tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28798340936355617212024-02-06T22:01:30.189-08:00Clay F. Johnson"I am not so weak as to submit to the demands of the age when they go against my convictions. I spin a cocoon around myself; let others do the same. I shall leave it to time to show what will come of it: a brilliant butterfly or maggot.” —Caspar David Friedrich
Clay F. Johnsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07401506856554446138noreply@blogger.comBlogger9125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2879834093635561721.post-12783429457953243482019-07-16T12:54:00.000-07:002019-07-18T22:04:14.318-07:00New Website — Romantic Writings & Gothic Poetry<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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</xml><![endif]--><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">It
has been nine months since my last post.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>However, my new website has been live for about a month and I already
have four significant posts published with another one planned for next week.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Next week’s post is, not surprising to those
who know my consuming passions, about a letter that John Keats wrote to his
beloved Fanny Brawne 200 years ago in 1819.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>The letter contains some of the most hauntingly beautiful passages ever
written.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Perhaps my love for Keats’s
life & writings is allowing a bit of hyperbole, but if you share my
enthusiasm for literature and all things poetic, then you just might like some
of my posts—two Keatsian posts are already up as well as one pertaining to Percy
Bysshe Shelley and nightmares.</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">I
meant to have this new website up a year ago, but moving to Europe last summer,
then to England & Scotland for the fall & winter, disrupted much of my
writing-related plans such as finishing my long poem from 2017, rewriting my
not-even-close-to-being-finished novel, and reworking several medium-length
poems that I feel somewhat satisfied with.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>However, unexpected interruptions of old projects aside, this <i>unexpected
journey</i> did indeed inspire quite a bit of new writing.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>One such new piece in particular is a poem of
Gothic fantasy written under the influence of despair & madness beneath a
full moon at Whitby Abbey while I wandered alone long past midnight—I will
never forget that night and I can still feel its cold influence.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The poem, somewhat medium-length at 15
stanzas and 150 lines, will be published in a small New York press later this
year along with four other poems of mine.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">My new website also contains a small handful of
some of my previously published poetry.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Most of it leans rather heavy toward the dark side, but I plan on
posting some lighter work later this year as well—my Tolkienesque poems of <i>fairy-story</i>
especially.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So, to those who suffer
profoundly from consuming ecstasies for all things Gothic, for writings ghostly
& supernatural, for whisperings of madness, melancholy, and all beautiful
seductions of Fantasy & Romanticism, then please visit my new website by
clicking the appropriately chosen <span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">Böcklin </span>painting below or the link directly beneath it:</span><br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://www.clayfjohnson.com/"><img alt="https://www.clayfjohnson.com/" border="0" data-original-height="991" data-original-width="800" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMysPsIEeq1chbkwBclq8nLka-7r65M92Mu5ldxkClkmYJ9a2JSAkumRWeL987RGm50kDCP2D5CQZKs7q_5tQSXSrGkvOjZESZZIx_CXMs0S54l4JFp8QYvqQw6cnOKT5tQcYr2EneiQA/s400/Arnold+B%25C3%25B6cklin+1872.jpg" title="" width="322" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">Or just click on the link here: <a href="https://www.clayfjohnson.com/" target="_blank">https://www.clayfjohnson.com/</a></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">Or, to go directly to my Poetry page, please click here: <a href="https://www.clayfjohnson.com/poetry" target="_blank">https://www.clayfjohnson.com/poetry</a></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;"><br /></span>Clay F. Johnsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07401506856554446138noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2879834093635561721.post-69864131598091790962018-10-27T10:00:00.000-07:002018-11-10T11:35:40.343-08:00Keats’s Letter to Richard Woodhouse, October 27, 1818<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<![endif]--><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">Anyone who has read this neglected Blog (a
miserable seven posts since 2016!) or follows me on my seemingly better-loved Twitter
account will know that I adore the life & writings of John Keats.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I won’t call it an obsession—I have enough of
those!—for it makes me sound psychotic or like some knee-crooking fanboy, and
Keats deserves better than that.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>No, but
perhaps it’s that I understand him, that I feel a sort of knowing yet unconscious
sensitivity to his writing that I share with none other—and though this
understanding and sensitivity fills the emptiness in my life with beauty, it
too haunts that same emptiness with mystery and melancholy.</span>
<br />
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">For me, and for many others, Keats’s letters
are as poetical and fascinating as his poetry.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>T.S. Eliot called his letters “the most notable and the most important ever
written by any English poet.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Although
my unflinching and unapologetic bias agrees wholeheartedly with Eliot, I don’t
think it’s that extreme of a statement when one considers Keats’s age when he
wrote them—it seems many people forget that Keats died at only 25 years old,
while the most beautiful and mysterious of his letters and poetry were written
years before that.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>My letters & emails
written during my early twenties are the “most unpoetical of anything in
existence” (and I mean this in a bad way!) and deserve a far more torturous
fate than simply being burned or deleted. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Unfortunately and fortunately for me, my so
called <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">enlightenment</i> occurred in my mid-twenties
and most of my writings before that were logical and unimaginative nonsense.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Sure, I knew of poetry and literature during that
time of my life, but I simply had different interests and goals then, and my
Muse was not yet whispering as much to me then, and Her loving stranglehold had
not yet brought me to my knees…</span></div>
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<br />
<a name='more'></a></div>
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">But enough about
me.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This post is about Keats and a
particular letter of his that he wrote two hundred years ago on this day, the
27<sup>th</sup> of October in 1818.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This
letter holds a special place in my heart for many reasons and I usually revisit
it every so often, especially this time of year.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Many of these reasons are straight forward
and obvious within the letter itself, others are a bit more mysterious and esoteric,
including ideas of poetical character and an interest in the darker side of
things—none of which I wish to write about here.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Anyway, without further ado, Keats’s letter
to his friend Richard Woodhouse written in Hampstead on 27 October, 1818 is
copied below:</span><br />
<br />
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="index 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="index 9"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" SemiHidden="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" SemiHidden="true"
UnhideWhenUsed="true" Name="toc 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" SemiHidden="true"
UnhideWhenUsed="true" Name="toc 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" SemiHidden="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" SemiHidden="true"
UnhideWhenUsed="true" Name="toc 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" SemiHidden="true"
UnhideWhenUsed="true" Name="toc 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" SemiHidden="true"
UnhideWhenUsed="true" Name="toc 7"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" SemiHidden="true"
UnhideWhenUsed="true" Name="toc 8"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" SemiHidden="true"
UnhideWhenUsed="true" Name="toc 9"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="header"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="35" SemiHidden="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="envelope address"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="toa heading"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="List"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="10" QFormat="true" Name="Title"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="1" SemiHidden="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="11" QFormat="true" Name="Subtitle"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="22" QFormat="true" Name="Strong"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="20" QFormat="true" Name="Emphasis"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="HTML Cite"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="HTML Preformatted"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="Table Grid"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" Name="Placeholder Text"/>
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" Name="Light Shading"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" Name="Light List"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" Name="Light Grid"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" Name="Medium Shading 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" Name="Medium Shading 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" Name="Medium List 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" Name="Medium List 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" Name="Medium Grid 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" Name="Medium Grid 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" Name="Medium Grid 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" Name="Dark List"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" Name="Colorful Shading"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" Name="Colorful List"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" Name="Colorful Grid"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" Name="Light Shading Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" Name="Light List Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" Name="Light Grid Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" Name="Revision"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="34" QFormat="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="29" QFormat="true" Name="Quote"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="30" QFormat="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" Name="Dark List Accent 1"/>
