Poetry is the art of substantiating shadows.

I'm not the biggest of poetry fans, but I do like it a lot. Occasionally I'll read a poem that really gets under my skin - it'll be in my head on a continual loop, each stanza over and over again; I'll link it to any mundane event that happens during the day and I won't be able to get it out of my system at all. I've been thinking a lot about this recently and have picked out my personal favourite poems. Interestingly, they're all very different; from different periods with different themes.






DO NOT GO GENTLE INTO THAT GOOD NIGHT >> DYLAN THOMAS

Do not go gentle into that good night,
Old age should burn and rave at close of day;
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.

Though wise men at their end know dark is right,
Because their words had forked no lightning they
Do not go gentle into that good night.

Good men, the last wave by, crying how bright
Their frail deeds might have danced in a green bay,
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.

Wild men who caught and sang the sun in flight,
And learn, too late, they grieved it on its way,
Do not go gentle into that good night.

Grave men, near death, who see with blinding sight
Blind eyes could blaze like meteors and be gay,
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.

And you, my father, there on the sad height,
Curse, bless me now with your fierce tears, I pray.
Do not go gentle into that good night.
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.


++ I'm sort of a huge Doctor Who fan, and this poem was quoted by David Tennant on the Confidential for the most recent episode, The Waters of Mars. It fits the whole character of the Doctor so well at the moment and is an incredibly powerful poem for me currently.





THE RAVEN >> EDGAR ALLAN POE

Once upon a midnight dreary, while I pondered weak and weary,
Over many a quaint and curious volume of forgotten lore,
While I nodded, nearly napping, suddenly there came a tapping,
As of some one gently rapping, rapping at my chamber door.
`'Tis some visitor,' I muttered, `tapping at my chamber door -
Only this, and nothing more.'

Ah, distinctly I remember it was in the bleak December,
And each separate dying ember wrought its ghost upon the floor.
Eagerly I wished the morrow; - vainly I had sought to borrow
From my books surcease of sorrow - sorrow for the lost Lenore -
For the rare and radiant maiden whom the angels named Lenore -
Nameless here for evermore.


++ It's a huge poem so I only quoted the first two stanzas, both of them very atmospheric anyway. When I was 14 I learnt the whole thing for some reason, just for the sake of it. I still love it.





SHE WALKS IN BEAUTY >> LORD BYRON

She walks in beauty, like the night
Of cloudless climes and starry skies;
And all that's best of dark and bright
Meet in her aspect and her eyes:
Thus mellowed to that tender light
Which heaven to gaudy day denies.

One shade the more, one ray the less,
Had half impaired the nameless grace
Which waves in every raven tress,
Or softly lightens o'er her face;
Where thoughts serenely sweet express
How pure, how dear their dwelling-place.

And on that cheek, and o'er that brow,
So soft, so calm, yet eloquent,
The smiles that win, the tints that glow,
But tell of days in goodness spent,
A mind at peace with all below,
A heart whose love is innocent.


++ Until yesterday I'd completely forgotten that I loved this poem. My English Lit teacher mentioned it and I thought "Ooh, Byron" - so I looked it up and suddenly remembered that I already knew it! It's beautiful.




I also happen to love two of Carol Ann Duffy's poems, Little Red Cap and Eley's Bullet, but they're not available on the internet so I assume that means you can't replicate them. The latter is tragic and beautiful, and the former is a brilliant autobiographical retelling of Little Red Riding Hood. I didn't used to be a Duffy fan, but in the past year or so I've found myself becoming more and more fond of her work, especially from The World's Wife.


So that's about it. If I come across any more poems that affect me I'll try and post them here, but these are the ones I currently love :-)

Emma 2009, more views

I've been struggling to find time to write individual reviews for each episode, so this post will just be a rambly one with various thoughts on this adaptation. :)


I'm enjoying this a lot more now, probably because my expectations fell so low after the first episode! The mannerisms and dancing and hairstyles (yeurgh) are still annoying me, but I'm attempting to focus on other good things instead.

I do like how they're getting in a lot more detail with four, hour-long episodes. The pace seems to reflect that of the book a lot more than both the KB and GP versions. Emma is a long book with an almost lazy pace at times because it's only set in one place and you can see how the seasons and social aspects change around it, over time. That being said, however, I do think that they have changed a lot of lines considerably.

This version is... lively, I'd say. Sometimes a bit too lively but I'll try not to let my purist side take over! I also think it's quite pretty. For me, it probably sits in the middle of the three most recent adaptations when it comes to colourful-ness. The KB version was so dreary at times (despite being very true to the novel in terms of scenes and dialogue), and the quality of filming isn't very good (it's so brown and grey), whereas the GP version is very pretty and colourful indeed... although in some scenes it can look a little too colourful, I suppose. There's an awful lot of soft colouring in the proposal scene (which I love nevertheless). So this version is a bit more realistic whilst still being not-unpleasant-to-look-at.

