Wikipedia, or The Fear of Death
Posted Apr 27, 2017, 9:48 AM UTC
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i really quite love the simplicity of it. saying so much with so little, and i appreciate the metaphor (but admittedly wasn't clever enough to catch it til it was explained!)
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Thanks!
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i love this. such an uncommon but universal (for the most part) metaphor. i also feel like the brevity of the second line in relation to the first further emphasizes the point of the poem. it's cut short, and ends quickly.
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I really love its simplicity
I must say I didn't get it until you explained it, but maybe I'm just stupid. I like the concept of it a lot though. Beyond the fragility of life, I feel it also really speaks to how minuscule we all are in the grand scheme (even those of us who end up famous)
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I love this so much
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Could you explain the second line to me? I don't understand the connection to the first line or to the title.
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I have taken the second line as referring to the fragility of life. A mosquito on an arm is likely to be swatted by the hand and be killed.
The first line is suppose to construct an example of how life itself can be 1. swift (like a click of a mouse). 2. contain so much content (hence the title having wikipedia). 3. Long spans of time/life passes when absorbed in living. (like reading wiki articles or following tvtropes.com links).
Mosquito lifespans are also very finite.
The writer is trying to express the grim of how easy he feels death can come to his life and how life passes without thought.
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Pretty solid interpretation of what I was saying. I think I was aiming more for the uncertainty I have when choosing what I'm going to do; like, I can read thousands of articles on people who have done many things related to what I'm interested in, and none of it will tell or show me how to live my life.
It's a massive responsibility that's beginning to weigh down, that my life is, truly, mine.
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Thank you. That makes a lot of sense. I should have caught tbar
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I wanted to get at a sense of existential vertigo. This piece came from a place of knowing that what I choose to do with my life is only going to affect it so much... like, I'm a bit daunted by it all. I will be graduating in about a year, so :/
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I really like how short it is, while still pertaining to the greater idea that we can learn all there is to know about somebody by a quick internet search. The imagery in the second line is very vivid and understandable, and its a great metaphor, but I have a hard time equating the two lines, even though I know it makes sense? It just seems to come from very different worlds to me, but one man's opinion. Great job!
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Thanks for your feedback! After reflecting on this piece a bit, I think I could have said what I was trying to in a slightly more clear manner. People's interpretations don't match up with what I intended :p
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Short poem are tricky. When pulled off well they can be breath-taking and beautiful and all that is good in poetry, however the failure of many short poems is either context or content. I'm afraid your poem fails in the latter. There's a lot of heavy metaphor that is pulled off really well, the problem is the poem overextends itself. By combining three different aspects of life as you related in one comment using metaphors of Wikipedia, mosquitos, fragility, the fear of death, etc. you simply bog the poem down in non-meaning. I think this can be resolved by focusing on one area exclusively and using the best metaphor in your piece.
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What are the three different aspects of life you mention? And what do you think would be a stronger point to focus on?
I do actually agree that I didn't completely hit at what I was trying to say, but I may just try writing something different to say it.
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It's finite and short nature, how it is very information sense, and how insignificant it can seem. Now not all these may be intentional, but you can see how this gets overwhelming for a reader trying to pick these lines apart to understand them. I think your strongest point would be the insignificance in terms of a mosquito or a small click of the mouse. But that's a personal choice for you.
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Thank you for clarifying!
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Ezra pound