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Has The Goddess Of Mathematics Triumphed Over The God Of Art?

And if so, what can we, the creatively inclined possibly choose to do about it?

Argumentative Penguin
Counter Arts
11 min readJan 8, 2025

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CREDIT: Author generated AI.

During my English A-Levels, I studied the poetry of two literary giants: John Keats and Thomas Hardy. Keats wrote florid, beautiful poetry — odes to nightingales, Grecian urns and generally revelled in the joys of being alive. As a result of blowing his euphoric load at an early age, he coughed blood into a hanky and died at age twenty-four.

Meanwhile, Thomas Hardy lived to around three hundred years old, gave his wife the silent treatment for a few decades and then, once she’d died, wrote poetry about how much he missed her. He’s the guy who wrote Jude the Obscure — a good book to read if you’re contemplating suicide and feeling melancholic.

I loved both poets; I have a soft spot for The Eve of St Agnes and A Thunderstorm in Town. It’s Keats’ use of colour and Hardy’s ability to juxtapose the raw power of nature and the fragility of human emotion in a little over a hundred words. I’m aware both authors wrote ‘better’ poems, but these are my personal favourites.

I didn’t study English Literature for a degree though I probably should have. I’m now a professional writer and almost everyone else I meet in the world of TV is an English…

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Counter Arts
Counter Arts

Published in Counter Arts

The (Counter)Cultural One-Stop for Nonfiction on Medium… incorporating categories for: ‘Art’, ‘Culture’, ‘Equality’, ‘Photography’, ‘Film’, ‘Mental Health’, ‘Music’ and ‘Literature’.

Argumentative Penguin
Argumentative Penguin

Written by Argumentative Penguin

Playwright. Screenwriter. Penguin. Fan of rationalism and polite discourse. Find me causing chaos in the comments. Contact: argumentativepenguin@outlook.com

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