Isn't it fun to rhyme?
One of my favorite poets is Gertrude Stein, pictured above. Born in
Pennsylvania in the 1870s, Stein quickly discoverd her love of European
culture and skidaddled out of the States between World War One and Two.
She quickly rose to popularily in Paris and developed close
relationships with some of the coolest artists of the time: Picasso,
Hemingway, H.D., Pound, Elliot and others were frequent guests in her
saloon. Recognizing the deep dispair and lost opportunites this
generation suffered from, she coined herself and friends "the Lost
Generation". Together, this coalition developed some of the most
powerful art the world had seen since.
One of her most famous works is a 1914 poetry-novel titled "Tender
Buttons". If you picked up the book without introduction, you might
think it's a little wacky. Here's an excerpt:
Tails
Cold pails, cold with joy no joy. A tiny seat that means meadows and a
lapse of cuddles with cheese and nearly bats, all this went messed.
The post placed a loud loose sprain. A rest is no better. It is better
yet. All the time.
Stein's work interrogates language, and breaks the very bounds of
understanding. Instead of logic, she asks her audience to
feeltheir way to comprehension. Disregarding conventions and
creating her own world of logic, Stein truly left an indebile, unique
mark on the artistic world. Although her political not quite as
beautiful as her poetry, she's still regarded as a groundbreaking artist
who had some pretty cool friends.
Personally, I think that's
pretty cool.
Learn more about Stein