My Favourite Poets

I remember loving poetry as soon as I was introduced to the genre in elementary school. In the following years I was introduced to a variety of different poets, and while I loved some and only tolerated others, my love for poetry in itself has never wavered.

                    

Picking my favourite poets for this post was actually quite hard, for while I have read a lot of poetry I have rarely read a lot of poetry from a particular poet, and thus have a hard time deciding if I like the poet's writings enough for him to be a favourite of mine.

But I have tried to pick out a few that hopefully illustrate the kinds of poetry I have liked through the years!

Tove Ditlevsen
For those of you who don't know, Tove Ditlevsen was a Danish poet and writer who was mainly active in the 1950's. She was one of the very first poets I was introduced to, and a big reason that I came to love the genre so much.
Her poems are often characterised by a certain wistfulness and melancholy and many of them are written from the point of view of a young girl (possibly why I could relate to them so much).
My favourite poem of hers is called The Eternal Three (roughly translated) and is basically a story of a woman trapped between the two men in her life; the one she loves, and the one who loves her. (Lots of sadness, right? But it pretty much sums up her writing style)

                                 
Tom Kristensen
Another Danish poet (most of the poetry I've read is Danish after all). Tom Kristensen was writing in the 1920's and he is considered part of the expressionism movement. What I immediately liked about his poems were the constant rhythm and rhymes, which makes them a pleasure to read out loud. But they are also very descriptive and livid, and I just like them a lot.


Alfred Tennyson
Yes, now we have arrived at the English poets! I discovered them a bit later when I started reading a lot of English literature. I remember sometimes in period dramas they would cite passages of poems, and when I later looked it up online, Tennyson was the author of all the passages I enjoyed the most. So obviously he has earned a place on my list of favourites!

                    


William Shakespeare
Last but definitely not least! I couldn't even fathom having a list of poets without Shakespeare appearing. For a long time he was my only reference for true classic English poetry, and his name was spoken with reference. When I actually got around to reading some of his works I saw for myself the brilliance of his writings. There are many pretty lines of poetry hidden in some of his plays and many of the sonnets are true masterpieces (especially no 116 - my all time favourite).

                    


Now you know a bit of my poetry preferences, though just because a name isn't on this list doesn't mean I don't enjoy their poetry. It probably means I haven't read enough of that particular poet to properly judge if he should be among the favourites.


If you want to read more poetry related posts, Hamlette has been hosting a poetry celebration throughout this month, so be sure to pop over at her blog for the full list of entries.

                         

The Poetry Tag

Hamlette is hosting a Poetry Celebration Month these days so if you like poetry as I do, be sure to visit her blog for many delightful posts on the subject.

I know I am embarrassingly late in joining the festivities, but I shall try to make up for it this coming week.

                               

She has created a lovely poetry tag and here are my answers:

What are some poems you like?

The Lady Of Shalott by Tennyson
The Golden Horns by Adam Oehlenschlager

And many others that I can't remember right now...


What are some poems you dislike?

I don't recall really disliking a poem. But I don't enjoy them as much if I have serious trouble understanding the language.


Are there any poets whose work you especially enjoy?  If so, who are they?

Yes, there definitely are. But I shall not reveal it here as I am writing a post wholly dedicated to my favourite poets.


Do you write poetry?

I wrote a lot of poetry when I was younger, but lately the inspiration has kind of disappeared.


Have you ever memorized a poem?

I have memorised many passages from poems, but I can't recall a single poem I can recite in its entirety.


Do you prefer poetry that rhymes and had a strict meter, or free verse?  Or do you like both?

I have a certain weakness for poems that rhyme and I like it if they have some kind of rhythm to them. That being said, all my own poems were free verse without a single rhyme so I think that kind of poems are beautiful too.


Do you have any particular poetry movements you're fond of?  (Beat poets, Romanticism, Fireside poets, etc?

I really like the Romanticism and the Expressionism

A Description Of A Lady

Oh dear, has it really been more than a month since my last post?
Real life has a habit of getting in the way of my writing time, but today I finally have a little time to hopefully write up a few posts.

                                    

The theme for this month's Inkling Explorations is a description of a lady in literature.
A delightful theme and I immediately thought of my choice: the scene in Pride & Prejudice where Mr Darcy mentally describes Elizabeth.

"Mr. Darcy had at first scarcely allowed her to be pretty; he had looked at her without admiration at the ball; and when they next met, he looked at her only to criticise. But no sooner had he made it clear to himself and his friends that she had hardly a good feature in her face, than he began to find it was rendered uncommonly intelligent by the beautiful expression of her dark eyes. To this discovery succeeded some others equally mortifying. Though he had detected with a critical eye more than one failure of perfect symmetry in her form, he was forced to acknowledge her figure to be light and pleasing; and in spite of his asserting that her manners were not those of the fashionable world, he was caught by their easy playfulness."

For more descriptions of ladies be sure to pop over to Heidi's blog here and read the other participants choices:)

Inkling Explorations And Letters

It's been ages since I last did an Inkling Explorations posts! But now I return with vigour:)

                       

The theme this month is a scene involving a letter, package or post office in a film.

I have chosen a scene from The Young Victoria (one of my favourite scenes from the movie, actually).

Most of Victoria's and Albert's courtship consisted of them writing to each other, and there is this great scene that really underlines what that was like.

When a bell rings, indicating the arrival of the mail, we see Albert jumping up, leaving whatever he was doing behind, as he dashes through the entire house to see if any mail has arrived for him.

