In the "favorite words" thread both "numinous" and "empyrean" came up. While "empyrean" refers to "heavenly", "numinous" refers to "supernatural", "sublime" or "relating to divinity".
On the other side of the coin, there is "Tartarean", which comes from Greek Mythology. It refers to the "abysmal regions below Hades where the Titans were confined. An infernal region; hell."
beatific - angelic; showing or producing exalted joy or blessedness. ******************************* Oh. I thought it meant that there was some town in Asia Minor named Ific, and we were supposed to gather there.
Guy Wetmore Carryl, my favorite author of humorous poetry, is little-known because he did something seriously prejudicial to his career: he died young. Here are the initial and final stanzas of one of his poems.
quote:Of all the ill-fated Boys ever created Young Jack was the wretchedest lad: An emphatic, erratic, Dogmatic fanatic Was foisted upon him as dad! From the time he could walk And before he could talk His wearisome training began, On a highly barbarian Disciplinarian Nearly Tartarean Plan! ... And this is The Moral that lies in the verse: If you have a go farther, you're apt to fare worse. (When you turn it around it is different rather: ─ You're not apt to go worse if you have a fair father!)
quote: he did something seriously prejudicial to his career: he died young.
That is often seen as the ultimate career move.
Look at all the artists whose work only becomes valuable after their death.
I was reading a play review yesterday and I quote the opening paragraph below:
quote:The premature death of Joe Orton, at the age of 43, has meant that his enforcibly shortened oeuvre has been thoroughly plundered, and lesser works that might otherwise have faded into relative obscurity have acquired perhaps undue significance.
