| Author | Message | ||
     Seanmcd (Seanmcd) Username: Seanmcd Registered: 03-2009 Posted From: 86.155.106.11 |
"That is not dead which can eternal lie and with strange Aeons even death may die." As a casual reader of various texts which discuss ancient Gnostic wisdom and its power to release those who understand its message from the concept of death I find Lovecraft's most famous line to be one of the most obvious pieces of Gnostic wisdom i've ever read. The dreaded Necronomicon itself seems to be a clever gnostic cypher for ancient wisdom which,once understood,has the effect of changing the reader's perception of reality. Effectively being reborn into new vistas of reality. Of course, those uninitiated souls who only partially grasp it's hideous message of the ending of death itself are usually sent simply insane or schizophrenic as they try desperately to hold on to their disintegrating egos. On the other hand maybe i've been reading too much into this. Was Lovecraft a Gnostic ? I know Blackwood was as his work is full of gnostic mythology and references. He was also a member of that infamous Gnostic brotherhood The Order of the Golden Dawn. Did Lovecraft and Blackwood ever communicate ? Did Lovecraft satirise the Golden Dawn with his Order of Dagon ? Just throwing all this out there. It's been on my mind for a long time. | ||
| Zed (Gary_mc) Username: Gary_mc Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 81.96.241.143 |
The "concept of death"...death aint no concept, baby.  | ||
| Joel (Joel) Username: Joel Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 91.110.193.18 |
It's basically a reworking of two lines from John Donne, which (give or take some punctuation) are: One short sleep past, we wake eternally, And Death shall be no more: Death, thou shalt die. | ||
| Seanmcd (Seanmcd) Username: Seanmcd Registered: 03-2009 Posted From: 86.155.106.11 |
I Haven't come across John Donne, Joel. Are there any titles of his available still ? I've been dipping into the more obvious 'The Hero with a Thousand Faces' by Joseph Campbell (wonder if he's a distant cousin Ramsey ?) and his final book 'The Inner Reaches of Outer Space'. | ||
| Joel (Joel) Username: Joel Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 91.110.251.6 |
Metaphysical poet from the early 17th century. Selections from his work are quite easy to find. His best-known poem, 'A Noctunall Upon St Lucie's Day' (the shortest day of the year) is one of the greatest poems ever written on the theme of depression: ...and I am re-begot Of absence, darknesse, death; things which are not. | ||
| Joel (Joel) Username: Joel Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 91.110.251.6 |
er, 'Nocturnall' | ||
| Craig (Craig) Username: Craig Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 75.16.85.207 |
John Donne's been out of print since the early pulp days. He was terribly lecherous in his personal life, and his writings are almost totally obscene. He once infamously compared his sexual attraction to some dame with a "flea" - "this flea is you and I, and this/Our marriage bed and marriage temple is" - nothing but pure filth. He's better off forgotten. | ||
| Joel (Joel) Username: Joel Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 217.37.199.45 |
"John Donne's been out of print since the early pulp days." You are, of course, winding me up. He's one of the greatest English poets, and his work is very easy to find. Amazon currently lists eight different Donne collected or selected poems books in print, plus two of criticism. | ||
| Craig (Craig) Username: Craig Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 75.4.254.44 |
My "joke" was rendered less potent by your intervening posts, Joel....  Yes, Donne's always in print, one form or another. And a must-read. As in, life-itself's-if-you-value-it-at-all must-reads.... | ||
| Karim Ghahwagi (Karim) Username: Karim Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 80.167.124.163 |
'I long to talk with some old lover's ghost who died before the god of Love was born' | ||
| Seanmcd (Seanmcd) Username: Seanmcd Registered: 03-2009 Posted From: 86.155.111.59 |
I must google him immediately for a reading list. Thanks Joel. Don't suppose he wrote any ghost stories ? | ||
| Joel (Joel) Username: Joel Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 91.110.236.235 |
Not to my knowledge. Just a poet. | ||
| Gary Fry (Gary_fry) Username: Gary_fry Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 82.20.31.211 |
And his first name doesn't rhyme with his surname. Just in case you ask about ordering his stuff at the local bookstore. You might get one of those managers serving you. | ||
| Weber_gregston (Weber_gregston) Username: Weber_gregston Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 194.176.105.47 |
Just for purposes of clarification it's pronounced Jun Donne | ||
| Joel (Joel) Username: Joel Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 91.110.238.44 |
Again, Weber the Wind-Up strikes! It's pronounced Jon Dunne. | ||
| Joel (Joel) Username: Joel Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 91.110.238.44 |
Sorry, it was Craig before. I'm half asleep. Better get to bed. | ||
| Craig (Craig) Username: Craig Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 75.4.236.100 |
So are we Donne here? | ||
| Joel (Joel) Username: Joel Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 91.110.209.145 |
Marvells will never cease. | ||
| Gary Fry (Gary_fry) Username: Gary_fry Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 82.20.31.211 |
John Don was a particularly violent poet. Whenever reviewers took apart his work, he did the same to their bodies. | ||
| Craig (Craig) Username: Craig Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 75.4.244.121 |
Ralegh? |