Night Poem From Khandro (Sat.)

[Khandro]

Anonymous, 15th century English - one of my all time favourite poems;

https://ibb.co/s9cgR6G

[Buenchico]

Thanks, Khandro.

I'm not entirely sure that a poem about a dog feasting on a human's blood is really to my taste though!

I was looking back through some of my bookmarks from ages ago last night and I came across this, which I really like:

"Greed and sleep and slothful beds
have banished every virtue from the world,
so that, overcome by habit,
our nature has almost lost its way.

And all the benign lights of heaven,
that inform human life, are so spent,
that he who wishes to bring down a stream
from Helicon is pointed out as a wonder.

Such desire for laurel, and for myrtle?
‘Poor and naked goes philosophy’,
say the crowd intent on base profit.

You’ll have poor company on that other road:
So much the more I beg you, gentle spirit,
not to turn from your great undertaking."
[La gola e ’l sonno et l’otïose piume, Petrarch, mid-14th Century]

I also posted this on one of Maggiebee's thread's last night. I love the beauty of the language:

[Atheist]

Khandro; the word pattern and some of the words themselves remind me of an old folk song. I can't remember its title or write the musical score here: it was written in a mode (sorry I forget all I knew about modes), but with a minor character.
Like Buenchico, I don't like the words much.
The one I remember did start with what I would transcribe as "Lullay, lullay, all on a day, (possibly followed by "I dressed myself in men's array. With a sword and pistol at my side, unto my true love, unto my true love, I did ride.").
Probably nothing to do with your poem.

[Buenchico]

That's a version of 'Sovay', Atheist:
http://www.joe-offer.com/folkinfo/songs/129.html

[Togo]

Possibly one of Englands finest minds and early poets. "Some" say he penned much of what was attributed to Shakespeare.

Go and catch a falling star,
Get with child a mandrake root,
Tell me where all past years are,
Or who cleft the devil’s foot,
Teach me to hear mermaids singing,
Or to keep off envy’s stinging,
And find
What wind
Serves to advance an honest mind …

John Donne. 1572-1631

[Atheist]

Thank you, Buen.

[Atheist]

Khandro; where do you think that the word 'Lullay' comes from?

[fcc]

I think Khandros poem is a version of Down in yon forest,a band called
Wovenhand do a good version of it if you fancy a listen.

[Togo]

[Atheist]

Buen; where does 'sovay' come from? Any connection with the French 'sauve'?

[Buenchico]

Atheist:
"The name 'Sovay' is probably a corruption of 'Sophie' or 'Sylvie' – both of which appear instead in some versions of the song".
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sovay

and . . .
https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/lullay

[Atheist]

Buen; thank you so much. Khandro; why do you like that poem so much? (See what I did there?)

[TheWinner]

my favourite poem as a child, was The Donkey by G. K. Chesterton.
https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/47918/the-donkey

[Khandro]

Atheist; // Khandro; why do you like that poem so much? //

I think the, Lully, lulley... start. gives a commencement to something which one might expect to be leading to a simple children's poem, but like Shakespeare's ' hey nonny no ' leads you disarmingly to some of the the most surprisingly vivid imagery in the English language: - falcons stealing loved ones, wounded knights bleeding constantly with hounds licking their blood, the weeping maid at the foot of the bed, and 'Corpus Christi' written in stone, all ending in another, 'Lully, Lulley! Lully, Lulley, bringing you back to level one where you started.


Fabulous, - effing fabulous!

[Togo]

The word lully/lulley of course has modern English derivatives. Lullaby and to lull someone are still in use. The original mid 1500s word lullen is thought to be derived from Hebrew.

[Khandro]

Togo. Interesting, I hadn't thought of that connection. A friend told me that there is an entry for the poem on Wikipedia, she said a lot of it she thinks is fanciful, I haven't looked because I have my own ideas.

I say it is 15th century because its use of 'Corpus Christi' must put it pre-reformation

[Atheist]

Khandro; I seem to have a blind spot for much poetry.
'Corpus Christi'. Latin for body of Christ. Surely this need not pre-date the reformation. Latin was commonly used for learned discussion later than the reformation, I believe.

[Khandro]

Atheist; Yes, 'Latin was commonly used for learned discussion later than the reformation' it was the language by which educated people could converse internationally & continued to be so until recent times, - I think the Polish parliament was conducted in Latin well into the 20th century.

But the use of the term, 'Corpus Christi' - one of the Catholic religion's most powerful mythological creations - would not have been bandied around much after the Reformation; Catholic priests were then being murdered remember.