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Historical persons challenge -- the discussion

AlwaysHungry

AlwaysHungry

Literotica Guru
Joined
Mar 24, 2010
Posts
1,512
Hi, everyone -- the first two entries have been received and posted here. Thus far, the focus has been on European noblemen of various stripes. Please use this thread for discussion and poet ID speculation, and eventually there will be voting. ;)
 
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HarryHill said:
where the hell are the rules -_-
Click to expand...

In this thread. But I'll restate them here:

"Write a poem as a tribute to an historical personality, one who left an indelible mark on humanity, for better or for worse. The identity of this personality should either be super obvious, or better, specified in the title of the poem."

They were subsequently modified, because some contestants want to provide clues in the poem as to the identity of the historical individual, and let people guess.

I would sort of prefer that the historical person be one that changed history for all of humanity -- the entries so far are not of that type, but I will be laissez-faire about it.

Addendum -- for those who are unfamiliar with how the poetry challenges work, please submit your poem to me by PM. I will post it on the poetry thread without the author's name. Others will then comment on the poem and speculate as to the identity of the author. In due time, all will be revealed.
 
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oggbashan said:
I have three already posted poems. Are they eligible?

https://www.literotica.com/p/attila

https://www.literotica.com/p/boadicea

https://www.literotica.com/p/song-of-king-alfred
Click to expand...

Um.... they would have been, had you submitted them to me by PM. The poems are to be submitted anonymously, because part of the time-honored ritual of the poetry challenge is that participants get to guess the identities of authors of the poems. The poems are posted anonymously, and you just outed yourself. Would you consider writing a new poem for the occasion?
 
oggbashan said:
I have three already posted poems. Are they eligible?

https://www.literotica.com/p/attila

https://www.literotica.com/p/boadicea

https://www.literotica.com/p/song-of-king-alfred
Click to expand...

AlwaysHungry said:
Um.... they would have been, had you submitted them to me by PM. The poems are to be submitted anonymously, because part of the time-honored ritual of the poetry challenge is that participants get to guess the identities of authors of the poems. The poems are posted anonymously, and you just outed yourself. Would you consider writing a new poem for the occasion?
Click to expand...

Why not simply reproduce them here on the comments thread? We'd (at least I) love to see them, and by having them here, people can see them in the context of the others (to be) submitted to the challenge. We've had that happen before, for example in the Science in Poetry challenge.
 
AlwaysHungry said:
Um.... they would have been, had you submitted them to me by PM. The poems are to be submitted anonymously, because part of the time-honored ritual of the poetry challenge is that participants get to guess the identities of authors of the poems. The poems are posted anonymously, and you just outed yourself. Would you consider writing a new poem for the occasion?
Click to expand...

I have no time to write a new one. I'm trying to finish a Halloween contest story before I go on holiday on Monday...

Sending them to you by PM wouldn't have protected my identity when those poems have been posted for years.
 
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True - if someone were to search the site for the text of your poem, which were unlikely, I suspect.
 
AlwaysHungry said:
Um.... they would have been, had you submitted them to me by PM. The poems are to be submitted anonymously, because part of the time-honored ritual of the poetry challenge is that participants get to guess the identities of authors of the poems. The poems are posted anonymously, and you just outed yourself. Would you consider writing a new poem for the occasion?
Click to expand...


FYI Contests typically have been anonymous, but if you search back through the forum you'll find the opposite is the case for challenges. After all, the 30 in 30 and 5 Senses threads are challenges to name but a few.

Best of luck to all with this one. :rose:
 
pelegrino said:
I did not agree completely with the classification but it looks quite comprehensive.
The absence of any literotica authors from this list is to be seriously regretted.
:D
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I already have poems here about influential Lit poets! (Well two...I think just two). :D
 
Angeline said:
FYI Contests typically have been anonymous, but if you search back through the forum you'll find the opposite is the case for challenges. After all, the 30 in 30 and 5 Senses threads are challenges to name but a few.

Best of luck to all with this one. :rose:
Click to expand...

My apologies, I'm a N00b. I've been at Lit for years, but only roaming the fora since May of this year (I was lured here by a very dear friend). I'll get the hang of this eventually.
 
AlwaysHungry said:
My apologies, I'm a N00b. I've been at Lit for years, but only roaming the fora since May of this year (I was lured here by a very dear friend). I'll get the hang of this eventually.
Click to expand...

You're doing fine and I know folks here appreciate it when someone comes up with a challenge or contest. I sure do. :)
 
Blues for Number 25 is so good. I'd guess McKinley and Tzara are involved. Just a guess.
 
pensivepoet said:
When's the deadline?
Click to expand...

Good question. When the entries begin to peter out? The challenges seem to run on a monthly cycle, so I would sort of hope they would all be in by the final week of October, so we will time for voting and post-voting analysis before the next challenge takes off in November. :cool:
 
So far, it appears (from the guessing of myself and others) that we have tributes to two European aristocrats, two figures from religious/mythological lore (I tend to assume that these were probably real people whose tales were embellished by ancient story-tellers), one American president, and one Roman Centurion. I was sort of expecting tributes to great poets -- that may still be in the offing. I thought that I would grease the skids by posting some of my favorite tribute poems by great artists. This one is one of my absolute favorite poems (of any sort), not a tribute a poet, but a tribute to a translator. I can relate, because for most of my life, I wasn't writing poetry, I was translating it.

