Byron

Leonard Cohen's recent albums - share your views with others!
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panjandrum
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Joined: Wed Sep 12, 2007 3:56 pm

Re: Byron

Post by panjandrum »

Agreed. I recently came across an obscure essay online suggesting that Leonard Cohen shares quite a bit in common with the Romantic Poets of the past. Maybe he himself realizes this (hence the choice of a work by Lord Byron).

It is too complex a topic to delve into this quickly (I ran across the essay about a week ago), but I don't think it went far enough. I think Leonard Cohen IS a modern romantic poet as of old.
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linda_lakeside
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Location: By the sea, by the sea, by the beautiful sea..

Re: Byron

Post by linda_lakeside »

I'd be interested in learning of the comparisons, even though I can hardly say that my knowledge of poetry is deep enough to fully appreciate the Romance poets, and where they may have the most influence on Leonard's poetry.

There has been a lot of talk on this forum over the past couple of years about how Leonard's poetry - his older poetry, was comparable to the lush romanticism of the, yes, Romance poets. But, don't you think that his style has changed over the years, and the romance poet no longer exists? Anyway, when Dear Heather came out that did indeed open the flood gates for more talk on his romance past. I think choosing the Byron poem was just a tip of the ol' chapeau, so to speak. I'd be interested to know more about how Leonard, as the romance poet, exists 'today'. Even on Bird On The Wire, one can see how the early version does have a more romantic edge to it, than the recent version. His poetry, however, may be more 'romantic' in nature, than his lyrics. As Let Us Compare Mythologies has been released again, and is widely available (even though it's always been available in libraries, and online), it would be interesting to get the book (which I intend to do), and really take a look at his older poetry vs. what he's produced in song lately.
~ The smell of perfume in the air, bits of beauty everywhere ~ Leonard Cohen.
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