feel her first unsatisfactory climax of the day as much as she does. Pure poetry.
Linking the mediums of music and poetry is nothing new, the relationship is a close one with the two having inter-connected on so many levels throughout history. For centuries now performers, lyricists, and musicians have done much to cement this relationship, often producing outstanding results for our listening pleasure.
The poem Break, Break, Break by eighteenth-century British born poet, Alfred Lord Tennyson is a good example.
Music in Poetry (without instruments)
Creating music within a poem can be a difficult task to begin with, but by using carefully constructed verses, writers of poetry for the page can bring rhythm to their work, so long as they’re prepared to put the hours in.
Being cunningly creative with rhyme patterns, pace and line breaks, or by using alliteration and onomatopoeia are just a few of the ways in which rhythmic beats can be created within prose to give it life.
Being brave enough to play around with language and punctuation can also add a lot of flavor to beat patterns: emphasis using capitalization or an exclamation after successive well-crafted syllables on a page, can make all the difference to the flow and pattern of the piece for the reader and, if the writer is lucky, result in the creation of rhythm patterns, rhymes and melodies without a single semibreve, quaver or crotchet being included in the equation.
Writer and cartoonist Dr. Seuss is a fun example of someone who got this right.
Spoken Word Artists
Spoken word artists too have long been blessing us with musicality in their work. The skills in creating musical elements in their work lie, not only in the writing but in their powerful oral execution and melodic flow. Spoken word poets have the advantage of complementing their written work using anything from acting or comedic methods to creating an alter ego.
Merely reading from the page in monotone fashion is not an option in terms of creating a rhythm for a live audience.
To be successful and engaging in this field a few things a poet may need to adopt in his or her work are: repetition, chanting, alliteration or beatboxing.
Rapping, pregnant pauses, tempo changes, and even audience participation are all pretty popular too.
After all, a room full of people clapping or chanting in harmony with you as a performer is a fantastic way to bring out the beats and control the melodies, again without relying on a single musician or instrument.
Contemporary performer Saul Williams manages to use several of these methods in his poem Ohm (watch on Youtube).
Poets and Musicians
Whether you look at some of today’s artists or go back a few decades, popular performers both past and present have had strong associations with poetry and music: Jim Morrison, Dylan Thomas, Maya Angelou, and Bob Dylan are just a handful.
Jim Morrison
Jim Morrison published several books of poetry during his short lifetime. But until the album An American Prayer was put together and released several years after his death, he was probably better known as The Doors’ hell-raising frontman.
The LP comprises Morrison’s poetic narrative over music composed by surviving members of The Doors. Genius in parts it keeps the listener captivated and awakens the imagination at the start. The poem Awake blends beautifully with the music’s trance-inducing chimes and 70’s guitar.
Although the sometimes too-upbeat melodies don’t always blend so well with the dark lyrics in subsequent tracks, Morrison’s talent for poetry writing still manages to shine through on this album, despite the lack of harmony between the music and poetry.
Dylan Thomas
The poet Dylan Thomas is no doubt Wales’ most famous literary export his gift of bringing music, bounce, and melody to his work makes it charming to read.
He was a popular performer in the USA during the 1950’s but like Jim Morrison, Thomas went on to become a heavy drinker; he too, by all accounts, also had his fair share of hell-raising moments.
Decades after Thomas’ death in New York, several of his poems were given a new lease of life to mark his centenary in 2014.
Welsh musician Cerys Matthews recorded several of Thomas’s poems and set them to music. A Child’s Christmas, Poems and Tiger Eggs is the magical result the combination of music, spoken word and song is a harmonious and beautiful marriage which works amazingly well.
Lovers of Thomas’ work, as well as voyeurs, may well find some gems that raise a smile or two in this modern collection. Hippos is just one of a number of tracks that stands out in this awesome collection.
Maya Angelou
In a blog about poetry and music, it would be wrong not to mention America’s First Lady of Poetry, the late Maya Angelou.
If there is one poet on this planet whose lyrics have been regularly linked with musicians, it’s Angelou. Such an inspirational figure to many, her poem I know why the Caged Bird Sings’ has been hugely influential for several artists over the years including Alicia keys, who recorded: Caged Bird for one of her albums at the turn of the millennium.
