Hola, Javi, y muchas gracias — Amity

Hola. :smile:

Yes, it's difficult to follow. However, I discovered that kennings are not only found in Old Nordic poetry.
Excellent information from: — Amity

Thanks, Amity. I really enjoy reading stuff like this. I wonder now if' stuff' is a bad word to express or refer to something. I am realising that I am using stuff' a lot while I interact with you, mates. I understand that it is not too important to express myself in a perfect manner, yet I guess that maybe I sound 'repetitive' in most of my posts and answers.

It is indeed fascinating. How do I say 'book-worm' in Spanish? :wink: — Amity

We don't refer to worms but to mice to refer to that noun. We say: ratón de biblioteca. :smile:

Has anything poetic inspired you recently to think and reflect on today's everyday? — Amity

Yes. I am currently reading Borges, and he dedicated a chapter for reviewing 'kennings'. A 'kenning' is an old poem that is characterised for including a large number of metaphors and ambiguity. Sadly, I am not very informed or acknowledged on Icelandic and Old Nordic poetry, so it is a bit difficult for me to follow some details and descriptions.
Anyway, thanks to the vast and wonderful work of translating by Borges, I started to read and flowing my imagination around. I'd like to feel free and open to interpretation while reading kennings.

If you don't mind, Amity, I'd like to share a kenning I read before:

The fishing goes according to our [my] wishes, in that we have tried to lure the poison-serpent of the sea out of the heather of the field of the cod. The caster of the bait-gallows let the one grasped by the hook hang; at all events, things have turned out well for me in catching the trout.

Reflecting on the ambiguity of the brief poem above, most experts on Scandinavian literature and poetry agreed that 'the heather of the field of the cod' means seaweed. Fascinating, isn't it? This kind of poetry is helping me to improve my imagination. :smile:

Further readings: Skaldic Poetry.

Fictions by Jorge Luis Borges.

I am enjoying Borges' works. I don't understand why it took me too long to start reading him. Maybe he just popped up in my life at the perfect time. Glad that my parents have books of him on their shelves.

Wait... Am I the only one who thinks this topic is sneakily becoming The Shoutbox 2.0?

I once was aggressively called "Guiri" by a drunken Spanishman. Ironically, he was the one who was being uncouth; I was a perfect gentleman. — Jamal

I obviously trust that you were behaving genuinely, Jamal.

When we are drunk, we tend to be dangerous and disruptive... the consequences of having such a big percentage of 'enthusiasm' in our DNA. Like Italians and Balkans folks.

:up:

Mahler! I couldn't have thought of a better option to welcome September!

Australian charming music. @Tom Storm @Banno @Wayfarer

Let's dance while we take a break from doing philosophy on 'certainty' and 'sense and sensibilia.'

thrifty Northern Europeans — BC

Are you sure it isn't Russians and Bulgarians who are the guiri? — BC

I make Mancunians responsible for the tomatina party, especially @Sir2u.
Are there Russians in the ceremony as well? Probably. You know they are all over the world spying folks!

One could use the pineapple emoji to efficiently welcome new members, for instance (pineapples were once a symbol of welcoming, so I have heard). Banana and banana peel emoji's would have several uses. Sour grapes, kiwis, nuts, cherries, peaches, apricots, eggplant, raspberries (the Bronx cheer) rotten tomatoes, etc. — BC

If I had to choose a fruit representing philosophy, I would go for a coconut. Why? Because although it is tough and rough in the bark, it has a juicy and delicious liquid when you get deep into it.

did you participate in the big Spanish tomato fight? — BC

No, mate. I don't participate in guiri things.

To clarify: if you don't join the Discord server you won't be left behind; the forum will always be at thephilosophyforum.com, — Jamal

:up:

But I guess only a few or even nobody is in that forum. The main point is to not leave behind our relationship and keep our data to the extent we could. I don't see the point of joining a random philosophy forum with moderators who are unknown to us, and we will not know how they would welcome us.

