"lit"-"erotica"

[riff]

To hell with intelligence, I just want to have a thousand hits... [joke]

Femme Fatales (Deadly Women)

Men, ahem, fellow idiots, you are hopeless. "Resistance is futile," or so say the Borg (now there, from that Star Trek movie is a modern cyberfem fatale).

Oh yes, we all know the lure of a good time and the bounty that conquest rewards, but who is conqueror and who is conquered? Forget it. Never said it. It's an invidious distinction.

The deadly woman: an architype. She exists in everyone, manifesting herself under muriad guises. One such guise has for long been a temptation to my senses, my intellect, and my soul. It is by the nature of the femme fatale to seduce. More of a vampire than a "black widow."

All right guys, at least those of you with balls, what is your opinion. And ladies, how do you opine?

If you need litihistocical references, visit the following:

for a pic...http://cgfa.kelloggcreek.com/waterhou/p-waterh48.htm

(sometimes a poem is worth a thousand pictures ):

1 Ah, what can ail thee, wretched wight,
2 Alone and palely loitering;
3 The sedge is wither'd from the lake,
4 And no birds sing.

5 Ah, what can ail thee, wretched wight,
6 So haggard and so woe-begone?
7 The squirrel's granary is full,
8 And the harvest's done.

9 I see a lily on thy brow,
10 With anguish moist and fever dew;
11 And on thy cheek a fading rose
12 Fast withereth too.

13 I met a lady in the meads
14 Full beautiful, a faery's child;
15 Her hair was long, her foot was light,
16 And her eyes were wild.

17 I set her on my pacing steed,
18 And nothing else saw all day long;
19 For sideways would she lean, and sing
20 A faery's song.

21 I made a garland for her head,
22 And bracelets too, and fragrant zone;
23 She look'd at me as she did love,
24 And made sweet moan.

25 She found me roots of relish sweet,
26 And honey wild, and manna dew;
27 And sure in language strange she said,
28 I love thee true.

29 She took me to her elfin grot,
30 And there she gaz'd and sighed deep,
31 And there I shut her wild sad eyes--
32 So kiss'd to sleep.

33 And there we slumber'd on the moss,
34 And there I dream'd, ah woe betide,
35 The latest dream I ever dream'd
36 On the cold hill side.

37 I saw pale kings, and princes too,
38 Pale warriors, death-pale were they all;
39 Who cry'd--"La belle Dame sans merci
40 Hath thee in thrall!"

41 I saw their starv'd lips in the gloam
42 With horrid warning gaped wide,
43 And I awoke, and found me here
44 On the cold hill side.

45 And this is why I sojourn here
46 Alone and palely loitering,
47 Though the sedge is wither'd from the lake,
48 And no birds sing.

Now ask me about the Lady of Shallot.

 

[riff]

oops... almost forgot:

Credits and Copyright

Together with the editors, the Department of English (University of Toronto), and the University of Toronto Press, the following
individuals share copyright for the work that went into this edition.

spasibo, chirren, spasibo...

 

[Dillinger]

The Lady of Shallot

The Lady of Shallot - Alfred Lord Tennyson (also a painting by John William Waterhouse - 1888 - you can see it at http://bertc.com/waterhouse_6.htm ). Also known as the Lady of the Lake from the Arthurian Legends - Elaine of Astolat)

I have read many works about and revolving around the Arthurian Legends - a fascination of mind. I'd put the Mists of Avalon among the best. I also read a science fiction book a few years ago that revolved around time travel and used the poem, The Lady of Shallot, as the structure behind the plot...

The Lady of Shallot

PART I

On either side the river lie
Long fields of barley and of rye,
That clothe the wold and meet the sky;
And thro' the field the road runs by
To many-tower'd Camelot;
And up and down the people go,
Gazing where the lilies blow
Round an island there below,
The island of Shalott.

Willows whiten, aspens quiver,
Little breezes dusk and shiver
Thro' the wave that runs for ever
By the island in the river
Flowing down to Camelot.
Four gray walls, and four gray towers,
Overlook a space of flowers,
And the silent isle imbowers
The Lady of Shalott.

