In beauty of face no maiden ever equaled her. It was the radiance of an opium-dream - an airy and spirit-lifting vision more wildly divine than the fantasies which hovered about the slumbering souls of the daughters of Delos.
Interpretation
This quote describes an unparalleled beauty that transcends reality, evoking a divine and dreamlike vision.
Edgar Allan Poe's quote captures the essence of extraordinary beauty, comparing it to a transcendent dream that lifts the spirit. The reference to an opium dream suggests a surreal and intoxicating experience, creating an image of beauty that is not just physical but also ethereal, akin to the fantasies that dwell in the subconscious of legendary figures. This portrayal emphasizes the power of beauty to inspire and move individuals profoundly.
In practice
In a discussion about artistic representations of beauty, this quote can be used to highlight the profound impact of aesthetic experiences.
But evil things, in robes of sorrow, Assailed the monarch's high estate; (Ah, let us mourn, for never morrow Shall dawn upon him desolate!) And round about his home the glory That blushed and bloomed, Is but a dim-remembered story Of the old time entombed.
Most writers - poets in especial - prefer having it understood that they compose by a species of fine frenzy - an ecstatic intuition - and would positively shudder at letting the public take a peep behind the scenes.
...the agony of my soul found vent in one loud, long and final scream of despair.
Where the good and the bad and the worst and the best have gone to their eternal rest.
I could have clasped the red walls to my bosom as a garment of eternal peace. "Death," I said, "any death but that of the pit!" Fool! might I have not known that into the pit it was the object of the burning iron to urge me?
In our endeavors to recall to memory something long forgotten, we often find ourselves upon the very verge of remembrance, without being able, in the end, to remember.
Never before had a woman put such agonizing poetry on canvas as Frida did
Poets are being pursued by the philosophers today, out of the poverty of philosophy. God damn it, you might think a man had no business to be writing, to be a poet unless some philosophic stinker gave him permission.
Creativity is the greatest gift of human intelligence.
Singing intimately is almost like thinking into a microphone, so it helps to have the song buried inside you.
To be an actor you have to be a child.
What I've learned how to do as I've gotten older is to take all of the information that I have, and push it aside, and try to distill each song into an emotional theme. The hardest thing that I've ever had to learn how to do in playing music is use the sound of my instrument to create an emotional effect.
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