The doctor’s advice (in reply to Matthew and Alison, writing to the
doctor'clinic on April 10, 2001)
Doctor Professor Vito Scogliamiglio , called "Il Prete"
Docente di Poetologia e Patologia Letteraria
University Hospital "San Gerolamo dei Lebbrosi", Naples -
The doctor’s advice only refers to:
- Doses of the enlisted habits and usage that exceed safety, or else
say, overdoses (as in the cases of the Heaney Tool-Syndrome and Hill
Topographic Mappings, or vice versa and for both skin problems such as
spontaneous stigmatisations, visual and acoustic schizoid symptoms
associated with eye and ear hallucinations).
- Doses that even when minimum could dangerously affect those
patients who already have had an history of some pathological kind, having
either entertained in overdose behaviours, or carrying a family history of
those referred pathologies, preventing them to risk their heath further
(poetry traditions, for instance and cultural heritages).
- Doses that however harmless and within the permitted limits (as
prescribed by dictionary and manuals of Rhetoric and Stylistic), can
nevertheless result harmless for a given individual due to a never before
detected idiosyncrasy with the prescribed list of items (meaning, sadden
allergic reactions, leading to anaphylactic shocks and the like).
- Doses that, even when taken in full respect of all the above
precautions, can result fatal for the reaction of other individuals around.
(I.E., intolerance of the audience and sudden, unexpected emancipation or
revolution in the audience’s tastes).
- Doses that have been badly or hazardously prepared by the
pharmacists (like in the rush hour, at Boots, with patients cueing).
- Doses prepared with the understanding of having on the patient the
effect of a panacea (in other words, containing no component except
inactive ingredients such as talc powder, magnesium stearate and potassium
sorbate which have the sole purpose of help the stomach digesting the pill
as such).
For the symptomatic relief of headache, nausea, vomiting and feverishness
caused by over-dose, in the above enlisted occurrences, is deeply
recommended a change in the life style.
Precautions: Do not strictly follow the dosage suggested by literary
reviews and always distrust the effects described by the mini-abstracts
published on the back-cover.
In any case, if symptoms persist, consult your doctor.
-------------------------------
On Wed, 11 Apr 2001 00:38:17 +0100, Matthew Francis
<[log in to unmask]> wrote:
>Dear Doctor
>
>An intriguing list. Here are my thoughts:
>
>1. You mean it's showing off? I think it depends how much ancient poets
mean
>to you. (They don't mean an awful lot to me, I admit, except for the Greek
>tragedians.)
>
>2. I think this is too much Heaney taking its toll. Again, one might be a
>tool-using poet. (I am happy to say that I have never *seen* a spade, or at
>least that I can never find one when it's needed.) But surely you can't
mean
>objects. The world is full of the things.
>
>3. I agree entirely.
>
>4. Haven't you changed your tune on this? We had a long saintly
>correspondence a few months ago. Anyway, I plead guilty.
>
>5. Agreed.
>
>6. Agreed.
>
>7. Belongs under 6. You really have it in for the ancients at the moment,
>don't you?
>
>8. Well put. And you might mention grandparents too.
>
>9. Not tempted myself.
>
>10. I think I see what you mean.
>
>11. But these places seem rather interesting sites for poems and in any
case
>I can't think of many recent ones that are set in them.
>
>12. Enough said.
>
>13. Agreed.
>
>14.Can't think of any poems that do this, and again it sounds rather
>interesting. I like lists and I like colours.
>
>15. Browning got a lot out of Vasari. I doubt if there's much left for the
>rest of us.
>
> I did a similar list many years ago, but have broken most of my own rules
>by now. One of them was never to mention obscure wild flowers, but once you
>know them they aren't obscure any more. At least I've mentioned tormentil
in
>a poem. And then there's D.G. Rosetti's 'The Woodspurge', a great poem.
>
>Best wishes
>
>Matthew
>-----Original Message-----
>From: Clitennestra Giordan <[log in to unmask]>
>To: [log in to unmask] <[log in to unmask]>
>Date: 10 April 2001 09:52
>Subject: Re: the doctor's prescription
>
>
>>The Doctor prescription:
>>
>>(merely suggestions given, with the understanding that
>>the patients can choose to administer their health as they wish :)
>>
>>Things and habits currently necessary to avoid or limit:
>>
>>(in poetry)
>>
>>1. to name ancient poets
>>2. to name objects and tools
>>3. to name the name of other contemporary poets (especially if they are
>>your peer-poets)
>>4. to name saints and martyrs
>>5. to make list of adjective (please, no more that two)
>>6. to make quotations in Latin
>>7. to quote from: Ovid, Virgil, Dante, (and more in general from all the
>>Latin-Greek poets and thinkers)
>>8. to address by name uncles and aunties
>>9. to give personal detailed descriptions of (old) professionals from your
>>own village or town
>>10. to make topographic mapping of your surroundings
>>11. to go for springs, wells, caves (the places for "visions")
>>12. to avoid personal pronoun "we" as mach as possible
>>13. to avoid ascribing to oneself the ability of having "visions" or
>>special visual revelations or ear epiphany
>>14. to avoid list of colours (after krzysztof kieslowski's trilogy is no
>>longer effective, even when in good faith it was intended to be a fervent
>>quotation of the film maker's poetics)
>>15. to make a second edition of Vasari's "Le vite de' piu' eccellenti
>>pittori, scultori e architettori. Coi ritratti loro. " (1568, Florence).
>>
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