Angelou herself actually featured on hip-hop artist Common’s track Dreamer in 2011. Even singer and actor Olivia Newton-John has been inspired by Angelou. In 2005 she recorded a charity song called Phenomenal Woman, based on Angelou’s poem of the same name.
With her work holding such influence over the music and literary worlds, America is set to feel Angelou’s lyrical presence for years if not decades to come.
Poem or Song?
Can song lyrics stand out more as a poem than as a song? This isn’t a question that comes up very often, but it’s one worth asking. Take a look at the lyrics from the song Forever Young.
Those of you who believed that song lyrics can never double up as poetry, maybe these lines illustrate that there might be times when songs do probably stand out more as poems than as songs.
Or may at least sit comfortably across both mediums. What do you think? I am interested to know your thoughts. Comment below.
Music to Complement your Reading of “Naked Soul: The Erotic Love Poems”
Once you’ve finally got your hands on a copy, you may want to try the music-poetry combination.
The audiobook production is currently work-in-progress. If you think you can help, please contact me.
When you need some music or spoken word to add to your reading experience, take a look at our top five sensual tunes to enhance your reading experience. Let me know what you think in the Comments section below.
Fast paced and pounding mainly instrumental track containing a few seductive spoken words. It speeds up and slows down at just the right moments.
Enjoy!
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What do you think about the relationship between Music and Poetry? I am sure there are other aspects or connections that I have missed. Please leave your thoughts and input in the Comments below.
The Naked Soul Learning Zone How to Write a Sonnet, Haiku, Riddle, Rhyme, etc.
Learn with examples and write your own.
How to Write Poems and Rhyme
When I was a kid, I had a huge obsession with Dr. Seuss’s books, practically every poem I read, included end-rhyme (words at the end of a sentence which rhyme with others at end of a sentence).
Put simply, a poem had to rhyme otherwise, it simply wasn’t one. Although my opinion has now changed (structure and rhythm hold importance, yes but this doesn’t always have to include rhyme) there are some people (you could even be one of them) who hold that same belief that I held as a child.
In this blog we’re going to take a look at verse forms that take rhyme and non-rhyme patterns, so if you are of the opinion that verse has to rhyme to be a poem, maybe I can help change your mind. Grab a pen and a notepad (there are a few exercises to complete during this blog) I’m going to start with haiku writing.
For more information on creative writing and rhyme, please visit here.
The Haiku
A haiku is a Japanese poem (or English poem in haiku form) containing seventeen syllables and spanning three lines which follow a five, seven and five syllable pattern; with the third line often taking an unexpected twist.
Haikus are traditionally heavily influenced by nature and the seasons, they’re usually free of metaphors, similes and rhyme too (but are still regarded as poems!).
Poets have been composing haikus for centuries. Kobayashi Issa, was a haiku master from the late 1700s and early 1800s, this is one of his haikus:
Everything I touchwith tenderness, alas,pricks like a bramble.
Ouch! Traditional haikus are generally pretty expressive with a huge focus on nature. The following haiku was written by novelist and master of the haiku, Natsume Soseki:
Over the wintryforest, winds howl in ragewith no leaves to blow.
For more information and examples, please visit here.
Writing Your Haiku
Some writers have expressed that the short length and simplicity of a haiku means that they’re easy to write. But I think that sticking to all its associated traditions can make a haiku a little tricky to get right at first, so when it comes to trying your hand at haiku writing, feel free to break a few of the rules and experiment.
To get yourself started, try freewriting a half page or so of buzz words relating to nature, weather, the seasons, senses (taste, smell etc.) or whatever you think would sit well in a haiku poem. Basically anything to inspire you on your haiku writing journey. Feel free to pick words from the buzz word table below too.
Here’s my list:
Singing
Tasting
Snow
Burning
River
Creeping
Sunlight
Thirst
flow
fish
Breath
Desire
Swim
Tasting
Waves
Hunger
Singing
Shells
Crashing
Caressing
Sea
Shores
Surrender
Aroma
Stars
Hearts
Scent
Entwined
Moonlight
Ocean
Perfume
Skin
Birds
Water
Frozen
Fluttering
Trees
Leaves
Timeless
mistletoe
Beating
Tumbling
Flowering
Orchid
Now, ready to write your first haiku?
