Wagner in Tristan und Isolde uses the motif in a sailor's address of an
abandoned girl: "Frisch weht der Wind/Der Heimat zu/Mein Irisch Kind,/Wo
weilest du." T.S. Eliot quotes those lines in The Wasteland, and echoes
them--once in counterpoint as Tristan sits looking across the sea awaiting
Isolde's arrival, but "Oed' und leer das Meer"--and re-echoes them
throughout the poem--indeed, much of his work.
-----Original Message-----
From: Bill McCarthy [mailto:[log in to unmask]]
Sent: Friday, December 22, 2000 1:25 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: Bereft Ladies
In "Sir Patrick Spens" we are told:
Long, long may the ladies sit,
With their fans into their hand,
Or e'er they see Sir Patrick Spens
Come sailing into land.
Similarly, in South Slavic Epic and Russian Bylina the slain villain's wife
or mother looks out the window to see him coming back, but looks in vain.
I am looking for other occurrences of this motif ot the bereft lady or
ladies, who look in vain for the return of the dead or slain man.
Any suggestions will be appreciated. Thanks much.
William B. McCarthy
Department of English
Penn State DuBois
College Place
DuBois, PA 15801
[log in to unmask]
(814) 371-1056
375-4700
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