amelia_petkova (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
amelia_petkova) wrote2006-10-16 02:14 pm
amelia_petkova) wrote2006-10-16 02:14 pm
Entry tags:
Decisions
The rest of this month's poems will be in the spirit of Halloween, as it is that interesting a holiday.
La Belle Dame Sans Merci
John Keats
O what can ail thee, knight-at-arms,
Alone and palely loitering?
The sedge has wither’d from the lake,
And no birds sing.
O what can ail thee, knight-at-arms!
So haggard and so woe-begone?
The squirrel’s granary is full,
And the harvest’s done.
I see a lily on thy brow
With anguish moist and fever dew,
And on thy cheeks a fading rose
Fast withereth too.
I met a lady in the meads,
Full beautiful—a faery’s child,
Her hair was long, her foot was light,
And her eyes were wild.
I made a garland for her head,
And bracelets too, and fragrant zone;
She look’d at me as she did love,
And made sweet moan.
I set her on my pacing steed,
And nothing else saw all day long,
For sidelong would she bend, and sing
A faery’s song.
She found me roots of relish sweet,
And honey wild, and manna dew,
And sure in language strange she said—
“I love thee true.”
She took me to her elfin grot,
And there she wept, and sigh’d fill sore,
And there I shut her wild wild eyes
With kisses four.
And there she lulled me asleep,
And there I dream’d—Ah! woe betide!
The latest dream I ever dream’d
On the cold hill’s side.
I saw pale kings and princes too,
Pale warriors, death-pale were they all;
They cried—“La Belle Dame sans Merci
Hath thee in thrall!"
I saw their starved lips in the gloam,
With horrid warning gaped wide,
And I awoke and found me here,
On the cold hill’s side.
And this is why I sojourn here,
Alone and palely loitering,
Though the sedge is wither’d from the lake,
And no birds sing.
I am trying to decide whether or not to participate in NaNoWriMo this year. It's very annoying--yesterday afternoon I decided I would but by the time I went to bed I had talked myself out of it.
The cons of it are that I am already busy with school--November is always busy, and I know that I will have several papers to write during that month. Assuming that I'm accepted into the study abroad program, I will also have paperwork and other things to deal with. I didn't finish my story for it last year, which was annoying. One of my failings when I write is that I focus too much on being careful and doing things how I planned, and the whole point is that the writer just spits out whatever comes into their head. The only idea I have for a story is a retelling of Alfred Noyes' "The Highwayman." I have two other books started, and both of them are retellings of fairy tales ( The Snow Queen and Little Red Riding Hood ). I'd like to finish one of them instead, but that isn't the purpose of NaNo. I don't want to keep writing only one kind of story.
On the plus side, I do know that I can stop at any point. There is no pressure other than what I put on myself. It's good writing practice and will help me to get better at meeting deadlines. I might be able to meet other writers and who knows? Maybe I actually will finish the novel in one month. I'll probably end up writing the highwayman story at some point, it's only a question of when. The most entertaining reason: It gives me an excuse to act like a crazy writer for thirty days!
If I do write "The Highwayman", these are the plot things I've thought of:
--Switches between 1st person POV of the highwayman (let's call him Bob for the time being) and 3rd person POV. Am very tempted to write both in the present tense.
--Inserting magical realism if I can pull it off. I'm very fond of that style of writing.
--Bess has joined in Bob's activities. There's no way a girl remains the lover of a robber without being aware of his activities!
I have about two weeks until NaNoWriMo begins. Please help me make a decision.
La Belle Dame Sans Merci
John Keats
O what can ail thee, knight-at-arms,
Alone and palely loitering?
The sedge has wither’d from the lake,
And no birds sing.
O what can ail thee, knight-at-arms!
So haggard and so woe-begone?
The squirrel’s granary is full,
And the harvest’s done.
I see a lily on thy brow
With anguish moist and fever dew,
And on thy cheeks a fading rose
Fast withereth too.
I met a lady in the meads,
Full beautiful—a faery’s child,
Her hair was long, her foot was light,
And her eyes were wild.
I made a garland for her head,
And bracelets too, and fragrant zone;
She look’d at me as she did love,
And made sweet moan.
I set her on my pacing steed,
And nothing else saw all day long,
For sidelong would she bend, and sing
A faery’s song.
She found me roots of relish sweet,
And honey wild, and manna dew,
And sure in language strange she said—
“I love thee true.”
She took me to her elfin grot,
And there she wept, and sigh’d fill sore,
And there I shut her wild wild eyes
With kisses four.
And there she lulled me asleep,
And there I dream’d—Ah! woe betide!
The latest dream I ever dream’d
On the cold hill’s side.
I saw pale kings and princes too,
Pale warriors, death-pale were they all;
They cried—“La Belle Dame sans Merci
Hath thee in thrall!"
I saw their starved lips in the gloam,
With horrid warning gaped wide,
And I awoke and found me here,
On the cold hill’s side.
And this is why I sojourn here,
Alone and palely loitering,
Though the sedge is wither’d from the lake,
And no birds sing.
I am trying to decide whether or not to participate in NaNoWriMo this year. It's very annoying--yesterday afternoon I decided I would but by the time I went to bed I had talked myself out of it.
The cons of it are that I am already busy with school--November is always busy, and I know that I will have several papers to write during that month. Assuming that I'm accepted into the study abroad program, I will also have paperwork and other things to deal with. I didn't finish my story for it last year, which was annoying. One of my failings when I write is that I focus too much on being careful and doing things how I planned, and the whole point is that the writer just spits out whatever comes into their head. The only idea I have for a story is a retelling of Alfred Noyes' "The Highwayman." I have two other books started, and both of them are retellings of fairy tales ( The Snow Queen and Little Red Riding Hood ). I'd like to finish one of them instead, but that isn't the purpose of NaNo. I don't want to keep writing only one kind of story.
On the plus side, I do know that I can stop at any point. There is no pressure other than what I put on myself. It's good writing practice and will help me to get better at meeting deadlines. I might be able to meet other writers and who knows? Maybe I actually will finish the novel in one month. I'll probably end up writing the highwayman story at some point, it's only a question of when. The most entertaining reason: It gives me an excuse to act like a crazy writer for thirty days!
If I do write "The Highwayman", these are the plot things I've thought of:
--Switches between 1st person POV of the highwayman (let's call him Bob for the time being) and 3rd person POV. Am very tempted to write both in the present tense.
--Inserting magical realism if I can pull it off. I'm very fond of that style of writing.
--Bess has joined in Bob's activities. There's no way a girl remains the lover of a robber without being aware of his activities!
I have about two weeks until NaNoWriMo begins. Please help me make a decision.