I think this adaptation has my favourite Fred Frank! Not that I'm biased or anything. I like how he's brought a slightly darker and more manipulative side to Frank as well.

Still love this Miss Bates to pieces. Tamsin Greig is just wonderful: comic and on the edge of being very annoying, but just misses it because she has that deeper and more sympathetic portrayal. She hasn't featured as much lately but the next (and last) episode has the Box Hill episode, which I'm dreading because I'll probably cry! *hides*

The Eltons are fantastic! End of.
(Christina Cole gets around, period-drama-wise, doesn't she? I like her ^.^)

Emma's facial expressions still scare me sometimes. Once I have screencaps for all episodes, I'm making a picspam of Emma's Scary Faces.

There have been some gorgeous dresses in the last 2 episodes. Still not too sure about salmon pink for unmarried ladies, but Harriet's had some lovely floral prints.

Jane Fairfax is lovely.
(However, at the ball at the Crown, I know she was happy that Frank was back, but she didn't have to be THAT animated. A more subtle little smile would have been nice. :D)

THEY CUT OUT ONE OF MY FAVOURITE LINES.

"Whom are you going to dance with?" asked Mr Knightley.
She hesitated for a moment, and then replied, "With you, if you will ask me."
"Will you?" said he, offering his hand.
"Indeed I will. You have shown that you can dance, and you know we are not really so much brother and sister as to make it improper."
"Brother and sister! no, indeed."

♥

I was so looking forward to that line :( It was the one that really could have saved this adaptation and even made it a favourite with me.

JLM is lovely as Knightley. Seriously. I don't know what I was expecting (apart from Richard Armitage... that would have been nice...) but he exceeds it. I've warmed to him a lot.

But... he just isn't MY Mr Knightley!

*clings*

The funny thing is, although I (personally) have a definitive Mr Knightley, I don't necessarily have a definitive adaptation of this novel, or a portrayal of Emma herself. I think that Kate, Gwyneth and Romola all have certain aspects of her, but none of them are the Emma I see in the book. Kate is too moody, Gwyneth is too elegant/sugary and Romola is far too active and stroppy! The Emma Woodhouse I love in the book is all of these things in moderation, but I love her all the same. When I read it, I see a young woman whose heart is nearly always in the right place (a touch of GP), when she sets her mind on doing something she's determined to (a touch of RG) and when things go wrong she's not happy, to say the least (both KB + RG). Maybe if I squished all three together, I'd get my perfect Emma :D Alicia Silverstone as Cher in Clueless is the closest any actress has got, but it's not an official adaptation, being a modernised one. I actually really like all three actresses in other films - KB in Serendipity, RG in Atonement (she is INCREDIBLE as Briony, I was stunned!) and GP in various things, though she's not actually a favourite actress of mine, strangely. She just seems to be in all my favourite films, or the ones I want to see! Much like Keira Knightley, but we shall not go into that just now.


There's probably a lot more points I've forgotten, but I'll add them in another post if I remember. Bye for now! :-)

Emma 2009, Episode 1

I've decided I'll do a mini-review-thing for each episode, which will be good practise for studying the novel and comparing and such. I can't do it in a proper review format (essayish) because I don't have time - funnily enough, I have some Box Hill notes to do tonight for tomorrow!

So, here we go. Episode 1. I liked it, despite having several things wrong with it. I did not have exceedingly high expectations but I was also not disposed to think ill of it even before I'd seen it. I am still determined to have an open mind, and try not to be a purist. Even though it is my second favourite Austen novel (joint with Persuasion; I could never choose between them)...

However (and I have to write this down first to get it out of my system), there were a few things that got on my nerves and made the whole thing seem very lacking in Austen.

DID NOT LIKE

Her hair. No, I should reword that. I do like her hair. It's a lovely style - in 2009. I just wanted to go up to her and scrape it back properly and give her some actual curly tendrils at her temples, instead of those straggly bits near her ears. That being said, it's not quite as unAustenish as Billie Piper's in Mansfield Park.

The slouching. Oh, the slouching. And the running and shrieking and hyperactive SQUEE waving. And the way she looked ever-so-slightly disturbed when she smiled. Emma is a very well-mannered young woman, decorum-wise, despite her stroppiness (which is a lot subtler in the book), so why she's acting in such an uncooth manner is beyond me. There's also some strange facial expressions and hand gestures going on with Knightley too, I can't make them out. I think... if you took these characters out of this setting, they would not be out of place in a modern drama today. JANE AUSTEN IS NOT DATED. There is no reason to modernise her in this Regency context.