Although Discord is not the epitome of social media, it has fruit emojis (special attention to the banana emoji). Something that Plush Forums lacks of... 

Oh! What a minute. I am basically the only one who uses emojis. :snicker:

Spain, right? — jorndoe

Sí.

In a socialist world, there might have been more money invested in more cost effective ways rather than as a means to generate vast profits for shareholders etc. — Punshhh

I live in a socialist country, and the government is not investing in the most cost effective ways. It collects a lot of taxes, but a big percentage goes to reduce the big external debt with the European Union. When we were in the coronavirus pandemic, it was a total chaos by the public administration to provide sanitary products (such as masks or COVID tests, for instance). The central government had to sign agreements with pharmaceutical enterprises to reinforce the supply.

I personally don't get upset if a company and its shareholders get rich because sanitary products are providing them benefits. The same happens with Nordesk and Saxenda (Orzanpic) products. They put assets in a long-term project, and now they are experiencing good dividends.

What if that someone claims to be frank instead? :scream:

The active-shoutbox-user is a paid job, so Discord is definitely a good choice in my most humble opinion. :smile:

I joined the Discord server. I used to use Discord four years ago with a different user name when I was very addicted to anime. It is a cool place but more dynamic than a forum. 

In the event that this website closes, it's crucial to find another place.I would be devastated if this ever happens. However, a solution needs to be found. If this goes away, we cannot allow ourselves to be separated and lose contact with one another. :broken:

After reading three novels by Kundera, I am starting to think that 'unbearable' is a concept of his own. We have the meaning of the adjective on one side, and then we have the meaning of Kundera on the other. It is important to notice that he also used or attached 'unbearable' to other things, such as love, sex, or art. 

Coming back to the main point of this thread and speaking about poetry, I think Kundera attached unbearable to nostalgia because the main character, Agnes, is sad and unhappy in her mature life. She lives in a constant state of heavy existentialism and uncertainty. Yet he had an acceptable childhood, and when she reads Goethe's poem years later, her last years showed up like a sparkle. She is learning German, she is spending time with her parents, who are now gone, when she moved to France, etc. 

She feels like: 'Where the time went?' Because she dislikes the present and she doesn't hope for the future. I guess that's why the nostalgia is too unbearable for Agnes.

Immortality by Milan Kundera. — javi2541997

Excellent. Thanks to Kundera's novel, I started to see love and time in a different manner. Not in the same pessimistic way as I used to do back in the past.

Currently reading: A History of Eternity by Jorge Luis Borges.

Smooth chill tune. I wish I had listened to it this morning when it was raining under the grey and foggy sky.

It is dyed cloth, using cold water dyes (procion) under melting ice. — Nils Loc

That rocks! :cool:

I assume that those were painted by you. They are very beautiful! Good job. I have three similar paintings in the hall of my parent's house. I like this Indian or Middle Asian art expression. 

I see you kept the blue colour in both, but interacting with other colours. Is blue your favourite colour then?

I've re-read this, especially the part I underlined. It seems that the problem might lie in the category heading 'Philosophy of Art'. This seems to require the inclusion of a philosophical argument. — Amity

We can share, enjoy, and read poems together. But again, my aim was not to discuss the content of Kundera's views. I am currently reading a novel by him, and I am very hyped. The main character, Agnes, is melancholic, so am I. After reading the chapter where she reads Goethe's poetry, I felt like it was interesting to share it here. The thread even went unnoticed for two days. It is obvious that it is not philosophical enough. I only invited the users to share similar poems in the thread.

I really appreciate how you value my thread, Amity. But you—and I—need to understand that the forum has standards and all.

Tank Man, our unknown protester hero.

1989* Tiananmen Square protests.

* 35th anniversary.