Using words from your list (or a combination of yours and mine if that helps) write a few sentences of around 5 syllables that you feel would sit right in a poem.
Then do the same, this time with sentences of around 7 syllables.
My list of sentences looks like this (I’ve added the syllable count to the end of each sentence).
Mistletoe and berries 6
Caged birds, loud singing 5
Ready to take flight 5Â
Fruitless trees, light rain 5
Melting snow, crisp white 5
Two fluttering hearts 5
Warm breath, cast shadows 5
Rose scent on my fingertips 7
Surrender to our hunger 7
Fallen pine cones, crunching feet 7
Crashing like waves we fall 6
Fallen leaves, deepening wounds 7
Now to make your haiku, throw three of your sentences together using the traditional five, seven and five syllable pattern if you can and see what you come up with.
I managed this first time around:
Caged birds, loud singing 5Two fluttering hearts beating 7Ready to take flight 5
I like the second one I wrote a little better:
Mistletoe, berries 5Fallen pine cones, fruitless trees 7Melting snow, warm breath 5Â
How did you get on? You can probably tell that for me, as a starting point, doing it this way worked quite well. But I’m not done yet.
To liven up your haiku writing process when freewriting your buzz words next time, try and think of words or phrases that would sit well in an erotic poem or story. Again, turn them into sentences using the traditional word count and see what you come up with. I managed the haiku below by expanding on some of the buzz word sentences I’d used previously:
Soft scent, your fingersAroma, hunger, sweet, strongLike waves we tumble
Hey, my first haiku inspired by Naked Soul: The Erotic Love Poems (an upcoming poetry book on erotic love). Maybe I’ll include some of these in my next anthology! I’d be surprised if you guys didn’t manage to get something out of trying out these simple exercises too.
Before I move on to creating poems that rhyme, let’s take a look at a poem that, to me, certainly looks like a poem, sounds like a poem but it doesn’t rhyme. The poem is called: For My People. It was written in 1942 by poet Margaret Walker:
For My People was written in free verse with, this means the poem writer has written their prose freely, following no rules using no metrical patterns (iambic pentameter) – we’ll discuss this in more detail later. For me, despite being rhyme free, the poem ‘For My People’ has natural rhythm, ebb and flow and it’s is a definite poem. Is there anyone out there who disagrees with me? Would love to know why – maybe you’ll start to change MY mind!
For more information on Free Verse, please visit here.
Sonnets
In this section we’re going to focus on creating rhyme patterns, to start off we’re looking at sonnets.
I’m wondering, as Elvis Presley has been labelled the King of Rock n Roll, is it OK for me to refer to William Shakespeare as the King of Sonnets? The poet and playwright wrote dozens of them. In fact, he wrote so many (154 to be exact) the poor guy found it hard thinking up titles for them all (being the writer of nearly 40 plays too, he definitely had his work cut out) so ended up just giving his sonnets numbers instead.
Take a close look at William Shakespeare’s, Sonnet Number 154.
Sonnet 154
The little Love-god lying once asleep, A Laid by his side his heart-inflaming brand, B Whilst many nymphs that vowed chaste life to keep A Came tripping by; but in her maiden hand B The fairest votary took up that fire C Which many legions of true hearts had warmed;D And so the General of hot desire C Was, sleeping, by a virgin hand disarmed. D This brand she quenched in a cool well by, E Which from Love’s fire took heat perpetual, F Growing a bath and healthful remedy, E For men diseased; but I, my mistress’ thrall, F
Came there for cure and this by that I prove, G Love’s fire heats water, water cools not love. G
You’ll notice I’ve labelled the rhyme pattern in capitals at the end of each line, we’ll look at these more closely before we try out composing our own sonnets. All of Shakespeare’s sonnets follow the end rhyme pattern, illustrated above, of A,B,A,B,C,D,C,D,E,F,E,F,G,G
There are fourteen lines with around ten syllables in each line. This is the typical pattern of all of Shakespeare’s sonnets, known as Iambic Pentameter which is the most common meter in poetry. The meter uses a combination of iambic feet (or iambs) which are stressed and unstressed syllables ‘hoNEY’ or ‘bisCUIT’.