On First Looking into Chapman's Homer
BY JOHN KEATS

Much have I travell'd in the realms of gold,
And many goodly states and kingdoms seen;
Round many western islands have I been
Which bards in fealty to Apollo hold.
Oft of one wide expanse had I been told
That deep-brow'd Homer ruled as his demesne;
Yet did I never breathe its pure serene
Till I heard Chapman speak out loud and bold:
Then felt I like some watcher of the skies
When a new planet swims into his ken;
Or like stout Cortez when with eagle eyes
He star'd at the Pacific—and all his men
Look'd at each other with a wild surmise—
Silent, upon a peak in Darien.


 
Here's a tribute poem I translated:

Columbus
by Friedrich Schiller

Steer, courageous sailor! Although the wags may mock thee,
And the helmsman ply the wheel with a careless hand,
Ever, ever run west! There must the coast be appearing,
It lies distinct, it lies glimmering before thy ken.
Trust in the pilot God, and follow the silent world-sea!
Were there no land, it should rise from the torrent below.
With Genius stands Nature, in an eternal alliance,
What doth promise the one, surely the other fulfills.
 
AlwaysHungry said:
So far, it appears (from the guessing of myself and others) that we have tributes to two European aristocrats, two figures from religious/mythological lore (I tend to assume that these were probably real people whose tales were embellished by ancient story-tellers), one American president, and one Roman Centurion. I was sort of expecting tributes to great poets -- that may still be in the offing. I thought that I would grease the skids by posting some of my favorite tribute poems by great artists. This one is one of my absolute favorite poems (of any sort), not a tribute a poet, but a tribute to a translator. I can relate, because for most of my life, I wasn't writing poetry, I was translating it.

On First Looking into Chapman's Homer
BY JOHN KEATS

Much have I travell'd in the realms of gold,
And many goodly states and kingdoms seen;
Round many western islands have I been
Which bards in fealty to Apollo hold.
Oft of one wide expanse had I been told
That deep-brow'd Homer ruled as his demesne;
Yet did I never breathe its pure serene
Till I heard Chapman speak out loud and bold:
Then felt I like some watcher of the skies
When a new planet swims into his ken;
Or like stout Cortez when with eagle eyes
He star'd at the Pacific—and all his men
Look'd at each other with a wild surmise—
Silent, upon a peak in Darien.
Click to expand...

This is a very beautiful poem indeed, HA!
I think the main tribute is to the translator as you say, but there is a nuance or two strongly referring to Homer's essence also.
It makes me want to read Chapman's work, although I usually don't read translations if I can handle the original.
But as the say, a translator of prose is usually a slave, but a translator of poetry can be and often is a dangerous antagonist.

BTW, how many entries per participant is the limit for this challenge?
 
legerdemer said:
Why not simply reproduce them here on the comments thread? We'd (at least I) love to see them, and by having them here, people can see them in the context of the others (to be) submitted to the challenge. We've had that happen before, for example in the Science in Poetry challenge.
Click to expand...

Thank you. I'll do that for the short poems Attila and Boadicea, but The Song of King Alfred is longer.

Attila
by oggbashan©

I am the last "wife" of Attila the Hun:
I wanted my life to be short but fun.

I thought sex with the Hun would be great -
just one brief hour and Attila's the LATE.

Now they want me to take all the blame:
For quenching Attila's great flame.


Boadicea
by oggbashan©

I was the husband of the great Boadicea
She was a good wife but now - O dear!

I died supported by her passion and love
But I'd hardly call her a peaceful dove

We were civilised, I had a long Roman name
Now my wife is a warrior of international fame

The Romans asked for more taxes - she replied "Go to Hell!"
To persuade her they whipped her, raped her daughters as well

You just don't DO that to our blue-blooded bitches
Queens of the Iceni, horsewomen, post-graduate witches

She's painted with woad, renamed herself Boudicca
Sharpened her weapons, revived the arts of Wicca

She's rallying her armies, adding scythes to her wheels
She'll give the Roman taxmen no doubt how she feels

Ere long she will join me, her witch wisdom knows
But not 'fore she's slaughtered thousands of foes

Our rulers must remember not to over-tax the Brit
Else meet "Death or Glory" mid tons of horse-****.
 
One of mine

No title for the guessers, but I did not submit to you, AH, cause some here have seen it and would likely know it as mine. Hope it's ok to post. :rose:


His swans have gone from Coole, flown years away
from splashing to the lake, measuring poet's time,
his prime, the rhythm of that world. Ireland they say

was beauty terrible, a history where sorrow lay
ruined in hearts, bled in the land, bred in his rhyme.
His swans have gone from Coole, flown years away.

Commanding flap, their trumpet fading into gray
and purple mist of dusk or dawn, past tower, chime,
his prime, the rhythm of that world. Ireland they say

wears scars like tarnished jewels that fueled his day
in anguish slouching toward a vision of the crime:
His swans have gone from Coole, flown years away,

loss blown like love and seedlings, nothing but to pray
for daughter and schoolchildren, years that climb,
his prime, the rhythm of that world. Ireland they say

can't heal, but even tattered, aged, he raged in sway
of nation spun into the bone of hills and wild thyme.
His swans have gone from Coole, flown years away,
his prime, the rhythm of that world. Ireland they say.
 
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