Post by kategould on Feb 14, 2010 9:05:25 GMT -5
MYTH, OBSESSION, TRADITION: A LITERARY LOOK AT LOVE
The Red, Red Rose
Since kindly Aphrodite spilt blood upon a white rose to aid her wounded lover, Adonis, a red rose has symbolised love everlasting – or a passing passion if it’s simply a flower and not a symbol of the life blood you would give to save a beloved.
editorial-consultancy.co.uk/the-criticess/the-red-red-rose/
Obsessive Love
In August 1937 writer Elizabeth Smart walked into a London bookshop, opened a collection of poems by George Barker and fell in love. By the time they met and began an affair three years later – resulting in the birth of four children, although he never left his wife – she was already so utterly besotted by his work that the writer and his writing had become fused into a single entity. In a sometimes terrifying account, she immortalised their relationship in By Grand Central Station I Sat Down And Wept, exposing both its agonies and ecstasies, from infatuation to abandonment.
editorial-consultancy.co.uk/the-criticess/elizabeth-smart/
Valentine's Reading
See Fine Line Editorial's recommendations for Valentine's (and any) Day reading. There's love to swoon over for the romantics and all manner of other pursuits for the anti-Valentines.
editorial-consultancy.co.uk/fine-line-recommends/
Mythical Love
Mythical tales of love are many – countless, perhaps – and have a tendency towards the melodramatic at best and the tragic at worst. In an attempt to remain in keeping with the celebration of love that is St Valentine’s Day, I searched the scores of mythological lovers for a happy tale. The best I could come up with is one that bore a golden age, Ovid’s tale of Halcyone.
editorial-consultancy.co.uk/the-criticess/mythical-love/
Romancing Traditions
The card is bought, the flowers arranged, the champagne on ice, the restaurant is booked, the jewellery glitters, the perfume is sweet, and the chocolates so pretty in their heart-shaped gold-wrapped box. You’ve done it: every tradition fulfilled, every symbol of a romance that time will not fade, and every token of love everlasting is there to see. You could do no more. But, really, you could. Flowers, cards, jewellery, chocolate, dinner, champagne, and perfume are perfectly nice. They’re pretty and pleasant – a delightful way to say ‘I love you’ – but in romance of yore, they would have won you neither maiden nor squire.
editorial-consultancy.co.uk/the-criticess/romancing-traditions/
Valentine’s Writing Exercise
Love Haiku
In the 17 syllables of a haiku, tell us why your Valentine is so very special. Or why you’re so right in being anti-Valentine. Click here to post it to the site.
editorial-consultancy.co.uk/the-blank-page/valentine-writing-exercise/
Did You Know?
Saint Valentine’s Day started because of early Christian Heretics. In 110 AD Valentinus was born and soon became the most prominent Gnostic in history. The Christian Church hated Gnosticism and saw its ideas as being a perverted and diabolical form of Christianity, hardly surprising when most Gnostics held that God was, in fact, an evil imposter and that all of the ten commandments should be broken and the baddies in the Bible celebrated. The Church found it all a bit hard to stamp out, particularly Valentinus’s take on it. It spread like wild fire, so in an attempt to replace him, the Church created a fictitious saint called Valentine who, in their eyes, provided a better role model to follow. His unfortunate fate was, however, to be clubbed to death in Persia. They celebrated his feast day on February the 14th, but for some reason later gave up on the idea and took him out of the Catalogue of Saints. However, everyone had such good fun on his feast day that they kept celebrating it anyway even though they didn't and, most likely, still don't have a clue about the truth of the matter.
The Red, Red Rose
Since kindly Aphrodite spilt blood upon a white rose to aid her wounded lover, Adonis, a red rose has symbolised love everlasting – or a passing passion if it’s simply a flower and not a symbol of the life blood you would give to save a beloved.
editorial-consultancy.co.uk/the-criticess/the-red-red-rose/
Obsessive Love
In August 1937 writer Elizabeth Smart walked into a London bookshop, opened a collection of poems by George Barker and fell in love. By the time they met and began an affair three years later – resulting in the birth of four children, although he never left his wife – she was already so utterly besotted by his work that the writer and his writing had become fused into a single entity. In a sometimes terrifying account, she immortalised their relationship in By Grand Central Station I Sat Down And Wept, exposing both its agonies and ecstasies, from infatuation to abandonment.
editorial-consultancy.co.uk/the-criticess/elizabeth-smart/
Valentine's Reading
See Fine Line Editorial's recommendations for Valentine's (and any) Day reading. There's love to swoon over for the romantics and all manner of other pursuits for the anti-Valentines.
editorial-consultancy.co.uk/fine-line-recommends/
Mythical Love
Mythical tales of love are many – countless, perhaps – and have a tendency towards the melodramatic at best and the tragic at worst. In an attempt to remain in keeping with the celebration of love that is St Valentine’s Day, I searched the scores of mythological lovers for a happy tale. The best I could come up with is one that bore a golden age, Ovid’s tale of Halcyone.
editorial-consultancy.co.uk/the-criticess/mythical-love/
Romancing Traditions
The card is bought, the flowers arranged, the champagne on ice, the restaurant is booked, the jewellery glitters, the perfume is sweet, and the chocolates so pretty in their heart-shaped gold-wrapped box. You’ve done it: every tradition fulfilled, every symbol of a romance that time will not fade, and every token of love everlasting is there to see. You could do no more. But, really, you could. Flowers, cards, jewellery, chocolate, dinner, champagne, and perfume are perfectly nice. They’re pretty and pleasant – a delightful way to say ‘I love you’ – but in romance of yore, they would have won you neither maiden nor squire.
editorial-consultancy.co.uk/the-criticess/romancing-traditions/
Valentine’s Writing Exercise
Love Haiku
In the 17 syllables of a haiku, tell us why your Valentine is so very special. Or why you’re so right in being anti-Valentine. Click here to post it to the site.
editorial-consultancy.co.uk/the-blank-page/valentine-writing-exercise/
Did You Know?
Saint Valentine’s Day started because of early Christian Heretics. In 110 AD Valentinus was born and soon became the most prominent Gnostic in history. The Christian Church hated Gnosticism and saw its ideas as being a perverted and diabolical form of Christianity, hardly surprising when most Gnostics held that God was, in fact, an evil imposter and that all of the ten commandments should be broken and the baddies in the Bible celebrated. The Church found it all a bit hard to stamp out, particularly Valentinus’s take on it. It spread like wild fire, so in an attempt to replace him, the Church created a fictitious saint called Valentine who, in their eyes, provided a better role model to follow. His unfortunate fate was, however, to be clubbed to death in Persia. They celebrated his feast day on February the 14th, but for some reason later gave up on the idea and took him out of the Catalogue of Saints. However, everyone had such good fun on his feast day that they kept celebrating it anyway even though they didn't and, most likely, still don't have a clue about the truth of the matter.