The pentameter portion of iambic pentameter refers to the number of feet (iambs) that are repeated in each line of verse (five in the case of the above poem).
How to Write a Sonnet
I’m hoping you’ll join me in the following exercise – creating a poem using the same rhyme scheme pattern as a Shakespearean sonnet. We’re going to be using a buzz word table again, except this time I’m putting together a selection of words which rhyme or half rhyme, some with one syllable and some with more.
Wine
Dine
Sublime
This time
Entwine
Seem
King and queen
Serene
Sun beams
Trees
Berries
Sneeze
Clouds
Shroud
endowed
Fruitful
Youthful
truthful
Shaker
Stake her
ground
Home
Grown
bemoan
He
Sea
mystery
Eat
Defeat
cheat
She
Be
Thee
The table will hopefully help with the end rhyme of your sonnet writing it may also help if you jot down one of Shakespeare’s first lines on a page as a starting point to base your rhythm on e.g. Shall I Compare thee to a Summers Day or If Music be the Food of Love, Play on.
I have to admit, I found it hard to get into a 10 syllable sentence mode, but through using one of the Sonnet King’s opening lines, it got easier. It was still quite a challenge and it took a long time to get to this point, but with a little help from my ideas table, I managed to write my first sonnet. (I warn you if Shakespeare was alive today, he wouldn’t worry at all about my stealing his thunder!)
If music be the food of love, let’s eatMy heart is no more under lock and keyIf we dine with fine wine and well cooked meatWill you be my true love and marry me?“To fulfil a request that seems sublimeWould seem dishonest and disrespectfulAn action to marry in such a short timeMeans a lifetime of feeling regretfulHide away that designer wedding gownSave it for another in your historyI’ll be willing to smile and hide my frownI may even allow you to kiss meâ€I’m happy to eat this fine tasty feastBut no, I won’t kiss this arrogant beast
Ballads
Ballads are poems which usually tell stories. Typically these can be emotional narratives about love, pain, tragedy etc. Generally written in four line stanzas (verses) the meter of a ballad is often iambic (similar to that of Shakespearean sonnets) as in the case of the sad tale below by William Wordsworth.
Lucy Gray, or Solitude
Oft I had heard of Lucy Gray: And, when I crossed the wild, I chanced to see at break of day The solitary child.
No mate, no comrade Lucy knew; She dwelt on a wide moor, –The sweetest thing that ever grew Beside a human door!
You yet may spy the fawn at play, The hare upon the green; But the sweet face of Lucy Gray Will never more be seen.
“To-night will be a stormy night— You to the town must go; And take a lantern, Child, to light Your mother through the snow.â€
I think the best time to write a ballad is when you’re feeling truly emotional about something. It might be useful to list a few things you would like your ballad to contain beforehand. However, I’m not sure if employing the ‘buzz word†table method used earlier would be as useful for creating a ballad if you’re hoping to evoke emotion and empathy.
I’m not feeling emotional enough to try writing a ballad at the moment but I do have a few pointers if you’re ready:
1. Remember most ballads are written using quatrains (four line stanzas).2. Ballads are probably easier to write than sonnets as there are no set syllable length patterns to follow.3. Not all the end words have to rhyme in a ballad stanza but it’s useful if two of them do.4. The last thing I want you to feel is sad or low but being filled with emotion when writing a ballad will, I suspect, only enhance your ballad writing skills.Â
What is an Ode?
Am going to finish with a section on ode writing, the complexities of some take poetry to a whole new level. The link below contains two different types of ode from way back in time called the Pindaric and the Horatian.
If you’re brave enough (and you’ve got enough time on your hands) to write one of these, bear in mind the following before you embark on the longest literary challenge you’ll probably ever face:
A Pindaric ode is defined by the following triads:
1. Stanzas (There are so many verses in Pindaric ode’s, you might want to keep the next couple of months free if you’re planning on finishing yours)
2. Strophes and antistrophes. These are essentially any number of lines and lengths that follow whichever rhyme scheme the writer decides on but they’re identical in structure. Considering the epic content of Pindaric odes, I’m thinking this could be one tricky poem to master!
