La belle dame sans merci

Year Twelve Literature can be the bane of my existence some days and the only reason I get out of bed others. This afternoon was definitely one of those 'this is the only reason I got out of bed' days. We're studying fifteen of Keats' poems, starting with La belle dam sans merci and my class spent two hours deconstructing it! Best class of my life to date!

Australian Kiwi

P.S. I put the poem below. Read it! It's awesome! Also, the picture before the poem is my favorite visual interpretation of this poem. :)

"They cried 'La belle dame sans merci thee hath in thrall.'"

~ La belle dame sans merci by John Keats ~

La belle dame sans merci

by John Keats

O what can ail thee knight at arms

Alone and palely loitering?

The sedge has withered from the Lake

And no birds sing!

O what can ail thee knight at arms

So haggard and so woe begone?

The squirrel's granary is full

And the harvest's done.

I see a lily on thy brow

With anguish moist and fever drew,

And on they cheeks a fading rose

Fast withereth too -

I met a Lady in the Meads

Full beautiful, a faery's child

Her hair was long, her foot was light

And her eyes were wild -

I made a Garland for her head,

And bracelets too, and fragrant Zone:

And look'd at me as she did love

And made sweet moan -

I set her on my pacing steed

And nothing else saw all day long

For sidelong would she bend and sing

A faery's song -

She found me roots of relish sweet

And honey and manna dew

And sure in language strange she said

'I love thee true' -

She took me to her elfin grot

And there she wept and sigh'd full sore

And there I shut her wild wild eyes

With kisses four.

And there she lulled me asleep

And there I dream'd - Ah Woe betide!

The latest dream I ever dreamt

On the cold hill side.

I saw pale kings and Princes too

Pale warriors, death pale were they all;

They cried 'La belle dame sans merci

Thee hath in thrall.'

I saw their starv'd lips in the gloam

With horrid warning gaped wide

And I awoke and found me here

On the cold hill's side

And this is why I sojoun here

Alone and palely loitering;

Though the sedge is wither'd from the Lake

and no birds sing -

A response to Marie Claire's 'investigation' into antidepressant medications

Today my mum picked up a copy of marie claire: the 15th birthday collectors edition because there was something in it she wanted me to have a look at. The article she wanted me to see was titled: INVESTIGATION: A NEW DIRECTION OR THE END OF THE ROAD? and it was about all the nasty lies drug companies tell with regards to antidepressant medications. Having recently had a relapse of depression myself, I read with interest, until I realised that I was reading a biased, one-sided article that only used selective facts.

Among those who are depressed or have another mood altering disorder, it's a well known fact that antidepressants should only be taken on advice from a qualified mental health practitioner with experience in treating the relevant mood disorder and while being observed by a GP. When reading marie claire's article, what really stuck me was the fact that not one of the people mentioned had taken antidepressants as a last resort or done any research on them prior to taking them. Every person mentioned in the article had been given anti-depressants by their GP as a first hand resort and simply swallowed the pill without knowing what it was or, it appeared, reading the warnings. Antidepressants, like every other form of medication on this planet, has side effects. Mood-altering disorders alter the chemical balance in your brain, anti-depressants help combat this. Your brain is a complex place so its no wonder that, while the medications are still getting to work, you can have severe side-effects.

Going along in the article, I realised something else. Everyone of the people interviews who'd had a bad experience with antidepressants had had an extreme reaction. Research which marie claire failed to make use of, shows that, while these extreme cases do occur, they are few and far between. They also used a quote by a Dr. Tracy which stated that it was "so rare in murder-suicides or mass shootings not to find an anti-depressant involved". Martin Bryant, the man who murdered 35 people during the Port Arthur Massacre, was not on anti-depressants. Hudson, the man who shot dead Brendan Keilar in 2007 in the Melbourne CBD, was not on anti-depressants. Dr. Tracy also states that she has recorded over 4000 incidents of murder-suicides and mass shootings where the killer was on anti-depressants, yet only lists one. Surely she could give the readers the courtesy of listing at least two?

It's also true that anti-depressants can cause a spike in suicidal thinking, but there is a difference between suicidal thinking and suicide, many of us forget that. Just because someone has suicidal thoughts doesn't acctually mean they will commit suicide. The example marie claire used for this was a woman who participated in a drug trail. She had never shown any signs of depression before and, two weeks into the trial, she hanged herself with her own scarf. If you're not in pain, you wouldn't take a painkiller, so, if you're not depressed, why would you take an anti-depressant? Anti-depressants are there to help balance out the serotonin levels in the brain, if your serotonin levels are already balanced, then taking anti-depressants will give you too much serotonin. Too much serotonin is toxic to the body, so it flushes the excess serotonin out, often leaving too little behind. For a person with depression or a mood altering disorder, the serotonin is balanced out, usually without severe side-effects, and they can come off the medication.

Speaking of coming off the medication, marie claire mentioned the case of a woman who weaned herself off anti-depressants... without first consulting her doctor. Anti-depressants are brain altering medications and no one should EVER come off them without the support of a GP. Marie claire failed to mention this bit about anti-depressants until the very end of their article in the fine print that nobody bothers to read.

So, before you go running off thinking about how terrible anti-depressants are, think about those people for whom nothing else has worked, who are using them as a last resort and are using them properly under the supervision of an experienced GP and psychiatrist. If those people didn't have access to those medications, then they would be like asthmatics without ventilation or diabetics without insulin. Imagine that...

Australian Kiwi

Australian Kiwi!

I have finally got around to making a new picture and changing my name! I am now, officially, Australian Kiwi. You can see my new profile picture to the left. What do you think? Comments are welcome!

Australian Kiwi

GREASE is the word (or should that be world?)

I have a love-hate relationship with the SJC Production of GREASE: The Musical. On one hand I love it. Being part of something this big in my last year of school is an amazing experience. I've also never been part of a backstage crew before and I'm finding it to be a very rewarding experience. However, on the other hand, I'm missing a lot of school and I'm so far behind on my school work that it's not funny! Oh GREASE... I'll be sad when you're gone but happy when you're over.

Australian Kiwi

Stress-gust

Forget August, Stress-gust is the name of the last month of Winter. Why Stress-gust? Simple. I'VE GOT TOO MUCH ON MY PLATE! Aside from the usual SACs and all the other stuff that goes with your final year, I also volunteered to help out backstage in GREASE (strike one), then I have a session in Adelaide about enlisting in the ADF, meaning I miss of a day of school when I already miss nearly a week with GREASE (strike two) and, finally, I have to worry about uni applications and what course I want to do next year and all this other stuff that I seriously don't need! Why can't teachers prepare you for the psychological stress of year twelve as well as the fricking exams!

Australian Kiwi

Where'd all the fanfiction stuff go?

The fanfiction stuff, it wandered over to a new blog.

http://jewelsbyersffcentral.blogspot.com/ is where everything relating to my fanfiction will now be posted. So, if you liked my fanfiction, then make sure you follow me over there because I will be posting everything from updates to teasers to cover art. Australian Kiwi will now be a random blog about my random life.

Australian Kiwi