OTP

Nov. 8th, 2007 02:31 pm
swatkat: knight - er, morgana - in shining underwear (Default)
[personal profile] swatkat
You know, I just I realised that I ship W.B. Yeats/Maud Gonne. See, I was flipping through Yeats' Selected Poetry, and there were so many poems, so many poems for her and about her and it was just…

I have Proof. Look here, for instance, Never Give All the Heart: Never give all the heart, for love/ Will hardly seem worth thinking of/ To passionate women if it seem/Certain, and they never dream/That it fades out from kiss to kiss.

O Do Not Love Too Long: Sweetheart, do not love too long:/I loved long and long,/And grew to be out of fashion/Like an old song.

Of course, you could call them generic love poems. But then there's this, No Second Troy: Why should I blame her that she filled my days/With misery, or that she would of late/Have taught to ignorant men most violent ways,/Or hurled the little streets upon the great,/Had they but courage equal to desire?

Or this, Friends: And what of her that took/All till my youth was gone/With scarce a pitying look?/How could I praise that one?

Her Praise: She is the foremost of those that I would hear praised./…I will talk no more of books or the long war/But walk by the dry thorn until I have found/Some beggar sheltering from the wind, and there/Manage the talk until her name comes around./If there be rags enough he will know her name/And be well pleased remembering it, for in the old days,/Though she had young men's praise and old men's blame,/Among the poor both old and young gave her praise.

A Prayer For My Daughter: An intellectual hatred is the worst,/So let her think opinions are accursed./Have I not seen the loveliest women born/Out of the mouth of Plenty's horn,/Because of her opinionated mind/Barter that horn and every good/By quiet natures understood/For an old bellows full of angry wind?

He mentions her by name in Beautiful Lofty Things (what a wonderful title for a poem):

Beautiful lofty things:…
…Maud Gonne at Howth Station waiting
a train,
Pallas Athene in that straight back and arrogant head:
All the Olympians; a thing never known again.


Oh WB, you had it so bad.

At one point, I think, he asked her permission (after she herself had refused him twice) to propose her adopted daughter, Iseult, and how fucked up is that? ♥

*

In House 1.something, the POTW is obsessed with this line in Her Praise, "I will talk no more of books or long war". In the end, House reads it out loud to her, and I just… asafadfajh;; It was one of those early episodes that sealed my love for the show, I think. He can read out anything to me, any time.

Date: 2007-11-08 02:49 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] pwcorgigirl.livejournal.com
However much Yeats suffered over that tragic relationship, the end result was some of the most beautiful love poetry ever written.

And the world needs more of Hugh Laurie reading Yeats. That scene in "The Socratic Method" was just gorgeous.

Date: 2007-11-10 12:43 pm (UTC)
ext_7700: (Default)
From: [identity profile] swatkat24.livejournal.com
Indeed. His loss was our gain.

The Socratic Method! *That* was the episode! I loved the episode, I loved the POTW, but most of all I loved House reading... *insert keysmash here*

Date: 2007-11-08 02:56 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] evilstorm.livejournal.com
Oh my god yeah seriously he was carrying such a torch I don't know how he picked up his pen. That bit from BLT (hah, BLT) just slays me.

Early House was sosososo awesommmme ;_; oh god I had so much love and then and then it all went to hell ;___________;

Date: 2007-11-10 12:45 pm (UTC)
ext_7700: (Default)
From: [identity profile] swatkat24.livejournal.com
Hee. Yes. But such great poetry.

Well, I still love House and I enjoyed Season 3 (am enjoying S4) very much, but I concur: early House was awesome

Date: 2007-11-10 02:32 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] evilstorm.livejournal.com
I got too depressed about a third into S3. I may pick it up again some time (I should, really), but it'll never beat early House.

Date: 2007-11-12 01:20 pm (UTC)
ext_7700: (Default)
From: [identity profile] swatkat24.livejournal.com
Yes, a lot of fandom was taken aback by the angst. I don't mind, though- it never was a happy show even in its early days or now (S4 has been awesome so far), and I'm used to ANGST in my shows. *g*

Date: 2007-11-12 03:40 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] evilstorm.livejournal.com
It was happier. *wry grin* Mostly I hated watching characters I loved beat themselves against walls again and again. After a while I wanted to start banging my head on things, too. So.

Date: 2007-11-08 07:09 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] goddesspharo.livejournal.com
He can read out anything to me, any time.
He could read me the phonebook and I'd be gushing.

Date: 2007-11-10 12:47 pm (UTC)
ext_7700: (Default)
From: [identity profile] swatkat24.livejournal.com
Grocery list. Prescriptions.

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