06 October,2016 10:49 AM IST | | Dipanjan Sinha
The creative types, as they are called, are often associated with drugs, alcohol and a hip life. While it is, after all, a stereotype, there have been celebrated poets and writers who lived up to it to the hilt
The creative types, as they are called, are often associated with drugs, alcohol and a hip life. While it is, after all, a stereotype, there have been celebrated poets and writers who lived up to it to the hilt. Last week, the hosts of SimbliFIED, who talk about people doing something interesting professionally or otherwise, discussed writers of substance who were on substance.
An interesting name that came up was the Chinese poet Li Bo, whose contribution to romance in the 7th century BC was seminal. He flourished under the Tang dynasty also known as the golden age of China. He openly proclaimed his love for alcohol and counted its benefits as a muse and something to get friends together. It is said that he died trying to hug the reflection of the moon in a lake.
The discussion then revolved around Samuel Taylor Coleridge, the English poet, who wrote the poem, Kubla Khan, and was into opium. It is said that when he was under the influence, he kept writing furiously till he was stopped by someone and then just snapped out of the writing mood. "Perhaps, it was a call for a personal loan," the anchors conjectured.
And then came the world of music with The Beatles, and the iconic anthem, Lucy in the Sky With Diamonds. This song is popularly known to be an ode to LSD and it is well known that some of their other hits were also written under the influence of substance. Many others names came up. From Ernest Hemingway to Jean Paul Sartre and some writers, the anchors agreed, just wrote a book or two under influence to troll their readers. A weedy good listen, this!
Log on to: www.indusvox.com/simblified-episode-list/2016/9/26/ep-38-writers-ofon-substance
