Who are you? Introduce yourself

[Lolita.Spanky]

Weird.
I think poets and I think hot guys in trench coats whisking me away with their beautiful words in the winter with hot chocolate in my hands
Wishful thinking I suppose.

Thanks guys for the welcome ^_^. Everyone's so nice.

[AsphodelElysium]

Hooray for English majors! I was one once upon a time . I wonder sometimes that I even bother to read poetry, I'm such a cynic, but I love it too much to give it up.

[dks]

I saw a T-shirt once that read: English Major: You do the Math. I LOVE it--Alas, I am one myself--still am one--just finished my Master's and will be applying for PhD programs for the next fall--looks like I will be one for a long long time...my bank account is aware that I am an English Major, as well...

Asphodel--did you get a haircut? It looks FANTABULOUS!! I love it!

Look at my prattle, would you guys?? I don't post for umpteen million weeks and this is the blather I come out with when I do...

[AsphodelElysium]

Thanks! Indeed I did get a haircut. Not quite what I asked for but it turned out okay in the end.

[Sawyer]

I have just discovered this forum, I'm still learning how to navigate (yes, I do live in the 21st-century, but I've just gotten my 1st home computer!). I feel like I've found a sanctuary, and hesitate to say anything about myself after reading the fascinating posts already here. I adore Keats, although I didn't discover him until I was introduced in a wonderful English Lit class taught at a little junior college in a very conventional little town in central Utah - Ephraim, to be exact. The professor was, and continues to be, one of my heroes. He was a courtly man, old-fashioned by today's standards - he called everyone Mr or Miss, and dressed in a suit and tie every day. Most importantly, he worshipped at the shrine of excellent writing, and one of the writers he most worshipped was John Keats. (As someone else said, what a beautiful name.) This class was always small, as the teacher was very exacting, and most of my fellow students were only attending to fill in the time between high school graduation, and their marriage 2 years later. (If not familiar with Mormon life, it will be hard to understand, but every young man is expected to fill a 2 year mission after high school. Then they are expected to promptly marry, usually within 6 months of their return.) Anyway, thank you for this great forum, yes, I'm from Utah!

[Saturn]

A very warm welcome Sawyer to our little community, I hope you enjoy the forum.

[Credo Buffa]

Welcome, Sawyer! Glad to have you.

[AsphodelElysium]

Let me add my welcome also, Sawyer. Look forward to your posts!

[SnuggleKeats]

I've been hopping around various posts but haven't made a formal introduction yet, so here goes.

I'm Nadia, I'm 21, I live in Chicago, have been a groupie for various bands since the age of fourteen, have a fondness for anything created before about 1920, planned to move to New Orleans about a week before Katrina happened, am a near-full-time writer/poet and my first book is to be self-published and sold in that good old bohemian on-the-street kind of way, I run a business over the summer doing tarot cards and selling charm bags and the like, have been researching the paranormal since I was eight years old and have been Pagan for six years worshiping Isis, have all-time-consuming crushes on several lovely men I will never meet because they've been deceased for at least a hundred years before I was even born, a fact which makes me wish I'd gone into science so I could invent a time machine... Hmm, what else...I have fifteen tattoos, the first of which was Oscar Wilde's signature as am fairly convinced was Bosie in a past life, and have a Keats tattoo planned next. I spend the majority of my time reading and writing poetry, writing overly-homoerotic roleplays based on the Vampire Chronicles via AIM with friends, and giggling over http://punditkitchen.com.

Oh, and I have a bunny named Voltaire Amadeus Botticelli Presley.

That pretty much sums me up. If anyone wants to chat on AIM sometime, my name there is SnuggleKeats. I've been GREATLY enjoying the conversations here - it's so refreshing to find other Keats obsessives, especially ones who know what they're talking about with a way that almost touches the status of a true Keats scholar. You all seem like truly awesome people and I would love to make some new friends here, so feel free to drop me a line anytime at all!

[AsphodelElysium]

Welcome to the Forum!

[BrokenLyre]

I guess we all have our personal story... and our poetic story of why we felt this strange attraction to John Keats and his work. I am no different. I find it delightful and fascinating that having read these introductions, I sense a sympathetic understanding with many of the sentiments expressed.

For me, hearing "O to a Nightingale" for the first time simply and deeply arrested my attention. I never liked poetry until that moment. But after that poem, I just never looked back. I think now, looking back, that identifying with Keats' poetry made me feel understood and somehow, less alone. I wonder if that makes sense to anybody else.

Thanks for the website. Hope to stay in touch as I learn my way around.

Peace to all,
BrokenLyre

[Malia]

Hi BrokenLyre
I had a similar experience to yours. I discovered the power of poetry after reading Keats's To Autumn. I was 15 and I'd been reading his poetry and selected letters for a few months before that amazing day when, after rereading To Autumn, it "hit" me--the power of poetry overwhelmed me and I was changed forever. I also love Ode to a Nightingale. I memorized it and performed it as a dramatic recitation for my Toastmasters club once.

[BrokenLyre]

Hi BrokenLyre
I had a similar experience to yours. I discovered the power of poetry after reading Keats's To Autumn. I was 15 and I'd been reading his poetry and selected letters for a few months before that amazing day when, after rereading To Autumn, it "hit" me--the power of poetry overwhelmed me and I was changed forever. I also love Ode to a Nightingale. I memorized it and performed it as a dramatic recitation for my Toastmasters club once.

Thank you for your kind response. I believe I read your longer story earlier in this thread. Same with me - after I read "Nightingale" I had to memorize it! Thanks for understanding my own enjoyment (ok some say obsession with Keats!). My efforts lead to memorizing his sonnets, parts of letters, parts of Endymion, and "Autumn" etc.... I was recently asked to teach about Keats to a 12th grade AP English class this spring. Wow... What do I say to 10 kids who know nothing about Keats? But I am so excited about this and feel very privileged.

Thanks again for responding. I joined this site mainly to express my love for Keats and his work among others who think that's ok. It can be tiring to have nobody that I can talk to who appreciates (even a bit) the amazing life and work of Keats. And I am sure I can learn some wonderful things from everybody. I do hope I can add positively to this site and serve others as well.

[Saturn]

Thanks for sharing your experience BrokenLyre, and a very belated warm welcome to you; I'm glad you like the site.

[AsphodelElysium]

Hello BrokenLyre, let me add my warm thanks and welcome too along with Saturn and Malia. Ode to a Nightingale is my favorite, the first poem that ever made me weep, so...good luck with the teaching. My students are resistant to anything that even resembles poetry .