"It is the duty of Art to be true to nature"

[pklima]

This is written by a poet, but I'm sure we've all met musicians who had the exact same attitude!

Translated from Lettres d’un poète parisien, by Udolphe de l’Ennui.

My dear L——,

Autumn is come, with its crisp air and brightly colored leaves. Of such tawdry clichés is nature capable! I despise nature, as I despise everything in Art that is not natural. It is the duty of Art to be true to nature, and only what is natural in Art is praiseworthy. But what is natural in nature is merely commonplace…

Mme La Salle is demanding the rent again, though it is hardly a month since she last demanded it, the greedy bourgeois hussy… I despise her filthy bourgeois greed, and I despise this filthy bourgeois apartment. Yesterday I flung soup at the ceiling to make it filthier, so that I might despise it the more. I tell myself that one must live somewhere, yet something within me asks why—why must one live somewhere instead of nowhere?… This morning Mme La Salle came in and cleaned the soup stains while I was out. She has ruined a good day’s despising…

I was out this morning because I was eating madeleines at the café on the Rue du Nom Disyllable. I despise the empty allurements of bourgeois pastries. But I think I do not despise madeleines as much as I despise the rest. This has provoked a crisis of conscience…

Soon the winter will be upon us, that annual reminder of our mortality, grim metaphor for death. I despise metaphor; and therefore I despise the winter, because it is metaphorical. A season that has not the courage to say what it means directly is despicable;—nay, more than despicable: it is bourgeois. I despise bourgeois seasons as I despise bourgeois bourgeois, with their filthy greed and their petty talk of nothing but money. I know, my dear old friend, that you despise money as much as I do, which you might easily demonstrate by sending 120 francs for the rent.

Yours in misery of soul,

Udolphe.

P.S.—As always, give my love to Mme L—— and all the little L——s.

From http://drboli.wordpress.com/

[m_bisson]

Lol that's pretty funny.

[MEKer]

The poet (his last name is appropriate) sounds as though he is trying to be "deep" (or intentionally understanding what I say below and so is "tongue-in-cheek, for which I applaud his mocking). If trying to be deep, I am not impressed.

Picasso (during his cubist period) and Dali were not "true to nature", altho some would then launch into a metaphysical argument that they were.

Fake "wisdom of the world" always ticks me off as generally its pretty sophomoric and such speakers actually show a reluctance to get down to reality. Why? Because it is mundane at many levels and if they are being "deep", think they therefore stand out as "intellectuals" and therefore they are special.
There is plenty of wonder in the world to ponder without pseudo-intellectualism which, of course, = ego.
Again, not impressed.

BTW, winter is a season existing because of earth-tilt and other positionings in space, along with a liquid in the atmosphere. It exists without humans trying to describe to it attributes of human thought.

There. Was I intelluctual? No. Just thoughtful.

The poet is an idiot and needs (1) his face slapped and (2) a squirt of pee in his coffee.

There. Was that intellectual. No. Just gratifyingly mean.


Note: Also sounds like he is trying to copy the style of "Down and Out in Paris and London" by George Orwell (pub London/1933).

There, now everyone can KMBBWTAD-----------hahahahaha.

[Nashrakh]

To the poet:



The money part makes the whole thing pretty funny though.

[Jim Nazium]

Isn't there some internet rule that states "no matter how obvious the parody, someone will always think it is serious"? I think it apllies here.

[nealw]

I agree, Jim.

[Rob Lewis]

That is what is commonly known as a begging letter. Nothing more.

[pklima]

Yes, it's definitely a parody! Here are a couple of fake concert flyers from the same site, to put it in context:

[MEKer]

I tend to think it was a mocking sort of thing as well which I why I wrote:"The poet (his last name is appropriate)" and (...or intentionally understanding what I say below and so is "tongue-in-cheek", for which I applaud his mocking).

For those who might think the man was serious in his musings...well, the rest of my reply applies.