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" Name="Colorful List Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" Name="Light Shading Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" Name="Light List Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" Name="Light Grid Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 2"/>
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" Name="Dark List Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" Name="Colorful List Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" Name="Light Shading Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" Name="Light List Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" Name="Light Grid Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 3"/>
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" Name="Colorful List Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" Name="Light Shading Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" Name="Light List Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" Name="Light Grid Accent 4"/>
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 4"/>
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 4"/>
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 4"/>
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" Name="Colorful List Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" Name="Light Shading Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" Name="Light List Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" Name="Light Grid Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" Name="Dark List Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" Name="Colorful List Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" Name="Light Shading Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" Name="Light List Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" Name="Light Grid Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" Name="Dark List Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" Name="Colorful List Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="19" QFormat="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="21" QFormat="true"
Name="Intense Emphasis"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="31" QFormat="true"
Name="Subtle Reference"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="32" QFormat="true"
Name="Intense Reference"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="33" QFormat="true" Name="Book Title"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="37" SemiHidden="true"
UnhideWhenUsed="true" Name="Bibliography"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" SemiHidden="true"
UnhideWhenUsed="true" QFormat="true" Name="TOC Heading"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="41" Name="Plain Table 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="42" Name="Plain Table 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="43" Name="Plain Table 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="44" Name="Plain Table 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="45" Name="Plain Table 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="40" Name="Grid Table Light"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="46" Name="Grid Table 1 Light"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="47" Name="Grid Table 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="48" Name="Grid Table 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="49" Name="Grid Table 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="50" Name="Grid Table 5 Dark"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="51" Name="Grid Table 6 Colorful"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="52" Name="Grid Table 7 Colorful"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="46"
Name="Grid Table 1 Light Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="47" Name="Grid Table 2 Accent 1"/>
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</span><br />
<div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: right;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">27
October [1818]</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">My dear Woodhouse,</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Your letter gave me great
satisfaction; more on account of its friendliness, than any relish of that
matter in it which is accounted so acceptable in the "genus
irritabile."<span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">[1]</span></span></span></span>
The best answer I can give you is in a clerklike manner to make some
observations on two principal points, which seem to point like indices into the
midst of the whole <span style="mso-bidi-font-style: italic;">pro</span> and <span style="mso-bidi-font-style: italic;">con,</span> about genius, and views and
achievements and ambition and coetera. 1<sup>st</sup> As to the poetical Character
itself, (I mean that sort of which, if I am any thing, I am a Member; that sort
distinguished from the wordsworthian or egotistical sublime; which is a thing <span style="mso-bidi-font-style: italic;">per<i> </i>se</span> and stands alone) it is
not itself—it has no self—it is every thing and nothing—it has no character—it
enjoys light and shade; it lives in gusto, be it foul or fair, high or low,
rich or poor, mean or elevated—it has as much delight in conceiving an Iago as
an Imogen. What shocks the virtuous philosopher delights the camelion Poet. It
does no harm from its relish of the dark side of things, any more than from its
taste for the bright one; because they both end in speculation. A Poet is the
most unpoetical of anything in existence, because he has no Identity—he is
continually in for—and filling some other Body—The Sun, the Moon, the Sea and Men
and Women who are creatures of impulse are poetical and have about them an
unchangeable attribute—the poet has none; no identity—he is certainly the most
unpoetical of all God's Creatures. If then he has no self, and if I am a Poet,
where is the wonder that I should say I would write no more? Might I not at
that very instant have been cogitating on the Characters of Saturn and Ops? It
is a wretched thing to confess; but it is a very fact that not one word I ever
utter can be taken for granted as an opinion growing out of my identical nature—how
can it, when I have no nature? When I am in a room with People if I am free
from speculating on creations of my own brain, then not myself goes home to
myself: but the identity of every one in the room begins so to press upon me,
[so] that I am in a very little time annihilated—not only among Men; it would
be the same in a Nursery of children: I know not whether I make myself wholly
understood: I hope enough to let you see that no dependence is to be placed on
what I said that day.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">In the second place I will speak of my
views, and of the life I purpose to myself—I am ambitious of doing the world
some good: if I should be spared that may be the work of maturer years—in the
interval I will assay to reach to as high a summit in Poetry as the nerve
bestowed upon me will suffer. The faint conceptions I have of Poems to come
bring the blood frequently into my forehead—All I hope is that I may not lose
all interest in human affairs—that the solitary indifference I feel for
applause, even from the finest Spirits, will not blunt any acuteness of vision
I may have. I do not think it will—I feel assured I should write from the mere
yearning and fondness I have for the Beautiful even if my night's labours
should be burnt every morning and no eye ever shine upon them. But even now I
am perhaps not speaking from myself; but from some character in whose soul I
now live. I am sure however that this next sentence is from myself. I feel your
anxiety, good opinion and friendship in the highest degree, and am </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 6;"> </span><span style="mso-tab-count: 2;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Your’s most sincerely,</span></div>
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 8;"> </span><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>John Keats</span><br />
<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixDr6gm8bugk9sJQa_OP53POSoF-JVxTGQLQC-CW8k_KciWzPzj9sEasEyIySFmXBFoQQNNRWtjTrSvjJYFrNoKM_W89fsOHfsbhZCgcohaccO1zCGBv9n701nGSLfTgl0xlDO2ayfyFA/s1600/Keats+1819.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="800" data-original-width="595" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixDr6gm8bugk9sJQa_OP53POSoF-JVxTGQLQC-CW8k_KciWzPzj9sEasEyIySFmXBFoQQNNRWtjTrSvjJYFrNoKM_W89fsOHfsbhZCgcohaccO1zCGBv9n701nGSLfTgl0xlDO2ayfyFA/s320/Keats+1819.jpg" width="238" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">[Portrait of John Keats by his friend Joseph Severn, 1819]</span><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Body Text 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Body Text Indent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Body Text Indent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Block Text"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Hyperlink"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="FollowedHyperlink"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="22" QFormat="true" Name="Strong"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="20" QFormat="true" Name="Emphasis"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Document Map"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Plain Text"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="E-mail Signature"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="HTML Top of Form"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="HTML Bottom of Form"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Normal (Web)"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="HTML Acronym"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="HTML Address"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="HTML Cite"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="HTML Code"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="HTML Definition"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="HTML Keyboard"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="HTML Preformatted"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="HTML Sample"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="HTML Typewriter"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="HTML Variable"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Normal Table"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="annotation subject"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="No List"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Outline List 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Outline List 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Outline List 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Simple 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Simple 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Simple 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Classic 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Classic 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Classic 