Steve Berliner
asked
Lois McMaster Bujold:
At the end of The Curse Of Chalion, Palli quietly took Cazaril's poem to the Lady Of Spring. As you won't be revisiting Chalion-Ibra, in your mind, what happened to that poem? The way Palli "unobtrusively pocketed" that little slip of paper seemed like foreshadowing of greater things...
Lois McMaster Bujold
Yep. Palli took it because he was impressed with it, and didn't want Caz to throw it away. Despite his rocky authorial start, I see Caz as a future Quintarian religious poet (in his rare spare time) of lasting merit, in the mode of William Blake but more lyrical. Words that make the hairs stand up on readers' necks, that mean more than they mean, as he tries to fumblingly explain. The Daughter of Spring is a patroness of poetry, after all; he seeks to make flowers to lay on Her altar. And to recapture, as if in a dream, some ghost of that overwhelming moment of union.
He never credits his own poetic power, because it falls so far short of his direct experience of Her.
Ta, L.
Yep. Palli took it because he was impressed with it, and didn't want Caz to throw it away. Despite his rocky authorial start, I see Caz as a future Quintarian religious poet (in his rare spare time) of lasting merit, in the mode of William Blake but more lyrical. Words that make the hairs stand up on readers' necks, that mean more than they mean, as he tries to fumblingly explain. The Daughter of Spring is a patroness of poetry, after all; he seeks to make flowers to lay on Her altar. And to recapture, as if in a dream, some ghost of that overwhelming moment of union.
He never credits his own poetic power, because it falls so far short of his direct experience of Her.
Ta, L.
More Answered Questions
Sheryl Hill
asked
Lois McMaster Bujold:
"Ethan of Athos" is one of my favorites and, perhaps, one of the most socially significant stories you've written because it demonstrates the power of encounters with the "hated other" to transform bigotry into respect. It's lack of popularity grieves me. I have wondered if a story about a planet made up of women who are equally suspicious of men (but for non-religious reasons) might be better received. Thoughts?
Samuel Hutchison
asked
Lois McMaster Bujold:
I know a lot of people ask you when you're going to write another Miles book, but I feel like Cordelia is the only one of your major characters that hasn't reached the end of her character arc and I think I'd very much like to read a book about how she manages the transition into the next phase of her life after Aral's death. Is there anything like that brewing?
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