By the margin, willow veil'd,
Slide the heavy barges trail'd
By slow horses; and unhail'd
The shallop flitteth silken-sail'd
Skimming down to Camelot:
But who hath seen her wave her hand?
Or at the casement seen her stand?
Or is she known in all the land,
The Lady of Shalott?

Only reapers, reaping early
In among the bearded barley,
Hear a song that echoes cheerly
From the river winding clearly,
Down to tower'd Camelot:
And by the moon the reaper weary,
Piling sheaves in uplands airy,
Listening, whispers " 'Tis the fairy
Lady of Shalott."



PART II

There she weaves by night and day
A magic web with colours gay.
She has heard a whisper say,
A curse is on her if she stay
To look down to Camelot.
She knows not what the curse may be,
And so she weaveth steadily,
And little other care hath she,
The Lady of Shalott.

And moving thro' a mirror clear
That hangs before her all the year,
Shadows of the world appear.
There she sees the highway near
Winding down to Camelot:
There the river eddy whirls,
And there the surly village-churls,
And the red cloaks of market girls,
Pass onward from Shalott.

Sometimes a troop of damsels glad,
An abbot on an ambling pad,
Sometimes a curly shepherd-lad,
Or long-hair'd page in crimson clad,
Goes by to tower'd Camelot;
And sometimes thro' the mirror blue
he knights come riding two and two:
She hath no loyal knight and true,
The Lady of Shalott.

But in her web she still delights
To weave the mirror's magic sights,
For often thro' the silent nights
A funeral, with plumes and lights
And music, went to Camelot:
Or when the moon was overhead,
Came two young lovers lately wed:
"I am half sick of shadows," said
The Lady of Shalott.



PART III

A bow-shot from her bower-eaves,
He rode between the barley-sheaves,
The sun came dazzling thro' the leaves,
And flamed upon the brazen greaves
Of bold Sir Lancelot.
A red-cross knight for ever kneel'd
To a lady in his shield,
That sparkled on the yellow field,
Beside remote Shalott.

The gemmy bridle glitter'd free,
Like to some branch of stars we see
Hung in the golden Galaxy.
The bridle bells rang merrily
As he rode down to Camelot:
And from his blazon'd baldric slung
A mighty silver bugle hung,
And as he rode his armour rung,
Beside remote Shalott.

All in the blue unclouded weather
Thick-jewell'd shone the saddle-leather,
The helmet and the helmet-feather
Burn'd like one burning flame together,
As he rode down to Camelot.
As often thro' the purple night,
Below the starry clusters bright,
Some bearded meteor, trailing light,
Moves over still Shalott.

His broad clear brow in sunlight glow'd;
On burnish'd hooves his war-horse trode;
From underneath his helmet flow'd
His coal-black curls as on he rode,
As he rode down to Camelot.
From the bank and from the river
He flash'd into the crystal mirror,
"Tirra lirra," by the river
Sang Sir Lancelot.

She left the web, she left the loom,
She made three paces thro' the room,
She saw the water-lily bloom,
She saw the helmet and the plume,
She look'd down to Camelot.
Out flew the web and floated wide;
The mirror crack'd from side to side;
"The curse is come upon me," cried
The Lady of Shalott.



PART IV

In the stormy east-wind straining,
The pale yellow woods were waning,
The broad stream in his banks complaining,
Heavily the low sky raining
Over tower'd Camelot;
Down she came and found a boat
Beneath a willow left afloat,
And round about the prow she wrote
The Lady of Shalott.

And down the river's dim expanse
Like some bold seër in a trance,
Seeing all his own mischance--
With a glassy countenance
Did she look to Camelot.
And at the closing of the day
She loosed the chain, and down she lay;
The broad stream bore her far away,
The Lady of Shalott.

Lying, robed in snowy white
That loosely flew to left and right--
The leaves upon her falling light--
Thro' the noises of the night
She floated down to Camelot:
And as the boat-head wound along
The willowy hills and fields among,
They heard her singing her last song,
The Lady of Shalott.

Heard a carol, mournful, holy,
Chanted loudly, chanted lowly,
Till her blood was frozen slowly,
And her eyes were darken'd wholly,
Turn'd to tower'd Camelot.
For ere she reach'd upon the tide
The first house by the water-side,
Singing in her song she died,
The Lady of Shalott.

