Silent Photoplay Poetry Challenge

[BettyLouSpence]

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[donnie]

Wow, this one captures the whole gamut of silent cinema. And very effectively. Once again, I love that concrete imagery. That’s really makes a poem, for me.

And you know, this has a style that seems to me very reminiscent of the writing of that era. I’m not sure why exactly, but it does seem to have that style. Is that something you were trying for, or just happened?

And I think it does an excellent job of expressing just how much influence the movies have on hearts and minds and imaginations of the public.

Speaking of which, as I read those lines “Shop girls stare…as they go on their way,” I was struck by a vague memory of a short story I read somewhere long ago. It was a very poignant one about escapism. It was set in the early ’30’s (I believe) and revolved around a young woman who, dispirited by her mundane life that seemed to be going nowhere, found solace in the screen and the movie magazines until the fantasy world of the movies became her whole existence.

Unfortunately…I have no idea what the title was, who the author was, or the name of the main character. I wish, wish, wish I could remember some detail that would help me find what that was. I’d really like to read it again.

I enjoyed reading this. Keep up the excellent work.

[Kitty]

And you know, this has a style that seems to me very reminiscent of the writing of that era. I’m not sure why exactly, but it does seem to have that style. Is that something you were trying for, or just happened?

I'd be interested in this, too. If I didn't know you wrote it yourself, I'd think it would have come right out of the magazines.

[Kitty]

Speaking of which, as I read those lines “Shop girls stare…as they go on their way,” I was struck by a vague memory of a short story I read somewhere long ago. It was a very poignant one about escapism. It was set in the early ’30’s (I believe) and revolved around a young woman who, dispirited by her mundane life that seemed to be going nowhere, found solace in the screen and the movie magazines until the fantasy world of the movies became her whole existence.

Unfortunately…I have no idea what the title was, who the author was, or the name of the main character. I wish, wish, wish I could remember some detail that would help me find what that was. I’d really like to read it again.

Do you know where you read the story? Was it written by a modern writer with it being set in the past, or do you think the time frame was contemporary?

[donnie]

Was it written by a modern writer with it being set in the past, or do you think the time frame was contemporary?

No, it was in an anthology, but I can't remember which. It was written by a more modern writer and set back in that time period. The main character had a fixation on some particular star, it seems, but I can't remember who that was, either. (I think someone I had never heard of before.)

[Kitty]

Was it written by a modern writer with it being set in the past, or do you think the time frame was contemporary?

No, it was in an anthology, but I can't remember which. It was written by a more modern writer and set back in that time period. The main character had a fixation on some particular star, it seems, but I can't remember who that was, either. (I think someone I had never heard of before.)

Do you remember about what year you read it? Was it in the 2000s or was it earlier?

[BettyLouSpence]

And you know, this has a style that seems to me very reminiscent of the writing of that era. I’m not sure why exactly, but it does seem to have that style. Is that something you were trying for, or just happened?

I'd be interested in this, too. If I didn't know you wrote it yourself, I'd think it would have come right out of the magazines.

It wasn't a conscious thing, but I'd been reading some turn of the century material (not only poetry) over the past year. I think that's where my current influence comes from. I came across lots of lines in that classical Victorian style and just fell in love with them. Most of my poetry usually isn't quite so "quaintly" structured with the rearrangement of verbs at the end, adjectives following the nouns, use of archaic words like fain, etc. I think the subject matter being silent film related encourages the quaint structure.

I hope we can track down that story of yours, Donnie. Sounds right up my alley!

The main character had a fixation on some particular star, it seems, but I can't remember who that was, either. (I think someone I had never heard of before.)

Was the movie star real, or fictitious?

[donnie]

Do you remember about what year you read it? Was it in the 2000s or was it earlier?

I can't remember. Probably in the 2000s.

Was the movie star real, or fictitious?

A real star, I believe, but possibly an obscure one.

Not knowing the names of the actress, the character, nor the author nor the date of publication nor the title, I don't think there's very much chance of tracing this one. I don't even really remember the specifics of the plot.

[BettyLouSpence]

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[Kitty]

I love that! "Come hither, big boy!" Perfect!