I'm returning to this with an apology to javi2541997 if I've made this too personal and critical. I've enjoyed very much participating in his thoughtful and engaging thread. Thank you — Amity

No worries, Amity. Please, don't think I got upset with you because I didn't. I appreciate the value that you gave to my thread. I love literature and I enjoy sharing comments and feedback here. But it is true that my thread is not philosophical enough. My aim is not even debate with others but trying to read more poems that can make me feel that 'unbearable nostalgia' that Kundera referred to in his novel.
Poetry may have a bit of philosophical content per se, but I mainly focused on nostalgic poems. These have a lot of art but not philosophical content. If I feel nostalgia reading a poem it is just a personal emotion of mine that escapes from rational thinking...

The thread is doing the work I was expecting, so everything is fine. :smile:

If Javi had made a brief argument as to how and why this is an important part of the appreciation of literature, that would have been enough to make it belong unambiguously on the main page, in my opinion. — Jamal

I agree. My intention was not to debate but to share poems where we could feel that 'unbearable nostalgia' that Kundera talked about in his novel. For this reason, I thought The Lounge was the correct place for the thread because I am honest and I admit that I didn't put in a high philosophical effort.

Some brief but good poems by Gloria Fuertes:

I’m alone… and I don’t know why
I would like to know, but I won’t tell…
I’m alone and I don’t know why,
I would like to kiss, and I don’t know who.
I’m in love… and I don’t know what.
I would like to know… and it can’t be.
I’m sad and lonely… and I don’t know why.

I was
born to be a poet or to be dead, I chose
the difficult
—I survive all the shipwrecks—,
and I continue with my verses,
alive and kicking.
I was born to be a whore or a clown,
I chose the difficult
part —to make evicted customers laugh—,
and I continue with my tricks,
pulling a dove out of my petticoat.
I was born for nothing or a soldier,
and I chose the difficult—
not to be hardly anything on the stage—
and I continue between rifles and pistols
without getting my hands dirty.

I found a Rilke poem... — Paine

Rilke was an excellent poet. I sadly didn't read that much from him. We don't have enough time in this life to read every important author of every country.

Behold the flowers, those true to the earthly,
to whom we lend fate from the edge of fate,--
Yet who can say? If they regret their fading,
it is for us to be their regret. — Rilke, Sonnets to Orpheus, 2nd part, 14, translated by Edward Snow

Ah, regret the fate. I couldn't have thought of a better bittersweet example of unbearable nostalgia.

O what wearisome teachers we are for things,
while in them eternal childhood prospers. — Rilke, Sonnets to Orpheus, 2nd part, 14, translated by Edward Snow

Another nostalgic feature: a childhood that will no longer be back.

all the quiet brothers and sisters in the meadow's wind. — Rilke, Sonnets to Orpheus, 2nd part, 14, translated by Edward Snow

I would pay to see a painting representing those two last verses!

We can learn 'interesting things' anywhere in TPF. — Amity

I don't think we can learn anything worthy from Donald Trump and 2024 U.S. Elections threads. But that's just my opinion, and I don't want to force you to think like me, obviously.

:up:

Cool. At least you agree with me that we still can learn interesting things in an informal context or 'Lounge' material. :grin:

I know what 'hanging out' in English means, but I did not get it in the context of posting threads here. Fine, I get it now.

Javi, you are more than capable of using google, online dictionaries to read the different meanings. — Amity

Yep, but I trust you more than Google and other online sites. When I interact with you, I am having a conversation with a native speaker. This is obviously better than Google.

Other more specific threads like javi2541997's - may well be characterised as 'hanging out' but blethering about pussy cats? Come on! — Amity

Hanging out? What does it mean? Sorry, you used too English slang that I hardly followed your comment.

I think you could have placed it under 'Philosophy of Art' without any objections. But who knows? Even that is debatable. I'll move this to 'Feedback' so as not to derail your thread! — Amity

Fine. Good idea. I still believe that it doesn't have philosophical content, but we can discuss the 'unbearable nostalgia' of Kundera in The Lounge, though. There are also good threads here.

