[Paddy Raghunathan]

Originally Posted by Roger Slater

Well, I'll trust you that those poems contain evidence of a sense of humor, though I've glanced at them and didn't see the evidence myself right off the bat.

I have to agree with Roger.

[John Whitworth]

'So they relate, erring' I think I misquote, but that is certainly a bit of a laugh. And the sonnet with the unpronounceable Scottish names is also funny. Or I think so.

Not a lot of laughs in 'The Bridge' however'.

[Nausheen Eusuf]

Originally Posted by W.F. Lantry

But seriously, I'm trying to remember LOL'ing even once while trying to struggle through Milton.

Well, in general I agree, but I did LOL in the part in Book VIII of Paradise Lost where Eve wanders off from Adam and Raphael because she'd rather hear about this creation stuff from Adam, who will intersperse the material with caresses:

Yet went she not, as not with such discourse
Delighted, or not capable her ear
Of what was high: such pleasure she reserved,
Adam relating, she sole auditress;
Her husband the relater she preferred
Before the Angel, and of him to ask
Chose rather; he, she knew, would intermix
Grateful digressions, and solve high dispute
With conjugal caresses: from his lip
Not words alone pleased her.

I can't imagine Milton writing that with a straight face

Nausheen

[E. Shaun Russell]

Originally Posted by Nausheen Eusuf

Well, in general I agree, but I did LOL in the part in Book VIII of Paradise Lost where Eve wanders off from Adam and Raphael because she'd rather hear about this creation stuff from Adam, who will intersperse the material with caresses:



I can't imagine Milton writing that with a straight face

Nausheen

Exactly! Or Eve's first discovery of Adam, where she basically says "Well, he's not as pretty as me, but I guess he'll do..."

[Gregory Dowling]

Don't want to become boringly insistent but I'll just say that if you read Shelley's "Letter to Maria Gisborne" with an open mind, you probably won't LOL, but you should be able to see that, among other things, it's an exercise in ironic self-portrait, done with a certain wit and humour. It helps to remember that he wrote it at a time when he was under attack by most of the establishment. Donald Davie has a nice essay entitled "Shelley's Urbanity" in which he discusses this and other poems by Shelley ("Julian and Maddalo", for example). Urbanity is not the first noun we associate with Shelley, but he proves that it's deserved. I think the main point I want to make is that he is much more varied than many people think; and one of the aspects of this variety is a certain quiet humour.

[Ed Shacklee]

There must be deep wellsprings of humor in poets whose work inspires parodies, as has been the case with Poe and Shelley. Of the "humorous" poets, perhas only Carroll is their rival in that respect.

Comedians sometimes talk of "dead rooms," where even the funniest jokes fall flat. Perhaps it's partially our fault, too, and we have been dead rooms for Shelley, Milton, Poe, Wordsworth, etc.

Ed

[Quincy Lehr]

Originally Posted by Roger Slater

From what I've heard, Shelley had absolutely no sense of humor either in his poetry or in his daily life. And I'm guessing that mirthful chuckles were rarely heard in the Wordsworth household.

I thought Shelley used to sign into hotels as "atheist," listing his destination as "Hell." Which is pretty funny.

[E. Shaun Russell]

Originally Posted by Quincy Lehr

I thought Shelley used to sign into hotels as "atheist," listing his destination as "Hell." Which is pretty funny.

He was also expelled from university for allegedly trying to conjure the devil, as I recall. The idea of a professed atheist conjuring the devil is profoundly hilarious to me, at least.