3. Epodes: These differ in whatever way the poet decides is best suited for their odes
Wow! There’s me thinking that sonnets were difficult!
I’m not in a hurry to try writing a Pindaric Ode. Hats off to you if you’ve ever tried writing one and completed it.
Horatian Odes
Moving on to Horatian odes, which thankfully tend to be shorter than Pindaric odes and less intense (they’re usually written in stanzas of two or four lines). If I was going to emulate anyone’s odes then Roman poet, Horatio, is the one I’d go for. The buzz word table might be useful in creating your ode. But I think if you have enough passion for the person , or thing you’re writing the ode for, this will probably serve you in good stead.
I’ve decided to finish with my own ode and in the interest of mixing things up and breaking tradition, my ode which is to Dr Seuss, is done in the style of a haiku poem.
Oh say, can you saySeuss. The man! I am a fanOf Green Eggs and Ham!
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What do you think about this little instruction on writing? Did you have fun reading the poems? Please leave your thoughts in the comment section below.
It is a rather difficult task to assort a list of most celebrated poets of erotic literature. I believe many such lists exist today. No such list will appeal to everyone. I am sure, everyone will have a few differences in the choice of selected poets.
With that said (and out of our way), what I present here is my take on this popular subject based on my own research and reading of more than 300 erotic poetry collections.
Most Celebrated Erotic Poets
The three criteria’s that I used were: poet’s popularity (determined by their “popularity coefficient”), influence of the poet’s writings on society (then and now), and the quality of work (this factor was more subjective and therefore I preferred to look for the “passion” element in their writing).
This is going to be a long post with plenty of lovely and enjoyable poems. I, therefore, request you to sit tight and enjoy this lovely journey. Here we go with our top 10 most celebrated erotic poets in chronological order.
I: Sappho
Sappho was one of the few female poets of ancient times and wrote lyric poems that could be performed with the accompaniment of a lyre. She was one of the first poets to write in the first person and was known to have romantic feelings mainly for women. Sadly, only fragments of her work are left today and only one of her poems remains in its entirety.
Fragment One:
I have not had one word from herFrankly I wish I were deadWhen she left, she weptgreat deal; she said to me, This parting must be endured, Sappho,I go unwillingly.I said, Go and be happy but remember (you know well) whom you leave shackled by loveIf you forget me, think of our gifts to Aphrodite and all the loveliness that we shared.
Fragment Two: To Atthis
Though in Sardis now,She thinks of us constantlyAnd of the life we shared.She saw you as a goddessAnd above all your dancing gave her deep joy.Now she shines among Lydian women likeThe rose-fingered moonRising after sundown, erasing allStars around her, and pouring light equallyAcross the salt sea.
These fragments convey a tone of sensuality and a deep desire for the women that Sappho felt affection for. They are beautiful examples of early erotic poetry and serve as an example for subsequent poets.
Sappho remains an inspiration to many contemporary poets and continues to be studied by literary scholars.
Ovid was a Roman poet who was acclaimed in his time for his poetry. He wrote a number of love poems that were collected in works such as The Art of Love.
He was exiled by the emperor Augustus to the barren seaport of Tomi and remained there for the last nine years of his life until his death.
Elegy 5
In summer’s heat and, and mid-time of the day,To rest my limbs upon a bed I lay;One window shut, the other open stood,Which gave such light as twinkles in a wood,Like twilight glimpse at setting of the sun,Or night being past, and yet not day begun.Such light to shamefaced maidens must be shown,Where they may sport, and seem to be unknown,Then came Corinna in a long loose gown,Her white neck hid with tresses hanging down,Resembling fair Semiramis going to bedOr Lais of a thousand wooers sped.I snatched her gown: being thin, the harm was small,Yet strived she to be covered there withal.And striving thus, as one that would be cast,Betraying herself, and yielded at the last.