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Classic 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Colorful 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Colorful 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Colorful 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Columns 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Columns 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Columns 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Columns 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Columns 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Grid 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Grid 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Grid 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Grid 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Grid 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Grid 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Grid 7"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Grid 8"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table List 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table List 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table List 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table List 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table List 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table List 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table List 7"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table List 8"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table 3D effects 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table 3D effects 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table 3D effects 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Contemporary"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Elegant"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Professional"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Subtle 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Subtle 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Web 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Web 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Web 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Balloon Text"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="Table Grid"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Theme"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" Name="Placeholder Text"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="1" QFormat="true" Name="No Spacing"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" Name="Light Shading"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" Name="Light List"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" Name="Light Grid"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" Name="Medium Shading 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" Name="Medium Shading 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" Name="Medium List 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" Name="Medium List 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" Name="Medium Grid 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" Name="Medium Grid 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" Name="Medium Grid 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" Name="Dark List"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" Name="Colorful Shading"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" Name="Colorful List"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" Name="Colorful Grid"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" Name="Light Shading Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" Name="Light List Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" Name="Light Grid Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" Name="Revision"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="34" QFormat="true"
Name="List Paragraph"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="29" QFormat="true" Name="Quote"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="30" QFormat="true"
Name="Intense Quote"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" Name="Dark List Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" Name="Colorful List Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" Name="Light Shading Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" Name="Light List Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" Name="Light Grid Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" Name="Dark List Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" Name="Colorful List Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" Name="Light Shading Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" Name="Light List Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" Name="Light Grid Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" Name="Dark List Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" Name="Colorful List Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" Name="Light Shading Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" Name="Light List Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" Name="Light Grid Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" Name="Dark List Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" Name="Colorful List Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" Name="Light Shading Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" Name="Light List Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" Name="Light Grid Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" Name="Dark List Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" Name="Colorful List Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" Name="Light Shading Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" Name="Light List Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" Name="Light Grid Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" Name="Dark List Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" Name="Colorful List Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="19" QFormat="true"
Name="Subtle Emphasis"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="21" QFormat="true"
Name="Intense Emphasis"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="31" QFormat="true"
Name="Subtle Reference"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="32" QFormat="true"
Name="Intense Reference"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="33" QFormat="true" Name="Book Title"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="37" SemiHidden="true"
UnhideWhenUsed="true" Name="Bibliography"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" SemiHidden="true"
UnhideWhenUsed="true" QFormat="true" Name="TOC Heading"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="41" Name="Plain Table 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="42" Name="Plain Table 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="43" Name="Plain Table 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="44" Name="Plain Table 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="45" Name="Plain Table 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="40" Name="Grid Table Light"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="46" Name="Grid Table 1 Light"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="47" Name="Grid Table 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="48" Name="Grid Table 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="49" Name="Grid Table 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="50" Name="Grid Table 5 Dark"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="51" Name="Grid Table 6 Colorful"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="52" Name="Grid Table 7 Colorful"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="46"
Name="Grid Table 1 Light Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="47" Name="Grid Table 2 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="48" Name="Grid Table 3 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="49" Name="Grid Table 4 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="50" Name="Grid Table 5 Dark Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="51"
Name="Grid Table 6 Colorful Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="52"
Name="Grid Table 7 Colorful Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="46"
Name="Grid Table 1 Light Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="47" Name="Grid Table 2 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="48" Name="Grid Table 3 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="49" Name="Grid Table 4 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="50" Name="Grid Table 5 Dark Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="51"
Name="Grid Table 6 Colorful Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="52"
Name="Grid Table 7 Colorful Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="46"
Name="Grid Table 1 Light Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="47" Name="Grid Table 2 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="48" Name="Grid Table 3 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="49" Name="Grid Table 4 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="50" Name="Grid Table 5 Dark Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="51"
Name="Grid Table 6 Colorful Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="52"
Name="Grid Table 7 Colorful Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="46"
Name="Grid Table 1 Light Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="47" Name="Grid Table 2 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="48" Name="Grid Table 3 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="49" Name="Grid Table 4 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="50" Name="Grid Table 5 Dark Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="51"
Name="Grid Table 6 Colorful Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="52"
Name="Grid Table 7 Colorful Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="46"
Name="Grid Table 1 Light Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="47" Name="Grid Table 2 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="48" Name="Grid Table 3 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="49" Name="Grid Table 4 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="50" Name="Grid Table 5 Dark Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="51"
Name="Grid Table 6 Colorful Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="52"
Name="Grid Table 7 Colorful Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="46"
Name="Grid Table 1 Light Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="47" Name="Grid Table 2 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="48" Name="Grid Table 3 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="49" Name="Grid Table 4 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="50" Name="Grid Table 5 Dark Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="51"
Name="Grid Table 6 Colorful Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="52"
Name="Grid Table 7 Colorful Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="46" Name="List Table 1 Light"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="47" Name="List Table 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="48" Name="List Table 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="49" Name="List Table 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="50" Name="List Table 5 Dark"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="51" Name="List Table 6 Colorful"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="52" Name="List Table 7 Colorful"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="46"
