tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2508563923634392703.post7440471567469124172..comments2023-12-28T13:11:06.666+00:00Comments on Pics and Poems: Inspiration! - Or is it?Dave Kinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08430484174826768488noreply@blogger.comBlogger11125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2508563923634392703.post-51024705870734455702010-07-25T09:20:05.052+01:002010-07-25T09:20:05.052+01:00Marion
Hi and welcome, thanks for the comment. The...<b>Marion</b><br />Hi and welcome, thanks for the comment. There seem to be more believers than unbelievers, but you are right, everyone does talk about it in different ways. I do believe that Eliot was on the right lines, though.Dave Kinghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08430484174826768488noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2508563923634392703.post-23124514041761017902010-07-24T21:36:17.397+01:002010-07-24T21:36:17.397+01:00I'm a believer in inspiration, that little spa...I'm a believer in inspiration, that little spark from an experience, an image, a sentence from which the poem is birthed. Everyone talks about it in different ways but for me it's that heightened moment of the senses that makes a poetry live.Marion McCreadyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04657757253873577465noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2508563923634392703.post-11386951858033061992010-07-24T09:41:47.511+01:002010-07-24T09:41:47.511+01:00Kass
And that is a very thought-provoking response...<b>Kass</b><br />And that is a very thought-provoking response. Thank you for it. I certainly agree with your "full of life and spirit" proviso.Dave Kinghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08430484174826768488noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2508563923634392703.post-36204584081814177042010-07-24T01:07:12.927+01:002010-07-24T01:07:12.927+01:00What a thought-provoking post. I have long been fa...What a thought-provoking post. I have long been fascinated by words with the root 'spir' in them: transpire, expire, inspire, respire suspire, perspire, conspire, aspire. They all suggest breathing and spirit. The Latin root for all these words is all about the breath of life. <br /><br />I like the Latin adjective 'spirabilis' - that which may be breathed or 'able to breathe.' You've asked if it's always a good thing to be inspired, to take things in? I say a qualified "YES" if what you are taking in is full of life and spirit. But I don't think it can truly be called inspiration if you are not at a level of reception to recognize it as such.Kasshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05233330248952156754noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2508563923634392703.post-776701487522347682010-07-23T11:46:53.005+01:002010-07-23T11:46:53.005+01:00Rachel
I very much like your suggestion that inspi...<b>Rachel</b><br />I very much like your suggestion that inspiration is a crystalization of many life experiences, projected into something new. I think there is a lot of mileage to be got from that.<br />I, too, think the poem does not fulfill its promise. I have to say that I am very fond of it - the Tearmann Si poem that is - but do not have any illusions about it.<br /><br /><b>Eryl</b><br />Thanks for the comment. Your experience very much reflects mine in the way you describe working it out in the process of creating.<br /><br />I also very much like the attitude behind the quote with which you finish.<br /><br /><b>Tabor</b><br />Yes, if - as I believe - inspiration is very much a matter of stimulation, then the question of the part that the internet plays or could play in that becomes very interesting indeed. It is a fascinating point that you raise, and one that I had not considered in that form.<br /><br />It's good to expand the vocabulary as much as possible, of course, to enlarge the word pool, as they say, but I do not think you need to worry that you need more larger words. Simplicity is a virtue in itself.<br /><br /><b>Gerry</b><br />Thanks for that. I think Belfast may very well come into it. I have always found myself drawn to the Celtic strain. I think if I was to name my top ten poets (who would vary from time to time) six of them would be either Scottish or Irish - and that wouldn't change.<br /><br /><b>Jim</b><br />Yes, I have followed what you have had to say about inspiration on your blog and have felt the demystifying aspect of it to be both convincing and timely. To a point I have been persuaded by it. Your elaboration on it brings it more clearly into focus - before reading your comments I would have expected you not to agree with Eliot, for example.<br /><br />I also agree that writing what you know is boring. Difficult to see why anyone would do that - except, maybe, as an exercise.