Either she was fool
Either she was fool, or her attire was bad,Or she was not the wench I wished to have had.Idly I lay with her, as if I loved not,And like a burden grieved the bed that moved not.Though both of us performed our true intent,Yet could I not cast anchor where I meant.She on my neck her ivory arms did throw,Her arms far whiter than the Scythian snow.And eagerly she kissed me with her tongue,And under mine her wanton thigh she flung,Yes, and she soothed me up, and called me Sir,And used all speech that might provoke or stir.Yet like as if cold hemlock I had drunk,It mocked me, hung down the head and sunk.
As is evident by these poems Ovid was able to convey the more psychological aspects of love while still using physical imagery.
His poetry is beautiful and a milder form of erotic poetry. Ovid remained a significant literary figure long after his death and was very influential to writers in the Middle Ages and the Renaissance.
Petrarch was an Italian poet who wrote prolifically about a woman, Laura, that he encountered on Good Friday in Avignon, France.
He wrote 366 poems based on his love for Laura. He is best known for this sequence which was collected in a song-book entitled Rime Sparse or Scattered Rhymes in English. He was the earliest poet to write using the sonnet.
I’d sing of love in such a novel fashion
I’d sing of love in such a novel fashionThat from her cruel side I would draw by forceA thousand sighs a day, kindling againIn her cold mind a thousand high desires;I’d see her lovely face transform quite oftenHer eyes grow wet and more compassionate,Like one who feels regret, when it’s too lateFor causing someone’s sorrow by mistake;
Alas, so all things now do hold their peace
Alas, so all things now do hold their peace,Heaven and earth disturbed in no thing;The beasts, the air, the birds their song do cease;The nightes car the stars about doth bring.Calm is the sea, the waves work less and less.So am not I, whom love, alas, doth wring,Bringing before my face the great increaseOf my desires, whereat I weep and singIn joy and woe, as in a doubtful ease.For my sweet thoughts sometimes do pleasure bring.But by and by the cause of my diseaseGives me a pang that inwardly doth sting,When that I think what grief it is againTo live and lack the thing should rid my pain.
Petrarch’s sonnets are ones of unrequited love and desire. He was never able to be with the woman of his heart’s desires which is reflected in his many sonnets.
His poetry remained influential after his death in 1374 and was translated by Geoffrey Chaucer who incorporated the translations into his own work.
William Shakespeare was an influential poet and playwright who wrote erotic poems such as Venus and Adonis and The Rape of Lucrece. He was recognized in his time for his plays and sonnets that were published in a collection entitled The Sonnets of Shakespeare.
Venus and Adonis (But, lo! From worth a copse)
But, lo! from forth a copse that neighbours by,A breeding jennet, lusty, young, and proud,Adonis’ trampling courser doth espy,And forth she rushes, snorts and neighs aloud;The strong-neck’d steed, being tied unto a tree,Breaketh his rein, and to her straight goes he.Imperiously he leaps, he neighs, he bounds,And now his woven girths he breaks asunder;The bearing earth with his hard hoof he wounds,Whose hollow womb resounds like heaven’s thunder;The iron bit he crushes ‘tween his teethControlling what he was controlled with.
Sonnet 98: From you I have been absent in the spring
From you I have been absent in the springWhen proud-pied April, dressed in all his trim,Hath put a spirit of youth in everything,That heavy Saturn laughed and leaped with him,Yet nor the lays of birds, nor the sweet smellOf different flowers in odor and in hue,Could make me any summer’s story tell,Or from their proud lap pluck them where they grew.Nor did I wonder at the lily’s white,Nor praise the deep vermilion in the rose;They were but sweet, but figures of delight,Drawn after you, you pattern of all those.Yet seemed it winter still, and you away.As with your shadow I with these did play.
These poems are filled with beautiful physical and natural imagery. Shakespeare’s poems are ones filled with desire and flirtation. His poetry although not very erotic in nature remains great testaments to love to this day.
Jonathan Swift was best known in his time for publishing Gulliver’s Travels. He had many romantic relationships in his life but wrote primarily about two of his partners in his love poems.