When he is told that there is indeed a letter for him, he quickly snags it up and rushes out to read it.

I just think it's such a cute scene, perfectly illustrating how it must have been to impatiently wait for letters from your love.


For more lovely scenes including letters, be sure to check out the rest of the links here.

My Winter Projects - Status

Back in December I wrote this very ambitious post about all the things I had planned for winter.
And now winter is officially over, it is time to look back at what I actually achieved.

As I know myself quite well, I knew from the start that there was no way I was gonna finish all the projects, and I was right about that.

But let's have a look at how I did with the different projects:

Baking
I consider the results of this project a stellar example of just how much I can do when I put my mind to it.
My biscuit-baking-craze back in December was very successful, here's a peak of the results of 3 days work.

Gingerbread and 2 kinds of Shortbread

As some of you were interested in the recipe for the Shortbread here it is:

120 g sugar (and a little extra for decoration)
200 g butter
300 g flour

Start by mixing the butter and sugar until soft and then add the flour. Stir it or knead it until you get a smooth paste and then roll it out in a quadrant that's 1 cm thick. Cut the dough into fingers and chill it in the fridge for about 20 minutes.
Lastly, bake them in the oven for 15-20 minutes at 180 C until golden brown.

They are some of the easiest cookies to make, and so delicious!!


Reading
Another success! I had a lot of free time in December so I got to read quite a bit. I also started the 12 Months Classic Challenge and so far it's coming along splendidly. I managed to finish Jane Eyre in January (very proud of myself) and Romeo & Juliet is in progress.

                                   


Puzzles
I admit I didn't do as many of those as expected, but I did a few.

I like to document it when I finish one:)

Sewing

No, I still cannot sew! I did get as far as reading the manual to my mother's sewing machine and trying to thread it and everything. But I was out of luck, for I could simply not get it to actually work (and when my mother couldn't either we put it away and haven't looked at it since).

Watching Period Dramas

I know it should be impossible, but I wasn't really in the mood for period dramas in the winter months. So I watched all the classic Disney movies instead.

                  

Writing

When I planned writing more I had hoped to actually start on one of all my story ideas.
That didn't happen, but that doesn't mean I've been idle. I've written more blog posts this winter than ever before, and I did spend most of February writing posts to my 1940's Week, which was a great success, so I consider this project a success as well.

                   

Drawing and Embroidering

No, I didn't do any of those. They'll have to be added to my spring projects;)

That was the status. To accomplish 4 out of 8 is quite satisfactory to me:)

Have you had a busy winter?

Period Drama Challenge Tag - February

The second month of the Period Drama Challenge has already passed - how quickly time flies at the moment...
Well, here's my answers to the monthly tag.

            

1. What period dramas did you view in February?

I watched Jane Eyre, O Brother Where Art Thou and season 2 of Agent Carter.


2. What is your favorite period drama musical?

Ooh that's tough! Now I come to think of it most of my favourite musicals are also period dramas.
But the one that immediately comes to mind is Les Miserables.


3. If you could order up an adaptation of your favorite classic book, what would it be and who would star?

For a long time I have wanted a new adaption of Mansfield Park that stays true to the book, but also really gets the characters.
I haven't really thought about casting though.


4. If you could be a famous royal from history, who would you be and why?

I have never really wished to be royal, but if I should choose I think I'd want to be Queen Victoria.
She had quite a bit of freedom (being the queen and all) could make important decisions and she got to marry the man she loved. Also, I would love to live in palaces and I just adore the time period.


5. What period dramas are you looking forward to viewing in March 2016?

Again, I haven't made an exact list, but I've dubbed March and April official period drama watching and reviewing months, so I'm looking forward to rewatch some old favourites as well as some new ones.

1940's Week Wrap Up And Link Up

The 1940's week is over!
I find it hard to believe how quickly these last couple of days have flown by!

And let me just say that I was completely overwhelmed by the interest and all the lovely comments you guys gave:)
So thanks to everyone of you who were a part of this week, whether you wrote posts yourself or left comments. You have made this week truly memorable and so much better than I ever expected it to be!:)

As promised here is a list of all the 40's related posts that was written.
(If your post doesn't show up on the list you can still send me the link and I'll be sure to add it)

My Ten Favourite Combat! Episodes by Hamlette at Hamlette's Soliloquy
1940's Week: The Philadelphia Story by Carissa Horton at Musings Of An Introvert
My Favourite 40's Songs by Naomi Bennet at Wonderland Creek
1940's Week: The Human Condition In Casablanca by Carissa Horton at Musings Of An Introvert
Here's Looking At You Kid by Ashley at A To Z
How To LIVE The 1940's by Eva at Coffee, Classics & Craziness
1940's Week - My Dream 40's Wardrobe by Lydia Dyslin at Through The Wardrobe
Movie Review: The Magic Of Ordinary Days Part 1 by Heidi at Along The Brandywine
Favourite Couples From 1940's Movies by Natalie at Raindrops On Roses And Whiskers On Kittens
My Ten Favourite Movies Set In The 1940's by Hamlette at Hamlette's Soliloquy
Part 2: The Magic Of Ordinary Days Dress Study by Heidi at Along The Brandywine

Again thank you very much to everyone who did the 1940's challenge or wrote 40's related posts, I've loved reading them!

                                  

I've really loved being able to share my love of the 40's with all you guys, and was very glad to find out that I am not alone:)
Now, encouraged by that thought, I can promise you that this isn't the last 40's oriented post you will see on this blog - At the very least there will be lots of movie reviews when I get around to watch all the movies you recommended.