Under tower and balcony,
By garden-wall and gallery,
A gleaming shape she floated by,
Dead-pale between the houses high,
Silent into Camelot.
Out upon the wharfs they came,
Knight and burgher, lord and dame,
And round the prow they read her name,
The Lady of Shalott.

Who is this? and what is here?
And in the lighted palace near
Died the sound of royal cheer;
And they cross'd themselves for fear,
All the knights at Camelot:
But Lancelot mused a little space;
He said, "She has a lovely face;
1God in his mercy lend her grace,
The Lady of Shalott."

 

[CreamyLady]

"A rag and a bone and a hank of hair."

It's so nice to have one's efforts appreciated.

 

[riff]

LADY OF SHALLOT...

Not quite the femme fatale, but awesome. Are you into PRB?

LOS- the fantasy (and reality) that the unsecured sexual gratification of the female leads to destructive and insane consequences. Any girls disagree? No, I am not a knowing sort, I merely read a lot.

I love the painting- and Tenneyson too.

 

[Amadeus]

To Whispersecret

Before I took my mother's blood and breath
I loved you.
When you broke the silence of your first hour,
crying
Through oval-slit eyes under some foreign sky,
I had already begun to guard your days.
Each moonfall after,
I tossed a lotus petal into my river of dreams
Until an endless bouguet smothered the oceans
that parted us.
Through winter-locked and hungered days,
in
the mindshaped trials of doubt-filled years,
over
Hourless and mistaken roads I searched for you.
If as you say, during pillow talk, you do not know me,
It is because I am you.
I have been yoiu for aa thousand years.
Our love is older than the air.


(by Gordon Parks)

 

[riff]

To Whispersecret

by Gordon Parks)

It's good shit. I like it.

 

[CreamyLady]

At least "The Vampyre" by Kipling was on point. The Lady of Shalott is not.

The story is not so much a case of repressed sexuality or seduction as the inability of those in the faery realm to interact with mortals. She certainly doesn't tempt Lancelot (she's dead, for one thing), and there is certainly no reason to associate her with Elaine of Astalot -- different woman entirely. She DID sleep with Lancelot; Galahad was the result.

That is, if the point is still La Belle Dame Sans Merci. If not, then I stand corrected, and you can go one with whatever you care to spout.

 

[riff]

At least "The Vampyre" by Kipling was on point. The Lady of Shalott is not.

The story is not so much a case of repressed sexuality or seduction as the inability of those in the faery realm to interact with mortals. She certainly doesn't tempt Lancelot (she's dead, for one thing), and there is certainly no reason to associate her with Elaine of Astalot -- different woman entirely. She DID sleep with Lancelot; Galahad was the result.

That is, if the point is still La Belle Dame Sans Merci. If not, then I stand corrected, and you can go one with whatever you care to spout.

Humble Spoutings: Faeries interacting with mortals? I never read much Kipling- but for excerpts- but I know he fits in finely with the literature of his time. Something inside the 19th century British mind seems to scream- WHOA.....

 

[Dillinger]

Elaine of Astalot

" She certainly doesn't tempt Lancelot (she's dead, for one thing), and there is certainly no reason to associate her with Elaine of Astalot -- different woman entirely"

Well, actually - check out - http://www.wcslc.edu/pers_pages/akf8429/elainemainpage.htm - whether you agree or not other's have made the connection between Elain of Astalot and The Lady of Shallot

Also check out "The Camelot Project" - http://www.lib.rochester.edu/camelot/elanmenu.htm and http://www.shcsc.k12.in.us/arthur/shalott.htm

And... form Arthurian A 2 Z, http://www.mystical-www.co.uk/arthuriana2z/e.htm :

Elaine de Astolat
aka 'Lily Maid of Astolat', 'Lady of Shallot' (See Lady of Shallot). Sister of 'Lavaine', daughter of 'Bernard of Astolat'.

