Poem 7 - "A Cold Lithuanian Anthem"



A Cold Lithuanian Anthem
Avigayil Rosensweig

Mixed metaphors, like mixed drinks,
are something I am unfamiliar with,
because I abhor metaphor, and drunkenness:
Ingest, instead, the provincial prosaic prosody of my writing,
intoxicated with my own sobriety.
For precepts are better than fine wines,
as are cheap wines, sugar saturated
and savored by the tongue.
Therefore, let legal texts drip from my mouth like honey.
For I say religion is like metrical poetry,
and dwell, like the Divine,
within the cubits of the law.
If the sweetness of honey be an acquired taste,
I have long since acquired it.

Comments

  1. SearcherMarch 13, 2018 at 2:05 PM

    I don't entirely understand this, but if you're blaming me for it then I bear that blame like a badge of honor.

    ReplyDelete
  2. UnknownMarch 21, 2018 at 8:52 PM

    The humor of this poem was only evident to me on a second reading, but it's really clever. At first, I was confused with the 2 metaphors, but then I realized: hey that's the point! Real show-don't-tell :-)
    There's also a lot of sophistication of language in here. The single stanza works since the lines flow quite nicely to the ear:
    "intoxicated on my own sobriety. For precepts are better than fine wines..."
    The rhymes slipped in are quite clever: "because I abhor metaphor" and "of fine wines," and the alliteration of "prosaic prosody", "sugar saturated and savored", "and dwell, like the Divine".
    There's also beautiful imagery: sugar saturated cheap wines that are better savored by the tongue -- so true. And legal texts dripping from the mouth like honey. Also, "For I say religion is like metered poetry" is a really cool idea -- I'm still turning it over in my mind and admiring it :-)
    I might change that second line "are something I am unfamiliar with" -- that "something" seems a bit weak.
    I do have to say I don't exactly understand the connection between the title, "A Cold Lithuanian Anthem" and the poem -- unless perhaps it's taking place in a group of old, cold, inebriated Lithuanian men describing their life philosophy. Which is actually really interesting now that I think about it...

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  3. Avigayil RosensweigMay 9, 2018 at 5:36 PM

    Updated

    ReplyDelete

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