Actually, dave, this occurred to me within seconds of sending off the post,
that the idea that you didn't know this already was highly unlikely, and I
said as much to Judy, who can confirm this. :-)
No, I don't know the poem -- is it from the Greek anthology? I think I
reacted a little against it as the original wording in Plutarch is so spare
and to the point that you could extract it and present it as a found poem.
My only excuse is that we are currently on Our Third Drip here since we got
back from the States, this one dropping gently from the dining room ceiling,
and due to be fixed on Tuesday.
Best,
R.
-----Original Message-----
From: David Bircumshaw
Sent: Sunday, April 24, 2011 5:36 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: Dr Who?
Rob
I didn't indicate the idea was new to me: I meant the poem was, as in 'I
hadn't seen this poem before'
Had you?
Sent from my BlackBerry smartphone from Virgin Media
-----Original Message-----
From: Robin Hamilton <[log in to unmask]>
Sender: "Poetryetc: poetry and poetics" <[log in to unmask]>
Date: Sun, 24 Apr 2011 16:14:43
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Reply-To: "Poetryetc: poetry and poetics" <[log in to unmask]>
Subject: Re: Dr Who?
Sounds like a variant of something found in Plutarch, dave, where a voice
calls to sailors on a ship, "Go tell them in Thrace, Great Pan is Dead!" In
'On the Decline of Oracles" or thereabouts, I think.
Taken by Xstn writers as an announcement that at the birth of Christ, all
oracles ceased forthwith.
As you will of course already know from your memories of J. Milton's "On the
Morning of Christ's Nativity."
:-)
R.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-----Original Message-----
From: David Bircumshaw
Sent: Sunday, April 24, 2011 9:43 AM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: Dr Who?
I should have mentioned that too the Doctor 'died' last night, murdered,
shot while regenerating, and was even cremated.
On a different, but not entirely dissimilar note, I hadn't come across this
beautiful little 4th century (A.D.) Greek poem before. It's a lament for the
passing of the Classical gods. The translation is by Andrew Foreman.
*Non habebis deos alienos*
Εἴπατε τῷ βασιλῆι·
χαμαὶ πέσε δαίδαλος αὐλά·
οὐκέτι Φοῖβος ἔχει
καλύβαν, ὀυ μάντιδα δάφνην,
οὐ παγὰν λαλέουσαν·
ἀπέσβετο καὶ λάλον ὕδωρ.
The Old Gods are Dead (anon)
Go break the news to the King:
The high court is fallen, its plumage melted.
No dwelling left for Apollo,
No prophecy left in his darling Laurel
No heathenly prattle of fountains
For even the chattering waters have been dumbed dry.
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