u/Dull-Cress-2910

i hate the stereotype where periods overrun women with hormones and overrun them with emotions, but last night i literally cried thinking and reading about john keats. i feel so maternal to this guy, so naturally i tried to look up anything that might have given me the ick (usually not hard for authors of that era) and the only thing i found out was that he was often very possessive towards the end of his very short life, and much of his (very little) prejudice can be attributed to his youth.

he’s so childlike in his wonder and his life was so tragic, it’s genuinely such an inspiration that he overcame orphanhood, being robbed of his inheritance and such incredibly harsh criticism and instead became one of the best english writers ever. he even inspired oscar wilde and wilfred owen.

that’s not even to mention his concept of negative capability, and the sheer genius of his letters and the love he portrayed in them that made all of his friends support him, even in death when they paid for him to get better treatment in italy. i think my final straw was when he offered to end his engagement to fanny because he had no money and she refused, then spent her life after he died defending his work.

is there actually anything wrong with this guy!!???

recently i bought keats and shelley because i wanted to get into poetry (to help with my own writing) but they’re quite thick books.

do you prefer reading poetry books back to back as if you were reading a narrative, or some other way like going by theme/what you feel like that day?

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i’m reading jude the obscure by thomas hardy and i worry my current story im writing will straight up seem like plagiarism. my character is a lower class male, mothers dead, lives with someone who doesn’t like him, aspires to escape, and loves reading classical literature as escapism. i just feel like im copying thomas hardy now even tho ive never read him and i really want my book to be literary without seeming like it’s a weird fanfic au of a victorian author that’s set in the modern day.

anyone else experienced this?

basically i (17f) really want to be a writer when i’m older (and i’ve written quite a lot in my spare time, so id say im like intermediate?), and im especially interested in the human experience/human nature. if there’s any recommendations you have for those kinds of writers that are poetic and/or lyrical as they describe pretty universal human feelings that would be great! can be a poet or a prose author, maybe even poetry would be better! thank you :)

ideally it would be authors/poets along the lines of donna tartt, maya angelou, oscar wilde etc, but i’m open to anything that might improve my writing :)

basically i (17f) really want to be a writer when i’m older, and im especially interested in the human experience/human nature. f there’s any recommendations you have for those kinds of writers that are poetic and/or lyrical as they describe pretty universal human feelings that would be great! can be a poet or a prose author, maybe even poetry would be better! thank you :)

ideally it would be authors/poets along the lines of donna tartt, maya angelou, oscar wilde etc, but i’m open to anything that might improve my writing :)