According to legend Elaine loved 'Lancelot' (See Lancelot) dearly but her love him was not returned. On realising this to be her situation Elaine is said to have ordered that her body be placed in a boat and taken down river to Arthur's court at Camelot, and that on her dead body there was to be a letter telling of her love for him.

Lady of Shalott

A very similar fate lay ahead for this character to that of 'Elaine de Astolat' (See Elaine de Astolat) who was known to have died from grief after her love for 'Lancelot' (See Lancelot) was rejected. She is a character most associated with the works of 'Tennyson' (See Tennyson).

 

[CreamyLady]

Dillinger, I don't really give a rat's ass about Arthurian legend. That wasn't the point, anyway.

Both the Lady of Shalott and Elaine were NOT femmes fatale; quite the reverse. They were victims of masculine charm. If we look to Arthurian legend for a femme fatale, Morgan le Fey comes to mind, and the classic victim is the Wounded King. La Belle Dame Sans Merci will always grow strong, sleek and prosperous while her victim -- our hapless hero -- grows weaker, poorer, scruffier.

She is a vampire, he is food.

That, I think, was the original point to the post, and in my view Keats was a far more interesting poet than Tennyson.

 

[Dillinger]

My apologies, CreamyLady - I didn't mean to distract from your point. I just figured I'd point out what I thought was something that perhaps might justify a bit further inquiry. Enough people have made the connection between Lady of Shallot and Elaine that saying "there is certainly no reason to associate her with Elaine of Astalot -- different woman entirely" is subjective. You may not agree, but the fact that the speculation is out there does say something.

Far be it for this Thread to be the only one on the bulletin boards not to stray from the subject at hand... *lol*

Enough said... I will let you all return to your regularly scheduled program.

 

[Whispersecret]

Golly!

Amadeus! Are you flirting with me?

 

[Dillinger]

One of Riff's very first threads after he joined the board...

*lol*

 

[freescorfr]

So Riff was at it some time ago - and you, too, Dilly!
When I was in The National Gallery of scotland today there were a number of paintings of belles Dames sans Merci - or that's how they looked to me 18th century well-clad females.
The Titians, on the other hand, looked remarkably erotic - pillowy, there are some good Titians there.

None of it explains the "Overall Syndrome", however.

Among the naked and berobed ladies of the National Gallery, I wondered where an overalled, green-eyed girl would fit.

 

[Dillinger]

Something to be said for consistency, I guess.

 

[GreenEyedGirl]

http://www.geocities.com/Wellesley/7303/shalotwater1.htm

This lady graces my bedroom.

I have always been fascinated by these images.
Why? I have no clue. But the femme fatale strikes a resonant chord.

(And just in case I can not truly figure out how to post an image, I'll add a link)

 

[GreenEyedGirl]

Yup, I'm a fuck nut, can't figure out how to post a damn picture.



But hey, my av is a bit femme fatale right now, so someone fuck with me so I can sting them! lol

 

[riff]

Yup, I'm a fuck nut, can't figure out how to post a damn picture.



But hey, my av is a bit femme fatale right now, so someone fuck with me so I can sting them! lol

Hey, u look like a lobster! hehhehe


LOBSTER MAGNET!!!!!

 

[GreenEyedGirl]

Hey, u look like a lobster! hehhehe


LOBSTER MAGNET!!!!!

Lobster my ass!

(And that is a request in case you were wondering!)

 

[riff]

Wouldn't you prefer the lasagna I am cooking now?

Greenie, a request for what exactly?

 

[GreenEyedGirl]

Wouldn't you prefer the lasagna I am cooking now?

Greenie, a request for what exactly?

Well, since I am deathly allergic to lobster, yes, lasagna would be lovely. Thank you so much for asking.


And if you can not figure out what to do with my ass, I am not helping you out there.
You're smart, you're quick, you're creative.....
Do something !

Heh Heh

 

[riff]

You should be spanked, I think.

 

[GreenEyedGirl]

You should be spanked, I think.

You may be right. But you have to catch me first! LOL

 

[riff]

~catches your ankle, drags you to the couch, and manipulates you across my knee~

BAD GIRL! BAD BAD GIRL!

~looks at kitty across the room~

~SWAT~

See what happens to little girls that don't use the litterbox?

heheheh