... *breathe*

Same goes for the dialogue, actually. I don't know why they've felt the need to 'update' it when the other existing Emma adaptations have Austen's dialogue and everyone understands and enjoys it just fine. Are we, the public, thought of by the BBC as so stupid nowadays that we have to have everything updated? There were a few scenes where they kept the dialogue from the book (hooray) but rather a lot of it was changed.

Oh, yes - the voiceover. Enough said. Something about the sun shining on Emma?

This 'bind' thing with Emma/Frank/Jane. What's that about? And why did it start with these three as children? Couldn't we work out the backstory as we go along?

Harriet's hair is the wrong time period. It's like Blanche Ingram's in Jane Eyre (thanks to StarsandButterfly for reminding me!).

Michael Gambon's great, but he's not Mr. Woodhouse. He's too... active!



I did like a lot of it, too, though :)

LIKED MUCHLY

Pretty music. Pretty pretty. ♥

The credits are gorgeous! Here's a thought, as far as Sandy Welch adaptions go: This has standardised opening titles, Jane Eyre had the same, North & South didn't - it was only the title and credits over the top of the film. I thought that was quite interesting! I'm probably reading too much into it. I have the tendency to be like Amelie and pick out little details... a lot.

It's quite colourful and nice (though, as a BBC one I expected the cinematography to be a shade prettier or more colourful). It's a nicer-looking adaptation than the KB version.

Settings! And the costumes are quite nice, though Emma (who is wealthy) wore quite a few dresses several times. And Harriet's dress was Edwardian-looking in one scene. But overall the dresses were lovely. (I have a question, though: did they wear salmon pink in that era? I'm not too sure).

TAMSIN GREIG.



I absolutely love her to pieces. She's brought a new depth to Miss Bates already - and she looks by far the most Georgian (especially with her hair) of all the ladies! I may cry in the Box Hill scene.

Quite liked the long scene at the end with the quarrel between Emma and Mr. Knightley. Enjoyed that argument!

Knightley's okay. He's quite cute, moreso than I was expecting. He's the right age but because Romola is 27 (instead of 21), there's less of an age gap which makes him seem younger. And he was a bit stroppy in an unKnightleyish way. I'm just very biased because for me, like a lot of other women I know, Jeremy Northam is a very tough act to follow. He is my Mr. Knightley!

The 'next time' trailer with FRED - er, I mean FRANK! I was so excited to see dearest Frederick Hale!



So, overall... I enjoyed it in certain respects, even though it was lacking in Austen. I think my main quibble is this: I loved Welch's other dramatisations along with their subtle contemporary elements. However, I think too much has been done this time to make Emma so obviously updated. Nevertheless, I'll stick with it and see how it goes. I was not so put off as to avoid the rest completely! And I'll keep rewatching the episodes more than once so I can fully appreciate it.

Handsome, clever and rich...

EMMA 2009 STARTS TOMORROW NIGHT!

Behind the scenes video from the BBC...




Current feelings:

1) Squeeeeee! Only a day away from a new Jane Austen adaptation!! *breeeathe, breeeathe* And a whole FOUR HOURS OF AUSTEN! I cannot WAIT.

2) What's all this about 'modern body language'? What? What? Maybe it's just me being a bit pernickety, but the whole point of "less modern" body language is that's how they behaved in Jane Austen's day. You HAD to stand up when someone entered or left a room, you HAD be restrained in public. It's historical context. Also, no public displays of affection (although this is coming from Sandy Welch who did write one of the most romantic Victorian train-station-kisses EVER... ;D) because it just wasn't 'done'. Another teeny-tiny problem I have is Emma's hair. It looks like she's scooped it back and tugged out a couple of little straggly bits. Not very Georgian. Anyway, they are minor points. Back to the main point...

3) SQUEE! AUSTENAUSTENAUSTEN. Period drama loooove ♥


Here endeth the squee-ramble.


Tomorrow, 9pm, BBC1.
Be there or be... intolerably stupid! As Jane would say. Well, she might say it if she were actually alive to see her books adapted. And also to see the television invented. And I think I'll shut up now.
:)

Long time, no blog (again!)

I've got a lot to read at the moment - and not for leisure, although I'm enjoying the books I'm studying - so I don't have much time for blogging. However, I will get around to it again soon because it's all good practise for my essay writing (although I blog in a slightly different manner to the way I write essays!)

I'm reading a lot of Gothic stuff at the moment (which is great fun!) for my exam, alongside Emma (yum) and A Room with a View (yum again) for coursework. Doing various background/wider reading too, so I'm a tad busy when it comes to books ;)

Talking of Emma, I see it's not long until the new version comes out. I'd really like to enjoy it as a good little Janeite (plus the superamazingfantastic Tamsin Greig is in it!). But after reading a couple of articles about they'd made it "modern" (how can you do that in a period drama? 'Clueless' is already a modern Emma, and one of the best adaptations!) and the characters in Jane Austen's novels are "stuffy" (have they been reading the same books as me?) - so they've "un-stuffyed" them, so to speak - I am a little wary. I now like the idea of Romola Garai as Emma. I'm sure she'll be great. I do not like the idea of adding in modern language and attitudes and whatnot, though. Still, time will tell. I don't want to prejudge it because although it's one of my favourite Austens, I prefer the Paltrow to the Beckinsale version, despite the fact that GP has less lines/scenes from the novel. I think the mood is wittier and more Austeny ;) I just wish this new version would start now!