Name="List Table 1 Light Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="47" Name="List Table 2 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="48" Name="List Table 3 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="49" Name="List Table 4 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="50" Name="List Table 5 Dark Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="51"
Name="List Table 6 Colorful Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="52"
Name="List Table 7 Colorful Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="46"
Name="List Table 1 Light Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="47" Name="List Table 2 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="48" Name="List Table 3 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="49" Name="List Table 4 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="50" Name="List Table 5 Dark Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="51"
Name="List Table 6 Colorful Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="52"
Name="List Table 7 Colorful Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="46"
Name="List Table 1 Light Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="47" Name="List Table 2 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="48" Name="List Table 3 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="49" Name="List Table 4 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="50" Name="List Table 5 Dark Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="51"
Name="List Table 6 Colorful Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="52"
Name="List Table 7 Colorful Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="46"
Name="List Table 1 Light Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="47" Name="List Table 2 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="48" Name="List Table 3 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="49" Name="List Table 4 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="50" Name="List Table 5 Dark Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="51"
Name="List Table 6 Colorful Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="52"
Name="List Table 7 Colorful Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="46"
Name="List Table 1 Light Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="47" Name="List Table 2 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="48" Name="List Table 3 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="49" Name="List Table 4 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="50" Name="List Table 5 Dark Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="51"
Name="List Table 6 Colorful Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="52"
Name="List Table 7 Colorful Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="46"
Name="List Table 1 Light Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="47" Name="List Table 2 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="48" Name="List Table 3 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="49" Name="List Table 4 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="50" Name="List Table 5 Dark Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="51"
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;"> </span>
<br />
<div style="mso-element: footnote-list;">
<br clear="all" />
<hr align="left" size="1" width="33%" />
<div id="ftn1" style="mso-element: footnote;">
<div class="MsoFootnoteText">
<span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 10.0pt;">[1]</span></span></span></span></span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 11.0pt;">This Latin
phrase comes from the Roman poet Horace and refers to the irritable and highly
sensitive tribe of poets.</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"></span></div>
</div>
</div>
Clay F. Johnsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07401506856554446138noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2879834093635561721.post-47766898285088605192018-04-28T22:42:00.001-07:002018-11-10T11:15:14.166-08:00Horror Writers Association's Poetry Showcase Volume IV<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">This
post is shamefully ten months overdue.
However, in my defense, ten months ago I was helplessly self-absorbed in
writing a long poem that, at the time, was my greatest obsession—from March
until July it occupied almost every passing thought. Even more bizarrely this uncontrollable
obsession was plaguing my dreams and causing me <i>writer nightmares</i>, which
mainly consisted of reoccurring visions of being full of interesting ideas yet
having nothing to write them down on. I
believe these <i>nightmares</i> stemmed mostly from occasions at the library
with my old and tired laptop and not securing a table near an electrical
outlet, which would cause me almost maniacal anxiety—I would literally sweat
with rage when people would sit at one and have hours-long conversation about
the most trifling of petulant knavery and peasant-affairs.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Anyway,
before I digress about something else such as the selfish creativity of poetic
self-absorption or perhaps an even longer tirade about how my obsession last
year was all for naught for no proper publishing house will ever want such
fantasy verse, let me get to the point of this little blog post’s <i>raison
d'être</i>:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>my publication in the Horror
Writers Association’s <i>Poetry Showcase Volume IV</i>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Among my meager four publications last year,
this poem, titled “My Little Green Secret”, was by far the most important and
dearest to my heart—not only because it was selected among the Top 3 of all
submissions which included making the cover of the anthology that published my
first poem just a year prior, but also because I actually enjoyed writing it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Sometimes poetry does not come “as naturally
as the Leaves to a tree”<span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">[1]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span>
and can be rather painful to work out.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Other times it can be a little too ethereal and esoteric for some (even
for myself!) and have no real meaning other than whatever mysterious thoughts
were passing through my mind at the time—this is not always a bad thing since
proper poetry is oftentimes born from this random brooding and musing, but
sometimes—<i>just sometimes</i>—my <i>strangeness</i> can be a bit much.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And because of this <i>strangeness</i> that
creeps into my writing every now and then, combined with other reasons and
inspirations (mainly from rereading Tolkien), last year I began writing more
narrative poetry which, as the term implies, aims to tell an actual story
complete with a clear beginning, middle, and end.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I like to believe that with this poem, and in
just 35 lines, I was able to capture this sort of story-telling quality with at
least a somewhat clear beginning, middle, and unquestionably disturbing end,
and for that I am somewhat satisfied.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"></span><br />
<a name='more'></a>
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">And
to add to my somewhat-satisfaction levels—I admit it, I’m never satisfied—the
satisfaction gods blessed me with even more somewhat-satisfaction by revealing
that this poem along with another poem of mine, titled “Ghosts of 1816” (see my
2017 post about it here: </span><span style="font-family: "calibri" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 11.0pt;"><a href="http://clayfjohnson.blogspot.com/2017/05/spectral-realms-ghosts-of-1816.html"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">http://clayfjohnson.blogspot.com/2017/05/spectral-realms-ghosts-of-1816.html</span></a></span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">), were both
nominated for a Rhysling Award by the Science Fiction & Fantasy Poetry
Association. Although I am both
surprised and honored to have been nominated, the ever-unsatisfied and
inveterate pessimist that I am believes nothing will come of it.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">You
can read “My Little Green Secret” and the other two featured poems by clicking
on the image below—the illustration is titled “The Arsenic Waltz” (first
appearing in <i>Punch</i> in 1862) and actually somewhat inspired the poem,
along with something else that I shall never admit. If, however, clicking on images of skeletons
is not your thing, I’ll copy and paste the written link directly below it.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://horror.org/2017-hwa-poetry-showcase-featured-poems/" target="_blank"><img border="0" data-original-height="419" data-original-width="600" height="277" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEioWWna4moiMRDbgTfydYC-gHWWWgodUJZca00jEZGJ_HxiaeituEwtvWj8MJxHfWMWJQIQq35S4uqyj6rVO1_8wrQx5Y_Ck5_n12s-50kWvip9BeUDi4BwocT3uUEfBlvPpGMCcdD-4fs/s400/Green.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12pt;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12pt;">Or click
this link to read “My Little Green Secret”: </span><span style="font-family: "calibri" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"><a href="http://horror.org/2017-hwa-poetry-showcase-featured-poems/">http://horror.org/2017-hwa-poetry-showcase-featured-poems/</a></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "calibri" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt;"><br /></span>
<br />
<div style="mso-element: footnote-list;">
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<br />
<div id="ftn1" style="mso-element: footnote;">
<div class="MsoFootnoteText">
<span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-bidi; mso-bidi-theme-font: major-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-bidi;"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 10.0pt;">[1]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-bidi; mso-bidi-theme-font: major-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-bidi;"> From John
Keats’s letter to his publisher John Taylor, dated February 27, 1818. The
section of the letter in question, and in which I adore beyond measure, is the
following:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoFootnoteText">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoFootnoteText">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-bidi; mso-bidi-theme-font: major-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-bidi;">“First, I think Poetry should surprise by a fine excess and not by
Singularity; it should strike the Reader as a wording of his own highest
thoughts, and appear almost a Remembrance. Second, its touches of Beauty should
never be half way, thereby making the reader breathless instead of content. The
rise, the progress, the setting of imagery should like the Sun come natural to
him, shine over him and set soberly, although in magnificence, leaving him in
the Luxury of twilight. But it is easier to think what Poetry should be than to
write it, and this leads me on to another axiom. That if Poetry comes not as
