OBSCURE POET- PHILLIS WHEATLEY

 

Phillis Wheatley (1753-1784)

Born in west Africa

Brought to Boston, Massachusetts at age seven

Taught how to read and write

First African American to have volume of poems published

On Being Brought from Africa to America

BY PHILLIS WHEATLEY

'Twas mercy brought me from my Pagan land,

Taught my benighted soul to understand

That there's a God, that there's a Saviour too:

Once I redemption neither sought nor knew.

Some view our sable race with scornful eye,

"Their colour is a diabolic die."

Remember, Christians, Negros, black as Cain,

May be refin'd, and join th' angelic train.

• • 
    

WORDS OF WISDOM

However great a man's natural talent may be, the act of writing cannot be learned all at once.

~Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Philosopher (1712-1778)

CROSSING INTO THE UNKNOWN

One of the beauties of writing is when the character crosses into new territory. 👌 It can be a place he/she desired to go. It can be somewhere they never imagined. It's the magic that horror stories present. 

As a writer I want the character to close a door that they can never open again. He/she is frightened because of the unknown, but is willing to proceed forward. Keep the story moving, I say.

SAME SOUND, DIFFERENT MEANING

Air, heir

Altar, alter

Hair, hare

Hear, here

Straight, strait

There, their

RELEVANCE

I am writing a story about an adult film star fifteen years after he started. I am sure that there have been stories of protagonists (antagonists) later in their lives. Age will take away strength and looks but never relevance. Wisdom is gained also.

SUMMERTIME!

 

WORDS OF WISDOM

The whole excitement for writing anything is quite intense. And for a day or two, you think you've done everything extremely well. The problems start on the third day, and continues for the rest of your life.

~Tom Stoppard

OBSCURE POET-JAMES HENRY

JAMES HENRY- Irish Poet  (1798-1876)

Was a doctor

Always carried a copy of Homer's 'Virgil' and 'Aeneid'

Authored five collections of verse

Two narrative poems describing his travels

Satirical pamphlets

Published at his own expense

BOOKS

Aeneidia 

The Eneis, Books I and II

*Note- not to be confused with Henry James  

WORDS OF WISDOM

I was preferred writing about grey characters and human characters. Whether they are giants or elves or dwarves, or whatever they are, they are still human,  and the human heart is till in conflict with the self. 

~George R. R. Martin

OBSCURE POETS-PAUL LAURENCE DUNBAR

 

Born in Dayton, Ohio in 1872

Poet, short story writer, and novelist

Was a classmate of Orville Wright

"We Wear The Mask" his most famous poem

Died of tuberculosis in 1906

We Wear the Mask

BY PAUL LAURENCE DUNBAR

We wear the mask that grins and lies,

It hides our cheeks and shades our eyes,—

This debt we pay to human guile;

With torn and bleeding hearts we smile,

And mouth with myriad subtleties.

Why should the world be over-wise,

In counting all our tears and sighs?

Nay, let them only see us, while

       We wear the mask.

We smile, but, O great Christ, our cries

To thee from tortured souls arise.

We sing, but oh the clay is vile

Beneath our feet, and long the mile;

But let the world dream otherwise,

       We wear the mask!

NEW WORDS

 A couple of words I learned today.

SITOOTERIE-  A small patio or sheltered area outside a house, suitable for sitting in for relaxation or socializing.

ZETETIC- Proceeding by inquiry

8TH STREET BOOKSHOP

 

The bookstore was located on the corner of West 8th Street and McDougal Place. It was a gathering place for many artists of the day. Allen, Ginsberg, Marianne Moore, A. W. Auden, and E.E. Cummings to mention a few.

I started hanging out in Greenwich Village in 1968.  The Village was also a social scene. However I don't remember this place. I wish that I had. Eighth Street Bookshop closed for good in 1979.

WORDS OF WISDOM

Writing really evokes empathy in a way very few things can do.

~Erin Gruwell

FAMOUS WRITERS WHO WERE BORN IN JUNE

Gwendolyn Brooks

Octavia E. Butler

Lucille Clifton

Paul Laurence Dunbar

Anne Frank

Ken Follett

Allen Ginsberg

Nikki Giovanni

Thomas Hardy

Federico Garcia Lorca

Larry McMurtry

Frank O' Hara

Joyce Carol Oates

George Orwell

Salman Rushdie

Dorothy L. Sayers

W.B. Yeats

HAPPY PRIDE!

 June is pride month.