That's about all I've got time for, I think. Got to get back into my Gothic business...
Until next time!





F ♥

P.S. I was thinking I might make a new header, since the current one is quite old and saved as a JPG, therefore slightly fuzzy. Opinions? y/n?

Desperate Romantics

I'm allowed to ramble about this here because the series was based on a factual book, apparently ;-) As far as accuracy goes, I am aware it wasn't great, but it was good fun (for the most) and I found the characters' stories strangely addictive. Except for Rossetti and Lizzie. I got bored of their story by the end.

Last episode SPOILERS below.





Rossetti is still as obnoxious as ever and Lizzie's finally dead and that's that. My weekly Rafe fix is over *sniff* - although I don't think I'll miss that beard that had emerged in the last few episodes. I so wanted more of Maniac's story. I felt that he was sadly neglected in favour of Rossetti and Lizzie and their so obviously doomed story - normally I like a good Doomed Romance but this one was getting tedious. His continual womanising and longing for women he couldn't have was always going to end badly. Gah.

In fact, I'm going to throw all accuracy out the window here (although I'm no expert on the Romantics and so don't know how inaccurate I'm actually being) and say I WANT ANOTHER SERIES. I want Fred - poor, dear, sweet Fred who had such an awful unrequited love situation that I just wanted to give him a big hug - to finally get some proper love because he is so adorable that he deserves it. I want Maniac to come back and Annie to come to her senses and come back to him (whilst telling him to shave) and then they can be happeeee. Not that bothered about Millais - he got his happy ending and he and Effie were cute together, although they ended up being kind of sickly. I laughed so hard at the line about making up alternative nicknames for each other if they had a row - "Effie likes to call me Mr. Crumpet!" And in my imaginary second series I want no more Rossetti, PLEASE. Or, at least, not as much as there was in this series. Yes, he's attractive; no, he's not as nice a character as the others in the Brotherhood. Hmph.

I think that's about it. I still feel so sorry for Fred in particular. I liked him from the beginning and hoped he'd get a happy ending :( And as for Rafe Maniac, I think Annie was mad. Mad, I tell you!

I meant to say, one thing I did like overall in this series, besides the showing of the paintings, was all the redheaded models! Being of fraise-blonde-ness (gingreness?) myself, I was very happy to see all the red hair in such a positive light in this programme. It's not often we gingers are looked at like that - another reason I'm convinced I was born in the wrong era. I am considering growing my hair down to my waist, actually, like a Pre-Raphaelite painting.


MTA: The costumes were GORGEOUS. Plenty of beautiful dresses and cravats going on! Spotted Fanny Thornton's pinky checked one from North & South, and I swear I saw Margaret's green dinner party one at Rossetti and Lizzie's wedding.

I think there's something wrong with me!

I am not normally this... lenient when it comes to adaptations - and, particularly, adaptations of novels that are my favourites! I just watched the ITV (Andrew Davies) version of A Room With a View which is completely different in so many ways to the novel (especially the very end), and yet...

I really enjoyed it. How strange! I've seen quite a bit of the Merchant Ivory one and expected to fall in love with it as I know how popular it is among other people I know who have read the novel. I liked what I saw well enough, but wasn't, I suppose, as captivated as I expected to be after I'd read the book (which I absolutely love).

I've read some online reviews of this newer version and I agree with all the points they make. The relationship between Lucy and George has been changed - things have been added, things have been taken away, the kisses are different, and the ending is completely the opposite from Forster's appendix, A View Without a Room. Completely the opposite. In fact, I'd go so far as to say that Andrew Davies completely wrecked the ending! So this begs the question - why did I enjoy it so much?! It took me ages (and my TaUBF ;D) to accept the 2005 adaptation of P&P because it was different to the book. I'm able to accept it now as a different interpretation and I love the soundtrack and the genuine beauty of the film too. But we're talking a LONG time after first viewing, here. I've only just seen the RWAV adaptation!

I just don't understand - nearly always, I like the version which is truest to the novel. In this situation I seem to prefer the less true version and I am so confused! Maybe it was the music. That was just beautiful. I WANT the soundtrack, and I'm not even sure it's available. I don't know. The point is, I enjoyed this version (and I'd just like to take this opportunity to say that Rafe Spall was looovely; I love his smile) and I must make graphics for it, pronto.

Ta for now! :D