naturally as Leaves to a tree it had better not come at all.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoFootnoteText">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoFootnoteText">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-bidi; mso-bidi-theme-font: major-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-bidi;">John Taylor and his business partner James Augustus Hessey, forming
Taylor & Hessey, at 93 Fleet Street, London, not only published Keats, but
also Coleridge, De Quincey, Hazlitt, Lamb, and Carlyle. According to the <i>Selected
Letters of John Keats</i>, edited by Grant F. Scott based on the texts of Hyder
Edward Rollins, Keats “respected and liked both men, and they in turn were
thoroughly convinced of his greatness. They made him welcome in their homes,
introduced him to many interesting men, defended him against hostile reviewers,
lent him books, and raised the necessary funds that made the Italian trip
possible.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
</div>
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"></span>Clay F. Johnsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07401506856554446138noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2879834093635561721.post-51260238974560646512018-01-13T23:21:00.000-08:002018-11-10T11:15:55.017-08:00Weirdbook — First Annual Witches Issue<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">I meant to post this many months ago, but last year turned out to
be rather difficult and all of my free time was spent pursuing other
endeavors.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>One of my many new year’s
resolutions—the most important is to finish my long poem, thus completing my
book—is to write more Blog posts, which includes existential inspirations,
publication updates, art- and literature-related musings, and travel stories
both new and old—adventures in Switzerland and Italy being foremost in my mind.</span>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">With that being said, I am once again pleased to announce the
publication of two new poems, both of which were published last year in <i>Weirdbook
</i>edited by Douglas Draa.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Although I
was already honored to be included in this fine and well-known publication, I
later found out that Stephen King’s Cthulhu Mythos short story “Gramma” was
first published in <i>Weirdbook</i> in 1984, which made these publications even
more thrilling.</span></div>
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<a name='more'></a></div>
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">In keeping with
tradition of writing brief anecdotes about my published poems within my rare
and badly-neglected Blog, I want to write a little about how these two pieces
came to be—given that I have only published five poems since August 2016, I
don’t think this is too onerous of a task.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>My second accepted piece within <i>Weirdbook</i>, lovingly titled
“Remembering the Peculiar Effects from the Sugar Witch’s Goblin-Brew”, holds a
special place in my heart not only because of its subject matter (witches, both
fact and fiction, interest me greatly), but also because it was published in <i>Weirdbook’s</i>
first annual Witches Issue.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Although it
may appear enigmatic and/or arbitrary to some, its conception was based on
“real” and tangible inspiration, in particular my excessive consumption of
sugar-laden autumn-vanilla cake balls from Whole Foods with caffeine-infused
lattes and flat whites at the time, combined with my interest in the “original”
witch’s potion, which, according to many writers throughout the centuries, was
thought to have been a hallucinogenic flying elixir—copious amounts of caffeine
and its palm-sweaty and heart-palpitating consequences can certainly feel like “flight”,
followed inevitably by sugar’s sleep-persuading crash.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>At times, depending on how many lattes one
consumes over a period of time, such moments can feel like stress-induced
madness, sitting impatiently and fidgeting about in anxious despair begging for
any sort of poetic inspiration, only to end with elevated blood pressure and a
frustrating loss of time; other times, however, such potions or “goblin-brews”
can awaken the mind to intense imagination, soaring to new heights beyond the
stars and their “supernal climes”, where ideas come so fast that one can barely
keep up.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Even some bits of my bizarre
ingredient list has its <i>roots</i> within the occult for even Lord Verulam
(Francis Bacon) offers his own theory into what such odd things may have been
used in flying ointments:<i><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"> </span></i></span><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">The ointment that witches use is reported to be made of the fat of
children digged out of their graves; of the juices of smallage, wolf-bane, and
cinque-foil, mingled with the meal of fine wheat. But I suppose that the
soporiferous medicines are likest to do it; which are henbane, hemlock,
mandrake, moonshade, tobacco, opium, saffron, poplar leaves, etc.<span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><b><span style="font-size: 12pt;">[1]</span></b></span></span></span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifOfSUSvnmSzC8fOPyQWKL4kGBnxrNTLjn7WLF5BAxiREqXjHSgQX69lzir8zhH9PAbvbqOW_HxoVvsbiyJjG7xsiD33swccJaEkbGVRfDdyteWrj2vEQ0rVq_kl7w107u5tpt32nE4BY/s1600/Luis+Falero+-+vision_of_faust-large+-+FIRST.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1000" data-original-width="773" height="435" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifOfSUSvnmSzC8fOPyQWKL4kGBnxrNTLjn7WLF5BAxiREqXjHSgQX69lzir8zhH9PAbvbqOW_HxoVvsbiyJjG7xsiD33swccJaEkbGVRfDdyteWrj2vEQ0rVq_kl7w107u5tpt32nE4BY/s320/Luis+Falero+-+vision_of_faust-large+-+FIRST.jpg" width="290" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 10pt;">[Painting by Luis Ricardo Falero titled </span><i style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 10pt;">Faust’s Vision</i><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 10pt;"> (1878), also known as </span><i style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 10pt;">The Witches Sabbath</i><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 10pt;">, which I believe shows quite brilliantly the hallucinogenic effects from consuming such “flying ointments” or witch potions.]</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 10pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt;">There are other subtle mysteries between the lines in my piece, as any proper poem should have, but given this context I hope it makes better sense to those who have read it and wondered what the hell I was on about.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">The second poem—the
first of these two to be published in <i>Weirdbook </i>in August
2017—was born from less interesting inspiration, but its publication led to a
somewhat humorous outcome that is worthy to share. It was written
about a friend whom I first met several years ago during one of my favorite art
history classes from university: 17<sup>th</sup> Century Dutch and Flemish
Painting, taught by Professor Arthur K. Wheelock himself. Not to
digress, but Professor Wheelock’s passion for this very particular style of
painting was not only evident and inspiring, but it was also contagious, for
although I was already familiar with and admired many of the artists before his
class, I became almost as passionate for them and their work
afterward—especially paintings by Johannes Vermeer which I have followed
religiously ever since, including visiting the 2017-2018 Vermeer exhibition at
the National Gallery of Art several times since it opened in
October. This friend and I met in Professor Wheelock’s course and we
have had an off-and-on friendship ever since, vexing one another over the years
and losing contact with one another every so often. She was going
through a rough time during one of our friendship periods and, with a mind to
cheer her up, I decided to write a little poem about her. I quickly
realized this wasn’t the best of ideas for all my poetic inspiration led me on
with temptations of death and murder—although, to be fair to her, much of my
writing in 2016 bordered on death, murder, and suicide, mostly by way of
poison. Needless to say, and totally punning on the sort of class we
met in, the poem didn’t exactly paint her portrait in the most flattering of
light. Finishing the poem in May of 2016 I later forgot all about it
until I submitted it with four others to <i>Weirdbook </i>later that
October. Believing it to be one of the “weaker” and least
speculative poems of the submission, I was more than pleasantly surprised when
I heard back from the editor in February of 2017 requesting to purchase it for
an upcoming issue. Being understandably thrilled about the prospect
of a soon-to-be-published third poem I reached out to this aforementioned
friend who, also understandably being thrilled, desired it to read it
immediately. I sent her the manuscript without
delay. Well, apparently the poem was indeed rather unflattering and
vexed and disgusted her greatly for I haven’t heard from her since
haha. This is either a testament to my writing and ability to ruffle
feathers and push buttons, or perhaps it suggests that I am no writer at all
and every time I question whether or not to write I should take heed to one of
Tolstoy’s favorite French proverbs: Dans le doute, abstiens-toi<span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">[2]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span>
[When in doubt, don’t]. Either way I shall keep at it.</span>
<br />
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt;">To those who are interested these poems are available on Amazon in both paperback and Kindle format.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The Witches Issue Kindle edition is currently only .99 cents which not only contains my caffeine- and sugar-inspired witch poem, but also contains 11 other poems and 21 short stories all devoted entirely to witches.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If you decide to buy the Kindle edition, please shrink it (zoom out) just a bit so the format of my poem shows up correctly—you’ll see what I mean once you open it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The links to each are below.</span><i style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12pt;"> </span></i><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12pt;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12pt;"><i><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12pt;">Weirdbook</span></i><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12pt;"> Witches Issue:</span><span style="font-family: "calibri" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12pt;"> </span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12pt;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: "calibri" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt;"><a href="https://www.amazon.com/Weirdbook-Annual/dp/1479428485/"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12pt;">https://www.amazon.com/Weirdbook-Annual/dp/1479428485<i>/</i></span></a><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12pt;"><i><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12pt;"> </span></i></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12pt;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: "calibri" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12pt;"><i><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12pt;">Weirdbook</span></i><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12pt;"> #36:</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<a href="https://www.amazon.com/Weirdbook-36-Douglas-Draa/dp/1479429066/" style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">https://www.amazon.com/Weirdbook-36-Douglas-Draa/dp/1479429066</a><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt;">/</span><br />
