This is topic Question for women in forum Books, Films, Food and Culture at Hatrack River Forum.


To visit this topic, use this URL:
http://www.hatrack.com/ubb/main/ultimatebb.php?ubb=get_topic;f=2;t=034486

Posted by Choobak (Member # 7083) on :
 
Just this question :

If a man (not pretty or ugly) accost you with telling you a poem, how do you react ?

[ May 04, 2005, 12:14 PM: Message edited by: Choobak ]
 
Posted by katharina (Member # 827) on :
 
If I liked him, I'd be delighted and charmed. If I didn't, I'd be creeped out.

Most romantic things are like that.
 
Posted by ElJay (Member # 6358) on :
 
Depends on how and where he accosts me, too. Is it in public? In front of strangers or people I know? How well do I know this guy?

If we're on a date, in relative private, and he reads me a poem, charming. If he walks up to me when I'm having lunch with co-workers and reads me a poem, potentially less charming. [Big Grin] Although the right guy could probably still pull it off. But you'd have to be awfully confident about it... I think the secret to making it work is to not doubt in the slightest that it will work. If you act like it's the most perfectly natural thing in the world to do, it'll come across that way.
 
Posted by imogen (Member # 5485) on :
 
I agree with Kat. (And, on editing, ElJay.)

If it was some-one I didn't know, or only knew slightly I would probably be slightly amused and charmed. But the second he didn't leave me alone when I made it clear I wanted him to leave I would be very much creeped out.

Edit: Hatrackwomen makes me think of superheroes. Look, it's Hatrackwomen!

[ May 04, 2005, 12:04 PM: Message edited by: imogen ]
 
Posted by MyrddinFyre (Member # 2576) on :
 
Loraine.... I am your density.
 
Posted by Rakeesh (Member # 2001) on :
 
Make like a tree, and get outta here!
 
Posted by quidscribis (Member # 5124) on :
 
Fahim accosted me with poetry. I was charmed, and I fell that much deeper in love with him. But the spark was already there. [Kiss]

Anyone else, and I'd be inclined to not enjoy it so much.
 
Posted by Anna (Member # 2582) on :
 
In a street, by an unknown guy, I would find it creepy.
From a guy I know a little, it could be charming.
EDIT : yeah, what the others said. [Smile]
Hatrack is great, isn't it ?

[ May 04, 2005, 12:26 PM: Message edited by: Anna ]
 
Posted by HesterGray (Member # 7384) on :
 
It depends on the guy, the place, the time, and the poem.

It's never happened to me before, but generally, I think a poem would be cute.

If a guy I knew and liked came up to me and read me a funny little Shel Silverstien poem, just to make me laugh, I would probably be more gaga over him than if he read a love poem. I'm not terribly sappy or sentimental. I like to be entertained.
 
Posted by Choobak (Member # 7083) on :
 
Hum... interesting answers... i notice.
Finally, poetry isn't as charming as it was in the past.
 
Posted by maui babe (Member # 1894) on :
 
My boyfriend writes poetry for me now and then, but he didn't start off our relationship that way. That would have seriously creeped me out.
 
Posted by fugu13 (Member # 2859) on :
 
*takes notes from thread*
 
Posted by ElJay (Member # 6358) on :
 
I think the answers would be pretty much the same in the past... if an unknown man approached a woman and started reciting poetry, she'd pretty much have no choice but to be offended. Way too brazen! The nerve! But if it was someone who was courting her reading poems in the parlor, discreetly chaperoned, delightful!
 
Posted by Intelligence3 (Member # 6944) on :
 
My father first courted my mother by bringing her poetry when he came to collect his paycheck from her (she was the payroll secretary for the biology department at the university). He always typed it up then brought it in with him. She later had them bound as a collection when she worked at a publishing company.
 
Posted by romanylass (Member # 6306) on :
 
I agree with 'charming from a guy who is courting me' (or, in my case, my husband) but creepy from anyone else.
 
Posted by beverly (Member # 6246) on :
 
Yup, KQ had it down. Most of the time, poetry will not make a girl change her mind about a guy she finds wholely undesirable. In order to change her mind, the reasons for which she finds him undesirable would have to be addressed or overshadowed by something else about him she could find desirable.

Wooing is never an automactic "in". I mean, come on--it doesn't remove her free will any more than those silly advertisements about pheremones.
 
Posted by TMedina (Member # 6649) on :
 
Permit me to point out, from the male perspective, that each woman is different.

Just because one woman likes poetry and appreciates either the personal effort or the artistic merit doesn't mean another woman would like it.

However, you could use that as an icebreaker, like - "Do you like poetry? No? I'm glad - I can't think of a poem as lovely as you."

Now that the women have stopped laughing, you could just ask "do you like poetry?" and go from there. Its a way of starting a relatively innocent conversation and testing the waters.

-Trevor
 
Posted by Choobak (Member # 7083) on :
 
Yes, i think such an approach is perticulary creepy too, if there is no link before. I take note [Wink]
 
Posted by Intelligence3 (Member # 6944) on :
 
Peut-être c'est différent en France (à france? Je ne souviens plus les règles de prepostions).
 
Posted by starlooker (Member # 7495) on :
 
When I worked at 7-11, there was a customer who came in and often quoted me part of a poem (his favorites were Rudyard Kipling) or told me a story he heard. I matched him poem for poem and story for story. They weren't romantic, though. Just thought-provoking.

Since I had a year since completed my bachelor's degree and was working in a convenience store, I really really really really really really really appreciated someone treating me like I was intelligent and could discuss things, rather than advising me to go to cosmetology school and get an education.

This probably isn't what you're referring to, though.
 


Copyright © 2008 Hatrack River Enterprises Inc. All rights reserved.
Reproduction in whole or in part without permission is prohibited.


Powered by Infopop Corporation
UBB.classic™ 6.7.2