A Beautiful Young Nymph Going to Bed
Corinna, pride of Drury-Lane,For whom no shepherd sighs in vain;Never did Covent-Garden boastSo bright a batter’d strolling toast!No drunken rake to pick her up,No cellar where on tick to sup;Returning at the midnight hour,Four stories climbing to her bower;Then, seated on a three-legg’d chair,Takes off her artificial hair;Now picking out a crystal eye,She wipes it clean, and lays it by.
To Love
In all I wish, how happy should I be,Thou grand Deluder, were it not for thee!So weak thou art, that fools thy power despise;And yet so strong, thou triumph’st o’er the wise.Thy traps are laid with such peculiar art,They catch the cautious, let the rash depart.Most nets are fill’d by want of thought and careBut too much thinking brings us to thy snare;Where, held by thee, in slavery we stay,And throw the pleasing part of life away.But, what does most my indignation move,Discretion! thou wert ne’er a friend to Love:Thy chief delight is to defeat those arts,By which he kindles mutual flames in hearts;While the blind loitering God is at his play,Thou steal’st his golden pointed darts away:Those darts which never fail; and in their steadConvey’st malignant arrows tipt with lead
These poems reveal Jonathan Swift’s conflicting views on love. The first is very sensual in nature with descriptions of a woman undressing while the second is his perspective on love. Both poems reveal a darker side to romance.
The poems referenced can be found by visiting this link and this one.
VI: Robert Burns
Robert Burns was a Scottish poet who wrote prolifically about love and had multiple romantic partners. Some of his most famous poems about love include My Love is Like a Red, Red Rose, and My Girl, She’s Airy.
A Red, Red Rose
O my luve’s like a red, red rose,That’s newly sprung in June;O my luve’s like the melodieThat’s sweetly played in tune.As fair art thou, my bonnie lass,So deep in luve am I;And I will luve thee still, my dear,Till the seas gang dry.
Anna, Thy Charms
Anna, thy charms my bosom fire,And waste my soul with care;But ah! how bootless to admire, When fated to despair!Yet in thy presence, lovely Fair,To hope may be forgiven;For sure ‘twere impious to despairSo much in sight of heaven.
Robert Burns’s love poems show that he was a romantic who loved deeply and thought of his partners with great affection. His poetry is still very popular to this day.
The poems referenced can be found by visiting here at poets.org.
VII: Walt Whitman
Walt Whitman was one of the first major American poets. He wrote a number of poems on the subject of love and helped to make sex an acceptable topic in mainstream literature.
To You
Whoever you are, I fear you are walking the walks of dreams,I fear these supposed realities are to melt from under your feet and hands,Even now your features, joys, speech, house, trade, manners,troubles, follies, costume, crimes, dissipate away from you,Your true soul and body appear before me,They stand forth out of affairs, out of commerce, shops, work, farms, clothes, the house, buying, selling, eating, drinking, suffering, dying.Whoever you are, now I place my hand upon you, that you be my poem,I whisper with my lips close to your ear,I have loved many women and men, but I love none better than you.
A Woman Waits For Me
A woman waits for me, she contains all, nothing is lacking,Yet all were lacking if sex were lacking, or if the moisture ofthe right man were lacking.Sex contains all, bodies, souls,Meanings, proofs, purities, delicacies, results, promulgations,Songs, commands, health, pride, the maternal mystery, theseminal milk,All hopes, benefactions, bestowals, all the passions, loves,beauties, delights of the earth,All the governments, judges, gods, follow’d persons of theearth,These are contain’d in sex as parts of itself and justifications of itself.Without shame the man I like knows and avows thedeliciousness of his sex,Without shame the woman I like knows and avows hers.
These poems are filled with passion and great sentiment for the ones that Whitman loved. The first poem describes the beauty of a woman he was in a relationship with while the second describes the wonders of sex.
The poems referenced can be found by visiting here.
VIII: Lord Byron
Lord Byron was perhaps the most famous of the Romantic poets. During his lifetime he had two main lovers, his half-sister and his cousin, who inspired many of his poems.
When We Two Parted
When we two parted In silence and tears, Half broken-hearted, To sever for years, Pale grew thy cheek and cold, Colder thy kiss; Truly that hour foretold Sorrow to this.