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<div id="ftn1">
<div class="MsoFootnoteText">
<span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-bidi; mso-bidi-theme-font: major-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-bidi;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 10pt;">[1]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-bidi; mso-bidi-theme-font: major-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-bidi;"> Quote taken
from Francis Bacon (attributed as Lord Verulam) in <i>The works of Francis Bacon,
Baron of Verulam, Viscount St. Alban, and Lord High Chancellor of England, in
five volumes</i>.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div id="ftn2">
<div class="MsoFootnoteText">
<span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-bidi; mso-bidi-theme-font: major-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-bidi;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 10pt;">[2]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-bidi; mso-bidi-theme-font: major-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-bidi;"> I first became
aware of this interesting little bit of information while reading Tolstoy’s
<i>Anna Karenina</i>, translated by Richard Pevear and Larissa Volokhonsky. The same
French proverb also appeared in <i>War and Peace</i> and I imagine it has appeared
elsewhere in Tolstoy’s writing. It can also be translated as “When in doubt, do
nothing.”</span></div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
Clay F. Johnsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07401506856554446138noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2879834093635561721.post-29486610186968631752017-05-18T22:35:00.000-07:002018-11-10T11:23:51.693-08:00Spectral Realms ― "Ghosts of 1816"<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">I am, yet again, unnaturally excited to announce that one of my
poems, “Ghosts of 1816”, was recently published in <i>Spectral Realms</i>
(Hippocampus Press) edited by S.T. Joshi.
This particular poem holds a rather special place in my heart for it was
inspired by a long-held obsession of mine:
<i>Frankenstein</i> and the “Haunted Summer” of 1816. Mary Shelley’s deliciously Gothic novel and
the supposed laudanum- and ghost-story-induced madness that took place within
the opulent walls of the Villa Diodati during that year without a summer has
long fascinated me and piqued my imagination with bizarre and nightmarish
visions</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">—</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">it was only a matter of time before I would paint the malefic shadows
of my imagination within a poem.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a name='more'></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Although I am beyond pleased that a publisher would accept such
peculiar shadows of my imagination, I dare say that I am even more pleased<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">—</span>shocked, perhaps<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">—</span>to find one who would publish the poetic form that I decided
to pen. For the past year and a half I
have written in a more contemporary hand; however, for this particular poem,
begun in the summer of 2015, I decided to honor the writers and poets who
inspired it with a more Romantic-era structure<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">—</span>a Gothic-dark, Keatsean ode of
sorts. And though my beloved Keats
inspired the form, it was Mary Shelley and her “wicked” company who were
responsible for the shadowy substance between the lines and, in this case,
between the rhymes.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Mary Shelley’s <i>Frankenstein</i> was the main ingredient, so to
speak, paired with copious amounts of absinthe, but I also summoned a bit of
Alpine inspiration from Percy Bysshe Shelley’s “Mont Blanc” (1816), whose peaks
“piercing the infinite sky” never fail to leave me in a “trance sublime and
strange / To muse on my own separate phantasy”.
And though it was Percy’s poetic lines that initially brought me to
supernal climes, it was my own experience while hiking and mountain climbing in
the Swiss Alps in June of 2016 that introduced me to Nature’s Alpine witchery,
whose silver-enchanted muse whispered to me most convincingly the strangest
secrets of my own “separate phantasy”, which I embraced unquestioningly. These new secrets, revealed to me while
un-roped thousands of feet up and knee-deep in voluptuous snow, enshrouded within
white-outs of pastel-cream cloud and, in one case, storm-purpled mist that
surrounded me like night, led me to make several edits upon my Alpine-inspired stanza<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">—</span>such Romantic experiences were made for poetic thought.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">It goes without
saying that I included my dear Lord Byron, Dr. Polidori, and even Claire
Clairmont within my poem, although it may take a bit of imagination to see and
understand their specific influence.
But, without getting into any more detail, or revealing all of the
madness between the lines, I’ll just end this little announcement by pasting
the link to the anthology below, which is available worldwide on Amazon or via
the publisher’s website at Hippocampus Press.</span><br />
<br />
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<![endif]--><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"><a href="https://www.amazon.com/Spectral-Realms/dp/1614981914/">https://www.amazon.com/Spectral-Realms/dp/1614981914/</a></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span>Clay F. Johnsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07401506856554446138noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2879834093635561721.post-41703353126823832782016-11-01T18:54:00.000-07:002018-11-10T11:25:01.917-08:00Amongst the Paris Dead: Oscar Wilde and Frédéric Chopin<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">I began writing this on the eve of a birth, followed the next day
by a death, both of which occurred in the middle of the 19<sup>th</sup>
century. Given the title of this little
piece it’s not too difficult to discern that I mean Oscar Wilde, born October
16, 1854, and <span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif";">Frédéric<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif";"> </span></span>Chopin, died October 17, 1849. Both of these ghosts, friends as I call them,
haunt me almost every day of my life<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">—</span>one with brilliant words, the other with
melancholy music.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt;"></span><br />
<a name='more'></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt;">I had the pleasure to visit these old friends while visiting France
this past summer and I felt compelled to write a little bit about it.</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt;">Their final earthly residence is within the
stone walls of Père Lachaise Cemetery, located in the 20</span><sup style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;">th</sup><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt;">
arrondissement in Paris.</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt;">Although Père
Lachaise is a rather popular garden cemetery for wandering tourists, I was most
pleased to find the grounds quite untrodden that day giving me much<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;">-</span>wanted
alone time with my brilliant friends.</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt;">
</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt;">Even though I speak with them often, either through rereading certain
works or deliciously witty Wildean witticisms (say that five times fast), or by
playing minor-key melodies seducing me to melancholia, I still felt <span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;">an</span> inexplicable
desire to whisper secrets to them atop their graves.</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt;">I am glad I did.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt;">Oscar Wilde’s </span><i style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">The Picture of Dorian Gray</i><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt;">, his only novel,
remains a Gothic story I turn to just about every other winter since I first
read it many years ago.</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt;">Between the
elegant 19</span><sup style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;">th</sup><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt;">-century style language, Wilde’s gorgeous prose and
hilarious sharp wit, and the well-dressed supernatural elements and desires,
it’s difficult not to be intrigued by such a work.</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt;">There are delicious quotes abound throughout
the entire novel, too many to write out in a short blog post, but there is one
quote in particular that I have found most amusing over the last six or so
years:</span></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"><br /></span></i></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">“I was working on the proof of one of my poems all the morning, and
took out a comma. In the afternoon I put it back again.”</span></i></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt;">This quote did not appear in </span><i style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">The Picture of Dorian Gray</i><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt;">.</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt;">It did not appear in any of his plays, nor
did it show up in any of his letters.</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt;">In
fact, it never appeared in any of Wilde’s writing.</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt;">The quote comes to us as an anecdote from Wilde’s
jest with a philistine at an English country house sometime before 1884, as it
first appeared in an American newspaper, </span><i style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">The Topeka Daily Capital</i><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt;">, on
June 5, 1884.</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt;">The anecdote either came
from Wilde himself, or from someone relating the story about him, but either
way the exchange at said country house went something as follows:</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt;">At lunch, an obvious enemy of literature loudly proclaims that all
artistic employment is a melancholy waste of time, and turns to Wilde and says,</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12pt;"><i>“So, Mr. Wilde,” </i></span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt;">said the
philistine, <i>“pray tell how you have been passing your morning?”</i></span></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">“Oh, I have been immensely busy,” </span></i><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt;">said
