Longerfellow, Skakierspeare
Thanks to Michael and Lynn for linking to my Longfellow post, but honestly, never before have I clicked the "publish" button with so much ambivalence. I'll be glad if I provoked some reevaluation of the old guy, but really, I don't claim to know the subject or my own opinion of it. I find myself agreeing with at least half of what the critics say, yet still, it seems a shame that such a towering poetic presence should simply disappear.
Lynn focused on my question, "could Longfellow get hired at Harvard today?" I'm reminded of a very short story by Isaac Asimov wherein Shakespeare is brought, via time machine, to the present. He proceeds to take a college course on Shakespeare...and flunks.
And now, drifting ever farther from the original topic, here's a discussion of the intersection of Shakespeare and sci-fi. I didn't know about this story (written by George Alec Effinger, as it turns out):
There's a brilliant short story, "Opening Night" (can't find the author), where a group of humans stage Shakespeare's play JULIUS CAESAR -- for an audience of carnivorous, intelligent lizards.
The narration is by one of the lizards, and it quickly becomes clear that
A) the aliens have trouble understanding the meaning of theater;
B) they misinterpret the play from beginning to end, especially the murder plot;
C) they are itching to eat the actors.
Umie the Umlaut says, "ask your doctor about the Fredösphere!"
2 Comments:
How funny.
And I was reminded of the addage that if Jesus were to visit some of our mainline churches on any given Sunday, he would be summarily expelled for bad theology, inappropriate worship style ("he raised his hands!), and/or inappropriate wardrobe choices.
Shouldn't everyone be allowed one otherwise embarassing poet for their private pantheon? You can have Longfellow, I'll take Wm. Morris, or Swinburne. Anyone care for Trumbull Stickney?
I would have hoped that the one lesson learned by all sides in the recent literary and cultural canon wars is that the canon in question is a moving target. Some temporarily famous names will drop out of the canon, and a few of these will be redisovered, read in a new way.
I guess that the problem with Longfellow was twofold: first, he was too ubiquitous, and soon became the poet the most schoolchildren hated most for having to memorize; second, the genre (epic) most associated with him was dumbed down by his successors: Robert W. Service, anyone? (Okay, Ronald Reagan loved Service, but that just makes my point...)
Actually, there might be some hope for the narrative poem -- the novel in verse still shows some signs of life. Vikram Seth's _The Golden Gate_ is a good read, is certainly good verse, and may even be a masterpiece. And of course, _Pale Fire_, the novel with a narrative poem in the middle, continues to amaze.
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