Friday, March 24, 2006

Poetry Friday - Except It's Not a Poem - Virginia Woolf

I'm taking a little poetic license with the whole concept of Poetry Friday and I'm posting a passage of what I think is very poetic prose from Virginia Woolf's Orlando.

"and so they talked two hours or more, perhaps about Cape Horn, perhaps not, and really it would profit little to write down what they said, for they knew each other so well that they could say anything they liked, which is tantamount to saying nothing, or saying such stupid, prosy things, as how to cook an omelette, or where to buy the best boots in London, which have no lustre taken from their setting, yet are positively of amazing beauty within it. For it has come about, by the wise economy of nature, that our modern spirit can almost dispense with language; the commonest expressions do, since no expressions do; hence the most ordinary conversation is often the most poetic, and the most poetic is precisely that which cannot be written down. For which reasons we leave a great blank here, which must be taken to indicate that the space is filled to repletion" (253).

5 comments:

itinerarium said...

Someone's all dreamy eyed from a phone call...;) Very exciting, but be careful - there are some real wankers out there...

Dr. Crazy said...

Yes, yes, of course be careful, blah blah blah. If only you knew how totally careful I'm being, compared to my usual jumping in head first nonsense. No, just enjoying actually liking a person. It's been a REALLY long time since that's happened. Which is exactly why I'm happy with the phone and I don't want to push for a meeting just yet - because once a meeting happens.... well, my bullshit antics may kick in :)

But yes, my deer sweet pal, Itinerarium, point taken about the caution against wankers :)

itinerarium said...

Crazy - Do enjoy it, enjoy the magical giddiness, the silly grins, the missing a step whilst walking along feeling. Enjoy the fact that you _are_ jumping in headfirst, _and_ that if feels different at the same time. That is the inimitable shimmer of newness, authenticness. I would be jealous, but I'm there as well. Just indecorously soon after the last time...

Dr. Crazy said...

Well, but the thing is, decorum doesn't necessarily go hand in hand with the jumping in head first (says the girl who once indecorously broke up with her boyfriend and just one month later began dating his housemate - woops!) - see, so you shouldn't worry about your indecorousness, as really, it can't be helped ;)

By the way, I love the super-secret-record of the Polish Teenaged Girl that you turned me on to - very engaging to read. (And I'm not being snarky in saying that - I really am enjoying it.)

itinerarium said...

Indeed, head-first and decorous don't sit well together. There was a charming expectation at Old English University that, even in the midst of exams, one would carry one's self with a certain "Absence of Strain." So different from the States, where you can just say "I'm so stressed!" and people understand. Instead, one went to the unnecessary seminar AND the drinks after, to prove that throwing away (as everybody knew) 2 hours of time wasn't going to cause gray hair and an ulcer, or possible examination failure.

As far as head first, I've struggled to find any other way. Occasionally the pool hasn't been empty.

And glad you're enjoying it - not so secret, really, except from the perspective of the PTG herself...