i incidentally agreed that laozi could be in because of his poetry - but then to reward him for taoism which is greater than that was nonsensical. next thing we'll nominate darwin because he once wrote a children's book - but then defend him in every round for his work on evolution!

anyways, for the new day, i vote for ibsen, greatest playwright of all time in my humble opinion

Who is the matchup today? More importantly, do they write fictional works or more impactful nonfiction works like Civil Disobedience, or similar essays which have inspired generation after generation to defy the ground rules, because we all know a great author can't write nonfiction!

percey shelley and henrik ibsen. and bo, stop whinging, really. i, and i am sure others (including obi who set this up), would agree great authors write non-fiction - in fact you can be a great author who only writes non-fiction - the point is that this tournament was not meant to include non-fiction, something that was raised when Thoreau was brought up (he was only allowed in for his poetry).

Then in the true spirit of Thoreau, I don't give a fuck.

It's still all about facial hair, so Ibsen wins, by a lot.

Shelley.

And bo, you're being an idiot. The point is not that great authors don't write nonfiction. It's that if we were allowed to nominate non-fiction writers, there would have been a lot of other nominees, and since the rest of us managed to follow the rules, it's a total BS competition to vote for philosophers on the basis of their philosophy, when their competition weren't nominated.

Shelley.

Have y'all read Queen Mab?

"Many a widow, many an orphan cursed
The building of that fane, and many a father,
Worn out with toil and slavery, implored
The poor man's God to sweep it from the earth,
And spare his children the detested task
Of piling stone on stone,
And poisoning the choicest days of life
To soothe a dotard's vanity."

Shelley was a republican (small r) and in his work it shows. He hated rulers. He was a bad ass. He wrote his stuff at an extremely young age.

Also, I'm sure I don't have to mention Ozymandias.

Shelley.

ibsen, arguably writer of some of the most famous important early feminist plays (a doll's house, hedda gabler) - the most widely performed dramatist in the world after shakespeare, he widely pushed for morality to move out of the 19th century and into the 20th (and beyond?, see ghosts, rosmersholm). although not a conservative by any means, he would happily criticise even the more liberal idelogy we would associate him with, if he felt it was appropriate (see an enemy of the people). and who could forget classics like master builder? wild duck? peer gynt?

Ibsen.

Ibsen.

Ibsen: 4
Shelley: 4, with my vote, though it's very close

Also, Shelley married Mary, so he has that going for him ;)

Maybe the best author/author couple ever (eat it, Robert/Elizabeth Barrett Browning!) :p

you vote shelley, obi?

Yep.

A Doll's House, Hedda Gabler, Ghosts and The Wild Duck are all big points in Ibsen's favor, but while those are good to great works and he was very influential, I think the totality of Shelley's output just nudges him past.

that's fair enough, i just assumed you would like Ibsen!

I do, I just don't think he's quite the be-all-end-all some argue for him to be.

It's sort of the question of single smash hits or a lifetime of great work--

I can't say I can think of a single work by Shelley that could top "A Doll's House" or "Hedda Gabler," but I'd take Shelley's canon as a whole over Ibsen's.

i double vote shelley

Shelley.

Shelley, of course.

Ibsen of course!

Come on no love for my Queen Mab except? That's good shit, man

Shelley: 6
Ibsen: 5

If I mistake not, voting is now at an end, and Shelley won.

Yes?

Yep, we're past the 12 EST mark, so in a good contest, 6-5, Shelley wins...

And I'm sure his buddy Byron's very happy for him. :p

Nothing against Ibsen, though.

did Byron get edged out? whatever, Shelley is better than him too

No, he's slated to face Vergil, though...and apparently Vergil has a huge WebDip fanbase, lol (I'M *STILL* amazed by that, not that he's bad or anything, he's great, I'm just surprised he has such a big and passionate following.)

And you lie--

Lord George Gordon "I am the Rockstar, Coo-Coo-Ca-Choo!" Byron beats all other Romantic figures.

Beats Keats, beats both Shelleys, beats Coleridge, Wordsworth, beats William "I'm Also Kickass" Blake, Charlotte Smith, Emily Dickinson (a bit later, but I'd still count her in the Gothic Romantic camp.)

"She Walks in Beauty" is one of my favorite poems of all-time, and Byron is the man!

I agree that Byron is probably the greatest Romantic poet, despite the fact that I don't particularly like "She Walks in Beauty". I prefer his narrative stuff; I'm in the middle of reading Don Juan at the moment, and it's much more entertaining than I originally expected.

I have no idea what his chances are against Virgil, though.

I prefer Keats, but Byron is pretty cool.