Wilde with a most serious manner. <i>“I
have spent my whole time over the proof sheets of my book of poems.”</i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12pt;"><i>“Oh,”</i>
</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt;">growled
the philistine, <i>“and the result of that?”</i></span></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">“Well, it was most important,” </span></i><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt;">said
Wilde. <i>“I took out a comma.”</i></span></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">“Indeed,” </span></i><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt;">returned the philistine, <i>“is that
all?”</i></span></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">“Oh, by no means, my dear fellow,” </span></i><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt;">said
Wilde with a sweet smile. <i>“On mature
reflection I put back the comma.”</i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Apparently
this was just too much for the philistine who took the next train to London.<span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">[1]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt;">Even though I love and adore so many of Oscar Wilde’s quotes, this one in particular has amused me most given my own experiences with editing poetry over the last six years or so.</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt;">Upon returning to old poems, much of my time was spent on removing supposed superfluous commas, and then, after a bit of “mature reflection,” putting them back again.</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt;">A melancholy waste of time indeed, but I wouldn’t have it any other way.</span></div>
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<tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGUfCKh2G8m7UOmu6cfX4JaDaWtqvuZsi42AthlR5vDN-eTBO4fzMT4unK8eoRi36_1_b9jM1kbfEXAHfDmNfFXDX8KREPqY1A9mTd2Zs_IHdm24dnB9ixMpvCRzIRTANP0pIDsmEIacM/s1600/DSC00327.JPG" imageanchor="1" td=""><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGUfCKh2G8m7UOmu6cfX4JaDaWtqvuZsi42AthlR5vDN-eTBO4fzMT4unK8eoRi36_1_b9jM1kbfEXAHfDmNfFXDX8KREPqY1A9mTd2Zs_IHdm24dnB9ixMpvCRzIRTANP0pIDsmEIacM/s320/DSC00327.JPG" width="195" /></a></td><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgojg58aBRZ6KbI5ObmlFSjmrIm2vdXqax-CPPWZRi50u6v1LwujTROLHovCrNcid03Hc7pU2X7zwrx6YNEz382J4Temvwfrcs3dU7xyZB3ruYLCCsR9V8P3PccoAHFj4v7-tvs4ZCveAE/s1600/DSC00326.JPG" imageanchor="1" td=""><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgojg58aBRZ6KbI5ObmlFSjmrIm2vdXqax-CPPWZRi50u6v1LwujTROLHovCrNcid03Hc7pU2X7zwrx6YNEz382J4Temvwfrcs3dU7xyZB3ruYLCCsR9V8P3PccoAHFj4v7-tvs4ZCveAE/s320/DSC00326.JPG" width="195" /></a></td><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWUg6MJOcWKboEEkK0zvNFVAW92Kvz74ODIDU-VO0pUqTUA5wB2B6sf7jYT8KWaWiv7Sr5-hYZ9oc2yGdH76eFzCkaMgbKu8uM8B5dg3CKFAhxXz2eca91shYT3sNt1w4R2keH0DdEKvQ/s1600/DSC00325.JPG" imageanchor="1" td=""><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWUg6MJOcWKboEEkK0zvNFVAW92Kvz74ODIDU-VO0pUqTUA5wB2B6sf7jYT8KWaWiv7Sr5-hYZ9oc2yGdH76eFzCkaMgbKu8uM8B5dg3CKFAhxXz2eca91shYT3sNt1w4R2keH0DdEKvQ/s320/DSC00325.JPG" width="195" /></a></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt;">Frédéric François Chopin, born Fryderyk Franciszek Chopin, died in Paris at the age of 39 on October 17, 1849. Chopin’s cause of death has been a matter of discussion and debate for some time, but the most likely cause was consumption, otherwise known as tuberculosis as it was named in 1839. For me, very few composers rival Chopin’s brooding sense of melancholy found in his piano music; it’s a sort of pensive longing, an ethereal beauty that dies away quickly, but stays with you forever. And it is exactly this longing, this aching for something that has haunted and inspired me over the last fifteen years, both musically and with regard to writing. Even just recently I wrote a short five-stanza poem whilst listening to Chopin’s Nocturne in C-minor, Op. 48 No. 1 on repeat for an hour. Perhaps one day I’ll actually be able to play that heartbreaking piece on my piano, but for now I’ll continue to let its melancholy notes inspire poetry.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt;">Other works that have and continue to inspire me I will list below.</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt;">This is by no means an exhaustive list, but rather just a handful of some of his pieces that I have found myself listening to (and sometimes playing on my own piano) more often than others.</span></div>
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<u><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12pt;">Nocturnes</span></u><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12pt;">1 – Op. 9, No. 1 in B-minor 12 – Op. 37, No. 2 in G-major<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12pt;">2 – Op. 9, No. 2 in E-flat Major 13 – Op. 48, No. 1 in C-minor<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12pt;">4 – Op. 15, No. 1 in F-major 15 – Op. 55, No. 1 in F-minor<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12pt;">8 – Op. 27, No. 2 in D-flat Major 16 – Op. 55, No. 2 in E-flat Major<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12pt;">9 – Op. 32, No. 1 in B-major 17 – Op. 62, No. 1 in B-major<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12pt;">11 – Op. 37, No. 1 in G-minor 20 – Op. Posth. in C-sharp Minor</span></div>
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<u><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12pt;">Preludes (all from Op. 28)</span></u><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12pt;">No. 4 in E-minor No. 9 in E-major<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12pt;">No. 6 in B-minor No. 13 in F-sharp Major<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12pt;">No. 7 in A-major No. 15 in D-flat Major<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12pt;">No. 8 in F-sharp Minor No. 20 in C-sharp Minor</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12pt;">Again, this is such a small list with regard to the plethora of incredible music that Chopin has given us, but these particular piano pieces have been my constant companion during many a midnight hour. I hope anyone who happens to read this little post and listens to them will find the same dark inspiration that I found many years ago, and continue to find to this day.</span></div>
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<tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVeRz98EuZTLRk8aJ0tWmHu7M2c1AxORu3c2HcyNGtM23QuFwhfvs-BPg7UtLYZhIhiDBces6jl3fOrsac-tRq0ScKfqK184FuvxZQGu2NEuQR53Qr4BvGFy4q6htBcXOsRKLQ-8YAr9Y/s1600/1.JPG" imageanchor="1" td=""><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVeRz98EuZTLRk8aJ0tWmHu7M2c1AxORu3c2HcyNGtM23QuFwhfvs-BPg7UtLYZhIhiDBces6jl3fOrsac-tRq0ScKfqK184FuvxZQGu2NEuQR53Qr4BvGFy4q6htBcXOsRKLQ-8YAr9Y/s320/1.JPG" width="195" /></a></td><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdh5hgMKcWU4MpeA4Ix3iKvXFPKBuRp0wDtMxeuD00-sYYEffaS1uDOjEaShhbzqNMY82QJ8afjHK7gCgZluCNwJPbd3Jg7Hmy-FIOd6eFwrnTsrs782F0Gy2aIUyOTtWpNlaIxcsUc84/s1600/2.JPG" imageanchor="1" td=""><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdh5hgMKcWU4MpeA4Ix3iKvXFPKBuRp0wDtMxeuD00-sYYEffaS1uDOjEaShhbzqNMY82QJ8afjHK7gCgZluCNwJPbd3Jg7Hmy-FIOd6eFwrnTsrs782F0Gy2aIUyOTtWpNlaIxcsUc84/s320/2.JPG" width="195" /></a></td><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFNy0CM4LdntDZ4cKeBYevK5I8J04x8ygfWa_XHlYDgurg7A2vx18Pn85VgDryA_BeY5SZmlxYF5mlPhOJURWAcwJLipOO7o_v-Jn_oYLtIVShTPrXoiKFyCF3MdnFBTG2TZeRw3-z7Ew/s1600/3.JPG" imageanchor="1" td=""><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFNy0CM4LdntDZ4cKeBYevK5I8J04x8ygfWa_XHlYDgurg7A2vx18Pn85VgDryA_BeY5SZmlxYF5mlPhOJURWAcwJLipOO7o_v-Jn_oYLtIVShTPrXoiKFyCF3MdnFBTG2TZeRw3-z7Ew/s320/3.JPG" width="195" /></a></td></tr>
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<span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-bidi; mso-bidi-theme-font: major-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-bidi;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 10pt;">[1]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-bidi; mso-bidi-theme-font: major-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-bidi;"> Although this
information is scattered over the internet, from my own research it seems that
John Cooper deserves the credit for the original research on Wilde’s
comma-related anecdote.</span></div>
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Clay F. Johnsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07401506856554446138noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2879834093635561721.post-38220654679892116842016-08-31T11:02:00.000-07:002018-11-10T11:17:53.601-08:00HWA's Poetry Showcase Volume III<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">I am unnaturally excited to announce that my poem “She Walks in
Moonlight” has been published in <i>HWA’s Poetry Showcase Volume III</i> and is
now available on Amazon in both paperback and Kindle/electronic format.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It is a great honor for me to be included
amongst such great poets as Bruce Boston, Corrine De Winter, Alessandro
Manzetti, and many others.<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif";"> <span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif";">Link to the anthology below.</span></span></span><br />
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<a href="https://www.amazon.com/HWA-Poetry-Showcase-David-Cowen/dp/0985808942/" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">https://www.amazon.com/HWA-Poetry-Showcase-David-Cowen/dp/0985808942/</span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">This particular poem is part of a collection I’ve been working on
inspired by the events that occurred at the Villa Diodati two hundred years ago
in the<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif";"> </span>"year without a summer” of 1816.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>It is not a retelling of what happened there, but rather it is a piece
inspired by the darkness that was born within its benighted walls, borne along
by my ghost-gloomed imagination and <span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif";">macabre</span> thoughts that I have carried with me
over the last year.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Even though I am
still fascinated and rather obsessed with what happened during that haunted summer, I must say that
I am somewhat looking forward to finishing this collection and moving on to
other projects.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>After a year of
reading/writing nothing but Gothic ghost stories and disturbing poetry, which
included several midnight rereadings of Coleridge’s <i>Christabel</i> and <i>The
Rime of the Ancient Mariner</i>, being <span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif";">distressingly</span> entranced in an almost perpetual mental
state of shadowy thoughts, and having some of the most disturbing (and
beautiful) nightmares that I’ve ever had, I dare say it’s not long before the
incurable effects of melancholy and possibly even madness start to set in.</span>Clay F. Johnsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07401506856554446138noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2879834093635561721.post-59350774500760928912016-07-22T03:00:00.000-07:002018-11-10T11:26:17.304-08:00Back from Europe<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">I recently returned from an unforgettable month-long journey