...

This is not a 'corner time'. :sweat:

I guess it depends on what you mean by 'philosophical content' — Amity

I am not the one who wrote the rules of this forum. :sweat:

I fully consider poetry as a topic of philosophy. But, according to the rules, I think I would have to write the thread in a different manner. I wanted to share my astonishment with that quote of Kundera and share other poems with the rest. But maybe, it is not that philosophical. If I had tried to place the thread on the main page, I guess the moderators would have placed it in The Lounge, anyway.

Remember your words there?: — Amity

Yes, I do. I tried to give my opinion on poem meaning using haiku. I can't remember what came afterwards.

Sharing poems for their 'unbearable nostalgia' - I would argue that this does have 'philosophical content' and involve reflection and expressing thoughts about self, life and the world (philosophy). — Amity

I agree. Thank you for giving a chance to my thread in such a way. I really like to discuss nostalgia and melancholia, for instance. It is hard for me to distinguish both, and I think it is worth debating. I am also interested in shadows, colours, and night/day. I gave my best arguing in the 'Perception' thread and I learnt from other users. 

A poem that brings me nostalgic vibes (or maybe melancholia? Because it is something I will probably no longer live). Summer is ending.
 

Finally
the cicadas stopped shrilling—
summer gale.

―Yamaguchi Seishi. :sparkle:

Perhaps consider the 'unbearable nostalgia' from the perspective of ecology. — Amity

Beautiful approach. I know ecology and nature are also key elements for poetry. Haiku is a good example, for instance. Yet I said family is a key element because (as I interpreted both Kundera and Merwin) it seemed the core element of that 'unbearable nostalgia' in those poems. First, Agnes (the character of Kundera) felt the unbearable nostalgia because she went from the day she was a girl learning German to the day where she is a mature woman living in France. Life showed up to her like a sparkle. I understand this feeling gave her an 'unbearable' nostalgia.

On the other hand, the poem shared by @Paine of Merwin, seems to send a similar message. An adult person who is in a difficult relationship with his father, and misses old times when he was a child, and he didn't need to worry whether he visited his father or not.
 
But that's how I just interpret it. Poetry is infinite in its own interpretation. :sparkle:

Sorry, I couldn't make it! — Amity

No worries, Amity. :smile:

I hope you weren't drowning in sake sorrows? — Amity

I was, actually. There are periods of time where I feel more sensitive than others, although I am always pretty sensitive, honestly.

In audio, the former sounding better. I'm now feeling a sense of nostalgia but not the unbearable kind! — Amity

I agree, and as I also commented with Paine, I know it is difficult to approach Kundera's point. I also read other novels of his, and in these, he also used the expression 'unbearable' when he, as a narrator, talks about love, sex, art, dictatorships, etc. I think it is a very 'Kundera' thing. I have never read Czech poets, and he quoted a lot. It is another task for this autumn: reading Czech poets too.

Just as in Kundera's novel, I think being part of a reading/listening group selecting poems can be wonderful and enlightening. Thank you — Amity

It is, indeed! :heart:

Would a poetry thread not be better placed and appreciated under another main category? Philosophy of Art? Aesthetics?] — Amity

Before posting this thread, I asked myself to what category could have been placed. But, note that it is just a quote by Kundera in a book of his, and I just welcome everyone to share poems with that feeling. I mean, I guess it doesn't have as much philosophical content as the ones on the main page. So, I decided to place it in The Lounge.

The presence of the friend who judges him harshly but also lets him have his own way. — Paine

I didn't gaze at the presence of the friend that closely. I thought the poet was playing with time and everything was in his head. I mean, he plays with nostalgia of different moments of his dad and then with a conversation he had with his friend about why he didn't see his father.