The dew of the morning Sank chill on my brow – It felt like the warning Of what I feel now. Thy vows are all broken, And light is thy fame: I hear thy name spoken, And share in its shame.
Epistle to Augusta
My sister! my sweet sister! if a nameDearer and purer were, it should be thine;Mountains and seas divide us, but I claimNo tears, but tenderness to answer mine:Go where I will, to me thou art the same –A loved regret which I would not resign.There yet are two things in my destiny, –A world to roam through, and a home with thee.The first were nothing -had I still the last,It were the haven of my happiness;But other claims and other ties thou hast,And mine is not the wish to make them less.A strange doom is thy father’s sons’s, and pastRecalling, as it lies beyond redress;Reversed for him our grandsire’s fate of yore, He had no rest at sea, nor I on shore.
These poems reflect some of the turmoil and despair of love. They are filled with beautiful imagery and enable the reader to empathize with him. The poems referenced can be found by visiting here.
IX: Dante Gabriel Rossetti
Dante Gabriel Rossetti was an English poet whose poetry was intensely sexual. He was a passionate lover who was responsible for the suicide of his wife. Irony?
Love’s Nocturn
Master of the murmuring courtsWhere the shapes of sleep convene!Lo! my spirit here exhortsAll the powers of thy demesneFor their aid to woo my queen.What reportsYield thy jealous courts unseen?Vaporous, unaccountable,Dreamland lies forlorn of light,Hollow like a breathing shell.Ah! that from all dreams I mightChoose one dream and guide its flight!I know wellWhat her sleep should tell to-night.
The Stream’s Secret
What thing unto mine earWouldst thou convey, what secret thing,O wandering water ever whispering?Surely thy speech shall be of her.Thou water, O thou whispering wanderer,What message dost thou bring?Say, hath not Love leaned lowThis hour beside thy far well-head,And there through jealous hollowed fingers saidThe thing that most I long to knowMurmuring with curls all dabbled in thy flowAnd washed lips rosy red?
These poems reflect some of the heartache and despair of love. In these poems, Rossetti was able to convey the emotional turmoil of love and use beautiful natural imagery to describe how he felt about love.
The poems referenced can be found by visiting here.
X: Pablo Neruda
Pablo Neruda was one of the first major Hispanic poets.
He wrote heavily about love in collections such as Veinte poemas de amor y una cancion desperada (Twenty Love Poems and a Song of Despair) and Cien sonetas de amor (One Hundred Love Sonnets).
One Hundred Love Sonnets: XVII
I don’t love you as if you were a rose of salt, topaz,or arrow of carnations that propagate fire:I love you as one loves certain obscure things,secretly, between the shadow and the soul.I love you as the plant that doesn’t bloom but carriesthe light of those flowers, hidden, within itself, and thanks to your love the tight aroma that arosefrom the earth lives dimly in my body.I love you without knowing how, or when, or from where, I love you directly without problems or pride:I love you like this because I don’t know any other way to love,except in this form in which I am not nor are you,so close that your hand upon my chest is mine, so close that your eyes close with my dreams.
The Song of Despair
The memory of you emerges from the night around me.The river mingles its stubborn lament with the sea.Deserted like the wharves at dawn.It is the hour of departure, oh deserted one!You swallowed everything, like distance.Like the sea, like time. In you everything sank!It was the happy hour of assault and the kiss.The hour of the spell that blazed like a lighthouse.In the childhood of mist my soul, winged and wounded.Lost discoverer, in you everything sank!You girdled sorrow, you clung to desire,sadness stunned you, in you everything sank!I made the wall of shadow draw back,beyond desire and act, I walked on.Oh flesh, my own flesh, woman whom I loved and lost,I summon you in the moist hour, I raise my song to you.
These poems are filled with desire for the women of Neruda’s affections and show how passionate Neruda was about love. These poems convey a sense of unconditional love and are great sentiments to the power of love.
Both poems referenced can be found by visiting here and here.
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What do you think about these poets and erotic poems? Do you agree or do you have alternative suggestions or poets I should look into? Please leave your thoughts in the comment section below.