through Europe.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This “adventure” was
originally planned for last year, but superfluous work assignments combined
with a torn hamstring prevented it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>For
once, however, I am grateful and thankful that work impeded such a sojourn from
happening<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">—</span>though I’m certainly not grateful or thankful about having my hamstring
torn from the bone!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Traveling through Europe during the summer of 2016 was far more
enjoyable for me mostly because of one reason:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>my undying obsession with the summer of 1816, or “the year without a
summer.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I have had an intense
fascination with the haunting events that took place at the Villa Diodati
during that dark and stormy summer ever since I first read about it as a
teenager.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Late-night readings of ghost
stories and dark poetry in the midst of violent storms, discussions of vampires
and other preternatural creatures from midnight till morning, and supposed
laudanum-induced madness and debauchery<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">—</span>seriously, what’s not to love?</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Whatever happened there almost exactly two hundred years ago, it
certainly stirred the imagination and conjured up truly dark thoughts for the
result of those events led to the creation of Mary Shelley’s <i>Frankenstein</i>,
John Polidori’s <i>The Vampyre</i>, and dark poetry from Lord Byron such as <i>Darkness
</i>and <i>A Fragment</i>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And because
these stories were written/inspired almost exactly two hundred years ago, there
were two absolutely incredible exhibits that I would have otherwise missed if work
and an injury did not prevent me from going last year<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">—</span>fate, perhaps?</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">I will certainly
write more about my experience at the Villa Diodati and the other 1816-related
exhibits, but for now here are a few pictures from the first leg of my journey
in Paris.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Another fascination of mine is
Gothic architecture and to see the Notre Dame with my own eyes was an
unforgettable experience and inspired many interesting thoughts. </span><br />
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<td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMLO8AjjzW_Wwh9HI0a4f8tiESTFy77Z6yO9AjBsJ8TW4oMBlJ6dH9LHNRuulr_h9KYQKN5pdUQXM9U3iW9LEEuGhne2dGNCIhyphenhyphennAlE5Kw31rVMmUMiTsSBstsivT5t5MCRNhzCLnBs3k/s1600/1.JPG" imageanchor="1" td=""><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMLO8AjjzW_Wwh9HI0a4f8tiESTFy77Z6yO9AjBsJ8TW4oMBlJ6dH9LHNRuulr_h9KYQKN5pdUQXM9U3iW9LEEuGhne2dGNCIhyphenhyphennAlE5Kw31rVMmUMiTsSBstsivT5t5MCRNhzCLnBs3k/s1600/1.JPG" width="195" /></a></td>
<td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgy3PQ4wLC3S10ALMm7DpyP0bpEDWlGRNwOZMeipJJzaCN7l_qLhik631XrYjR6oHlyl5cUg5wFiCppNHKaeBSuc-FyJbKIkhTKgAP7Ca6dEKjI7w0OQCdFzJ13BCPMZzXRt_rPICFg9Q/s1600/2.JPG" imageanchor="1" td=""><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgy3PQ4wLC3S10ALMm7DpyP0bpEDWlGRNwOZMeipJJzaCN7l_qLhik631XrYjR6oHlyl5cUg5wFiCppNHKaeBSuc-FyJbKIkhTKgAP7Ca6dEKjI7w0OQCdFzJ13BCPMZzXRt_rPICFg9Q/s1600/2.JPG" width="195" /></a></td>
<td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj01Dqn1WuK7Wo-7SB8jbc2vtFwzUUutDlQqGtrYsUFedMJPKc-kwhK4p9suVxDpeqktYc8EatqQhvAKmLlpZLMV3XpjW3VeJprzGg2n6EYxHtJQK1tB318AL9GlT1n0CZD-9Xip44RSMg/s1600/3.JPG" imageanchor="1" td=""><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj01Dqn1WuK7Wo-7SB8jbc2vtFwzUUutDlQqGtrYsUFedMJPKc-kwhK4p9suVxDpeqktYc8EatqQhvAKmLlpZLMV3XpjW3VeJprzGg2n6EYxHtJQK1tB318AL9GlT1n0CZD-9Xip44RSMg/s1600/3.JPG" width="195" /></a></td>
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<td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgp2cWVYhFh7QyVWhlIHn0nldpR8wnULYjd-6COB0xM7kJJcixCrFH4tmio6sGvSAGlYnZKHVm-wBfeZDqvdBG2LH3rGk8VxLyXAzK2oDEbGbjD9qbVzAWPfapMrcVEowhl0sq5pkjgLGM/s1600/DSC00340.JPG" imageanchor="1" td=""><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgp2cWVYhFh7QyVWhlIHn0nldpR8wnULYjd-6COB0xM7kJJcixCrFH4tmio6sGvSAGlYnZKHVm-wBfeZDqvdBG2LH3rGk8VxLyXAzK2oDEbGbjD9qbVzAWPfapMrcVEowhl0sq5pkjgLGM/s1600/DSC00340.JPG" width="195" /></a></td>
<td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTsuGmj4jRX0fyUQ8BpFyyJ_z9cRxpvXySC8AYR7S3RGj-ypeiqwp6FyTlGZdtTFvRRtk7re4AZumPFCmKZ4Jmtg0JDK32KyM3oxmB64HFdmqq3f5__EEEWsTiWc_V-YqJGKvT2Ud8Kzk/s1600/DSC00341.JPG" imageanchor="1" td=""><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTsuGmj4jRX0fyUQ8BpFyyJ_z9cRxpvXySC8AYR7S3RGj-ypeiqwp6FyTlGZdtTFvRRtk7re4AZumPFCmKZ4Jmtg0JDK32KyM3oxmB64HFdmqq3f5__EEEWsTiWc_V-YqJGKvT2Ud8Kzk/s1600/DSC00341.JPG" width="195" /></a></td>
<td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWZNbviHghL1c5xixYaA-NG9Hgm_p2J5LH5xWiA2B-I6mxzm39zrxxQ5OcBmSGeKdV0R9mWR9lRiNMHV8O0l7RLWBBPbVM1muQ_L80-V7YRLQf3sRRRsz_ZbsBACsIeVxyxN7s44mFgbE/s1600/DSC00348.JPG" imageanchor="1" td=""><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWZNbviHghL1c5xixYaA-NG9Hgm_p2J5LH5xWiA2B-I6mxzm39zrxxQ5OcBmSGeKdV0R9mWR9lRiNMHV8O0l7RLWBBPbVM1muQ_L80-V7YRLQf3sRRRsz_ZbsBACsIeVxyxN7s44mFgbE/s1600/DSC00348.JPG" width="195" /></a></td>
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<td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqT3P3eIoZAsu6s84z6QA7fODjKT4ehnRPq3VOECNdb3zeZFocEtTJremNlcXbolcbTx5WjgP70-pgsoL19kRfRGM4Hqa1dM3nEGihAHN4w4afVuryMsheYolU0rjqxgFJ8tKf3iQtVqs/s1600/DSC00369.JPG" imageanchor="1" td=""><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqT3P3eIoZAsu6s84z6QA7fODjKT4ehnRPq3VOECNdb3zeZFocEtTJremNlcXbolcbTx5WjgP70-pgsoL19kRfRGM4Hqa1dM3nEGihAHN4w4afVuryMsheYolU0rjqxgFJ8tKf3iQtVqs/s1600/DSC00369.JPG" width="195" /></a></td>
<td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHzPyL3liwwGJgyByJWUhrYBRHmerY5ZjHhjIaDHX1Rk1d4CilD38VoKoJ8dbkONfwfGaLBfR5-HL3EDtkNVZUYNMbeOLLqMgbh_nSErs88MjYfkAFVRuHz2YGweb2j10ug9jZISSUka4/s1600/DSC00373.JPG" imageanchor="1" td=""><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHzPyL3liwwGJgyByJWUhrYBRHmerY5ZjHhjIaDHX1Rk1d4CilD38VoKoJ8dbkONfwfGaLBfR5-HL3EDtkNVZUYNMbeOLLqMgbh_nSErs88MjYfkAFVRuHz2YGweb2j10ug9jZISSUka4/s1600/DSC00373.JPG" width="195" /></a></td>
<td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUX89E3Tawy_HskULVQtUFkV6wYbJn5mOAWvOL_TDVHk6CxWRGRUQizjolds-tTLhcor42bjpojpoomWwGlaVINvYinV1hL7kYetDhiT2IrH8dl74d3cfXiqa4kt40AHp3xTPQvljUmf0/s1600/DSC00411.JPG" imageanchor="1" td=""><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUX89E3Tawy_HskULVQtUFkV6wYbJn5mOAWvOL_TDVHk6CxWRGRUQizjolds-tTLhcor42bjpojpoomWwGlaVINvYinV1hL7kYetDhiT2IrH8dl74d3cfXiqa4kt40AHp3xTPQvljUmf0/s1600/DSC00411.JPG" width="195" /></a></td>
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<td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCvshPgnLNLPEvKe1RYdE-AleItipBdbjecYDK5QmQ1b9SkToLZyREIrfUUwTPnlkEHX-4IB_q6nZOb9iIGtw8dWZZ2t5yFTvAFEmj0r8BmggilhTHgUeHh0tOxRK2EInlz5aloMHd9rc/s1600/DSC00362.JPG" imageanchor="1" td=""><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCvshPgnLNLPEvKe1RYdE-AleItipBdbjecYDK5QmQ1b9SkToLZyREIrfUUwTPnlkEHX-4IB_q6nZOb9iIGtw8dWZZ2t5yFTvAFEmj0r8BmggilhTHgUeHh0tOxRK2EInlz5aloMHd9rc/s1600/DSC00362.JPG" width="195" /></a></td>
<td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQYdI3XYzKYWSdL0ttsZUaNj-_G1_XKyer7A4bs50wXrH2wsq7O2Jw99OO7Y34rXW1BJIahHs922BD8AvBEnab7aiZwe7fZ49jOLVn8XFVAgP7EyhGv96HvwZWWDTW2xF6bnMh_Y4RRcs/s1600/DSC00454.JPG" imageanchor="1" td=""><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQYdI3XYzKYWSdL0ttsZUaNj-_G1_XKyer7A4bs50wXrH2wsq7O2Jw99OO7Y34rXW1BJIahHs922BD8AvBEnab7aiZwe7fZ49jOLVn8XFVAgP7EyhGv96HvwZWWDTW2xF6bnMh_Y4RRcs/s1600/DSC00454.JPG" width="195" /></a></td>
<td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg02u_zvNnvDmeUT2eETvAOMXR3xyKL9reWEBQnDQpVuRwcRv4w6wB7r8StzfcYgOg4LQxadpJa5D-58IM7Fr0ThwaPBWpEreVuHmyV8mjnt8uoJTsV1wzXM4zin_iC_e1PvEC8USd_XSQ/s1600/DSC00414.JPG" imageanchor="1" td=""><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg02u_zvNnvDmeUT2eETvAOMXR3xyKL9reWEBQnDQpVuRwcRv4w6wB7r8StzfcYgOg4LQxadpJa5D-58IM7Fr0ThwaPBWpEreVuHmyV8mjnt8uoJTsV1wzXM4zin_iC_e1PvEC8USd_XSQ/s1600/DSC00414.JPG" width="195" /></a></td>
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Clay F. Johnsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07401506856554446138noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2879834093635561721.post-1997682243804756572016-05-13T02:43:00.000-07:002018-04-28T23:23:32.618-07:00Opening Post<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">
Welcome!
</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">
My name is Clay F. Johnson and this site is
dedicated to both my own poetry and to the poetry that I love, both new and
old. I have been writing poetry and short stories off and on (mostly off)
for the past five years—university studies, family/social obligations and
career expectations have all added to periods of limited creativity or
"off-ness." Even though I have had to refuse my artistic
inclinations at times, writing poetry is dear to my heart. I like to
classify much of my poetry—not all—as Dark Romantic, a sort of "pleasing
melancholy," an ethereal Gothic of ruin and decay amid unspoiled nature in
all her beauty and chaos. And with regard to all things Gothic and
Romantic, some of the poets whom I never hesitate to turn to include Coleridge,
Wordsworth, Mary Robinson, Byron, Percy Bysshe Shelley, and my beloved Keats.
</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">
Even though I have been writing intermittently
for the past five years, I have never attempted to publish any of my work—until
recently, that is. I began sending out some of my favorite poems to
journals and magazines that I was familiar with back in March of this year and
I am extremely excited to announce that one of those poems has been accepted
for publication. Being a complete novice to publishing etiquette, I am
hesitant to publicize exactly where my work will appear just yet.
However, I will say that my poem will appear in a collection of poems and will
hopefully be available on Amazon later this summer. You can be sure I
will post that link when I find out more.
</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">
Being that I am just now creating this little
website and that I have absolutely no followers, I cannot say with certainty
what will become of it. I would like to think that I will slowly get
followers and even befriend other poets and writers whose work I admire (and
vice versa) and use this as a medium to share and support their literary
endeavors. Or perhaps the dust will begin to settle immediately after publishing
this piece, and thus my first and last BlogSpot post will be in the early hours
of Friday the 13th, 2016—an already dark and gloomy spring eerily reminiscent
of that "year without a summer" of 1816...okay, I'll stop. But
no matter which direction this site takes, you can rest assured that I shall
never stop writing as long as living blood and inspiration flows within me.
</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">
Thanks for reading and please keep checking
back.
</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">
Clay F. Johnson</span>
Clay F. Johnsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07401506856554446138noreply@blogger.com0