<br /><br /><b>Tara</b><br />Welcome and thanks for the response. I, too can see inspiration as stimulation. Self-inspiration sound a bit improbable, I agree.Dave Kinghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08430484174826768488noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2508563923634392703.post-65863400742536018152010-07-22T19:18:17.765+01:002010-07-22T19:18:17.765+01:00I tend to view inspiration as some type of motivat...I tend to view inspiration as some type of motivation (or stimulus) coming from outside of my own self. This could be seeing a work of beauty in a garden, or hearing a thread of music, or meeting a person who could easily step into the pages of a story. As far as I can recall, I have never heard an individual say he inspired himself. Great post.Tara McClendonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07246124060126729229noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2508563923634392703.post-78121086210514880392010-07-22T18:41:59.273+01:002010-07-22T18:41:59.273+01:00Having read my blog for a while, Dave, you’ll know...Having read my blog for a while, Dave, you’ll know I’m keen to demystify writing. I’ve reduced ‘inspiration’ flippantly to ‘a good idea’ and I still hold that to be true but perhaps I can expand on what ‘a good idea’ is. Everyone has their personal likes and dislikes. A ‘like’ is a complex thing. It’s something that we’re born with but which can be refined. I ‘like’ the colour green. Being dressed in green makes me feel good and even though I have no interest in gardening greenery still pleases me more than flowers. But it rarely inspires me. It doesn’t evoke a response. Something abstract like ‘loneliness’ has a far better chance because I have been lonely so many times and in so many different ways in my life. I empathise with the lost and the lonely. A solitary tree might reach me but I’d be treating the tree as a proxy, a metaphor.<br /><br />Can one stimulate inspiration? I would have to say that one can but what I’ve learned is that artificially stimulated inspiration is like a cultured pearl – there’s something lacking. The resultant work feels forced. At least it does with me. <br /><br />I actually agree with what Eliot had to say. But then I don’t see the point in writing about what we know. That’s just plain boring. Writing is about discovery. I still write because I have much yet to discover about myself and the world I live in.<br /><br />Inspiration has never come to me in a dream. Not even half a good idea.<br /><br>Jim Murdochhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12786388638146471193noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2508563923634392703.post-24387091130312358982010-07-22T16:45:04.400+01:002010-07-22T16:45:04.400+01:00A wonderful essay and a whole thesis for us to get...A wonderful essay and a whole thesis for us to get our heads around. I shall go away and think about all this and hope that I can make a sense of it for my own writing. May I say I like both of the poems but prefer the celtic garden. Is that because I'm a Belfast celt or because I like the way the words feel in my mouth and head?Thankyou. G.Gerry Snapehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07269492251928362799noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2508563923634392703.post-86058586547104142062010-07-22T12:54:44.500+01:002010-07-22T12:54:44.500+01:00Your entire essay got me thinking. I tend to be t...Your entire essay got me thinking. I tend to be the person who throws out word in prose and poetry like zucchini blossoms...or more likely ripe zucchini! I try to use a larger vocabulary, but I am guilty of not really understanding the meaning of words as I should. I need a good editor! I wonder how the Internet today with its millions of stimuli affect young writers. And I also was thinking about articles I had read on the mind and what happens when we dream related to creativity. There is a LOT in the blog post!Taborhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15257045780724471840noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2508563923634392703.post-20136325367490211742010-07-22T09:36:37.097+01:002010-07-22T09:36:37.097+01:00I've been thinking a lot about this lately, to...I've been thinking a lot about this lately, too. I seem to have been going around inhaling, greedily, and now my mind is fogged with it all. But it will begin to clear as I work, and only as I work. At the moment my journal is the thing, later work will come from the, seemingly, random jottings it contains. I agree with Eliot, but think that one works out meaning as one writes (or paints, sculpts, whatever), and that it's that misinterpretation that brings originality to the work. <br /><br />I am reminded of a quotation I read recently from a writer whose name I can't remember, it is something like: 'I can't work unless I'm inspired, so I see to it that I'm inspired every morning at nine o'clock.'Erylhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06008344023000459577noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2508563923634392703.post-21679315523974809872010-07-22T07:27:32.687+01:002010-07-22T07:27:32.687+01:00I struggle with the question of where inspiration ...I struggle with the question of where inspiration comes from - usually, it seems to be a crystalization of many life experiences, projected into something new. I have often solved problems in my sleep, too. Regarding your poem, there are some lines I really like - it has promise that it doesn't quite fulfil (in my non-poetic opinion).Rachel Cotterillhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08969719330048416996noreply@blogger.com