Merwin himself is a contrast to the poem since much of his other work involves memory holding onto particular events and things as a way of treading water in one's 'now'. What is reflecting what? — Paine

What a magnificent question! I am very interested in Merwin now. Thanks for introducing me to his poetry. I want to read him in English this autumn. :smile:

I will think about Sikelianos. Is that different from Yeats thinking about naughty gods? — Paine

I think yes, he is different from Yeats. Even though Sikelianos is frequently compared to him, he [Sikelianos] seems to be more despairing and puzzled.

Another example of 'unbearable' nostalgia that may fit in Kundera's view of poetry. This one by Sikelianos:

Share
With her hair closely cropped up to the nape
Like Dorian Apollo’s, the girl lay on the narrow
Pallet, keeping her limbs stiffly frozen
Within a heavy cloud she could not escape...

Artemis emptied her quiver—every arrow
Shot through her body. And though very soon
She’d be no virgin, like cold honeycomb,
Her virgin thighs still kept her pleasure sealed...

As if to the arena, the youth came
Oiled with myrrh, and like a wrestler kneeled
To pin her down; and although he broke past

Her arms that she had thrust against his chest,
Only much later, with one cry, face to face,
Did they join lips, and out of their sweat, embrace... — Angelos Sikelianos.

Don't you feel nostalgia because a girl is evolving into a woman losing her virginity? Hmm. The poem speaks about a purity about to be lost.

Hey Paine! Thanks for sharing a poem. It is fine. I think reaching the 'unbearable' feeling, as Kundera says, is quite complex. We can even include pain inside unbearable, and we may get to a point where Kundera wanted to approach: gloom or heaviness of something.

he says I did not go
to see my parent very often you know
and I say yes I know — W.S. Merwin, Yesterday from Flower and Hand

Family is always a key aspect in poetry. It reminds me of Kundera, actually. The main character, Agnes, has a current emotional breakdown for the death of her parents. But I don't want to be off the poem. Yet I wanted to highlight how important the family is regarding poetry.

he says the last time I went to seem father
I say the last time I saw my father

he says the last time I saw my father
he was asking me about my life
how I was making out and he
went into the next room
to get something to give me — W.S. Merwin, Yesterday from Flower and Hand

He repeats three times, "the last time he saw his father." I can feel a heavy and unbearable feeling of anguish for not visiting a father. It seems like this neglect is choking him. He is suffering because he is aware that he abandoned a parent. 

I look out the window
my friend is older than I am
he says and I told my father it was so
and I got up and left him then
you know

though there was nowhere to go
and nothing I had to do — W.S. Merwin, Yesterday from Flower and Hand

Ambiguity? Well, he ended up visiting his father. Maybe we cannot ask him more than that. I feel an awkward situation in the room. The boy of the poem finally crosses the line and decides to visit his father, but since he is there, he doesn't know how to proceed, even with trifle conversations. These things take time.

Thanks @Paine a great poem. I felt an unbearable sorrow. Maybe we can get another approach: nostalgia because of the old times the boy spent with his father, but I think we lack some information to get this.

Beautiful rebetiko music, @Alkis Piskas :smile:

'Your Eyelashes Shine'

Your lashes shine,
Like the flowers in a valley,
Like the flowers in a valley,
Your lashes shine.

I have no idea what you mean by a "correct manner" to see reality. — jkop

I meant seeing reality in an objective way, because belief is subjective and we already discussed that it can lead me to error. Let's say I believe it is raining because it sounds like a splash on the ground, I hear thunders, etc. With the aim of being more sure about my belief that it is raining, I stick the TV on and the news says: It is raining heavily, so there is a big traffic jam in Madrid. What do I need more to not allow my beliefs to cheat me? The only correct manner to experience reality is using external factors.

But if you assume that you never see reality, only your own representation of it, well... that will inevitably lead you to doubt whether your manner of seeing reality is correct. — jkop

No, I am not assuming anything. I actually wonder if there is a possibility to see the representation of reality without being cheated by my own beliefs.