Month: June 2019

When All Fails

Posted on by Robert Eck

On April 24, 2016, I wrote a post entitled “Where to Begin,” a reoccurring writer’s block, which pines for the muse to inspire.  Oftentimes, when I sit down to write a post, I come to the keyboard with nothing in mind — not a great start!  It is then that I mull over a possible quotation from some wisened person to get me started. 

An oft quoted, well-known American essayist and poet had this to say about quotations:

— “I hate quotations.  Tell me what you know.”  Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803—1882)

Yikes!  He sounds like my first mentor, who proclaimed with conviction:  “One thing is certain.  You have to start somewhere, lest nothing gets written.”  In fact, I have written about “nothing.” [See December, 11, 2017 post]  

After all, telling what you know, or what you think you know, becomes more believable if supported by well-known authorities or references on the subject.  Mr. Emerson must have begun his day badly.  Perhaps, he even sat at his writing table with a mental blank searching in vain for a beginning. With all his loquacious words written over a lengthily span, I suspect he refused stubbornly to start his pen moving with a quotation, even though he could have edited it out, as per his preference.  

Where to begin?  Why not look at some quotations from people who had experienced the pains of writing when nothing flows forth from the internal reservoir.

— “The Beginning is the most important part of the work.”  Plato, Classical Greek Philosopher.  In other words, to quote my old mentor:  “You have to start somewhere.”

— “Its the job that is never started that takes longest to finish.”  J.R.R. Tolkien (1892—1973), English author.  Now how good is that one?  I could amend it appropriately:  it’s the job that is never started that is never finished.”

—  “If we wait for the moment when everything, absolutely everything is ready, we shall never begin.”  Ivan Turgenev (1818—1883) Russian author. 

— “What we call the beginning is often the end.  And to make an end is to make a beginning.  The end is where we start from.”  T.S. Eliot (1888—1965.)  

In my view, only a poet would speak the last quoted words.  A poet rarely start at the beginning of a poem, because the poet does not know where the words will take him, until he knows where he wants to go, which is the ending.  Otherwise, this quote does makes no sense.

So after a shaky beginning, I come to a definite ending — quotes and all!

Muses

Posted on by Robert Eck

When a writer faces a crippling writer’s block, he or she fervently hopes for some saving inspiration. When it finally arrives, writer’s often will describe the moment as having found their muse.  So, what is the muse?

Greek mythology produced nine Muses, known as the patron goddesses who ruled over the arts and sciences of ancient Greece.  Each Muse protects and inspires a particular discipline.  Seven of the nine focus on poetry and the theatre; the two remaining, on history and science. (Wikipedia, Muses)  

Four Muses qualify as patronesses for inspired poetry forms:

— Erato (“desired” or “lovely,”): love or erotic poetry  

— Calliope, (“beautiful voice”):  epic poetry; 

— Euterpe, (“giver of much delight”): lyric poetry, as well as music and song; 

— Polyhymnia, (“many praise”): sacred poetry, as well as oratory.  

Of the four Muses noted above, the best known is Erato, who guides a poet though lines of love, platonic or lustful — frequently erotic, but rarely erratic.  Poets even had written poems to Erato for continuing inspiration, or perhaps, for wishful thinking.

Calliope may also look familiar.   Not as the Muse, however, but as the musical instrument that frequently accompanied a traveling circus.  It produced an incredibly loud sound by sending steam or compressed air through large whistles that could be heard for miles.  The sounds emitted were anything but a “beautiful voice,” but certainly gained attention, inspiring people to attend the circus.  (Wikipedia, Calliope)   

Three Muses rule over the theatrical arts, inspiring stage performers, an important discipline in ancient Greece:

— Melpomene, (“to celebrate”);  patroness of tragedy;

— Thalia, (“joyous, flourishing”):  patroness of comedy.

— Terpsichore, (“delight in dancing”): patroness of dance

Rounding out the field: 

— Clio, (to make famous”): patroness of history;

— Urania, (”heavenly”):  patroness of astronomy.

There you have it!  As a society, we have progressed a long way from ancient Greece, but during the writing process, we often await some needed inspiration from a Muse when we most need it.  Like the old saying: a Muse in time may save nine!