Latest Posts by ad-meliora-tendo - Page 3

“Dionysus is a god who takes human form, a powerful male who looks soft and feminine, a native of Thebes who dresses as a foreigner. His parentage is mixed between divine and human; he is and is not a citizen of Thebes; his power has both feminine and masculine aspects. He does not merely cross boundaries, he blurs and confounds them, makes nonsense of the lines between Greek and foreign, between female and male, between powerful and weak, between savage and civilized. He is the god of both tragedy and comedy, and in his presence the distinction between them falls away, as both comedy and tragedy…”

— Paul Woodruff, The Bacchae (Translated and Annotated) 

harry potter series: light and dark

we’ve all got both light and dark inside of us. what matters is the part we choose to act on.

Kallikteros, tr. by Willis Barnstone, from Greek Lyric Poetry; “A Way to the Heart,”

Paris mornings

when sappho said “in the crooks of your body i find my religion” and when hozier said “the only heaven i’ll be sent to is when i’m alone with you”

I just want a girlfriend and go to the library with her, discuss poetry and philosophy, have dates in cute cafes, just sit in silence and read books, cuddle while we watch old movies at 3am in the morning, visit art museums, take long walks in the park holding hands and talk about mythology. Is that really too much to ask for?

“I love you. You’re deliciously uncotemporary; you belong to a mystical past and also to a very remote future. For you, time isn’t money, it’s a precious essence, delicate, full of mystery. Just to breathe with someone like you does me good.”

— Nikos Kazantzakis, tr. by Richard Howard, from “The Rock Garden,”

spring is not gentle

trembling towards tomorrow

trepidation of love now renewed;

it is a scab scraped over winter

and its bloody, weeping wounds.

Sara Teasdale, Spring Torrents

Christopher Mullins

Thomas Francis Dicksee, Miranda, detail - 1895

Theo: You’re losing a lot of blood! Quick, what’s your type?

Boris, bleeding out: tall, male, brown hair, glasses, speaks conversational rus-

Theo: BLOOD TYPE, DUMBASS

“A mistake repeated more than once is a decision.”

— Paulo Coelho (via naturaekos)

listen bro. u gotta have frivolities or else life is meaningless

“wild geese” from dream work by mary oliver, may 1986

New Renaissance by KOTY2

#cancer #autumn #professor #englishliterature

reblog this with your star sign, favourite season, and dream career in the tags.

types of study breaks for every situation

if you realize you’ve been studying for hours: grab a snack to refuel your body and watch a sitcom to refuel your brain. then back to the books.

if you’re feeling stressed out: take some deep breaths, text your friends, maybe stare at a wall for a few minutes. gather yourself.

if you can’t seem to focus: get moving and get outside. take out the garbage, check your mail box, maybe walk your dog. just get moving and get fresh air. it’ll help bring you back.

if there’s something else going on in your life and you can’t get it off your mind: write down what’s going through your head, sort of like a diary entry. it’ll help you work things out.

if you’re just mentally and physically exhausted: set a timer for 25-30 minutes and take a nap. any longer and you’ll hit REM and you’ll wake up feeling just as tired. once you wake up, get some caffeine in you.

if the material is boring as hell: find another way to study. see if there’s a crash course video online about it or draw out what you’re trying to learn in diagrams and pictures to make it fun.

if people around you won’t shut up: listen to some music. soundtrack and classical music is always good because they won’t absorb you as much as music with lyrics. white noise (like ocean waves, rain sounds, etc.) also works.

if you only half understand a concept: call/message a friend who’s not in the class and try to teach the material to them. this will help you mentally work through the material and will help you remember it as well.

Reminder to self

Your aren’t Henry Winter. Don’t beat yourself up for not reading brillant classic novels every second of the day. Real human minds need sleep and time to wander. Just because you missed your duolingo latin lesson today doesn’t mean Donna Tartt would hate you. This community is lovely, but can fuel a lot of self imposed pressure. Yes school matters, and yes, knowledge is a brilliant reason to live, but you run the risk of burning yourself out. It’s okay to rest. You are not lesser or base for taking a break.

yesterday my german teacher said "being a poet must be so eye opening but so constraining at the same time. you want to really see the world, but as soon as you do, you've had enough of it." and then he stared into nothing for a moment before shaking his head and continuing with the lesson? someone protect this man

u werent “born gay” u decided to be overly enthusiastic about hamlet in highschool english and that’s why you are the way u are

dustpages

Hermann Hesse, Siddhartha (1922)

I cannot wait the day I get to major in English. I want to immerse myself in Shakespeare and other british poets and authors. To learn about the culture and history of Britain and to speak this lovely language like my own again. The need is consuming me.

illustration from a Victorian children’s book c1885

Auguste Ottin, Polyphemus surprising Acis and Galatea, Fontaine Médicis, Jardin du Luxembourg, Paris.

I suppose at one time in my life I might have had any number of stories, but now there is no other. This is the only story I will ever be able to tell.

The Painted Hall, Old Royal Naval College, Greenwich, London SE10, England,

©Will Pryce / Country Life