I like this poem. It’s by Christina Rossetti and was published in an 1896 collection of her poems that I found at an outdoor book stall in London two summers back. Someone near to Rossetti’s heart appears to have died in spring (perhaps an infant?), and the poet marks the irony by observing that her loved one’s birth date was also rather untimely, in winter. Rossetti’s poem is titled, “Dirge.” A dirge is a song sung in the grief of a death. According to a Wikipedia entry:
The English word “dirge” is derived from the LatinDirige, Domine, Deus meus, in conspectu tuo viam meam (“Direct my way in your sight, O Lord my God”), the first words of the first antiphon in the Matins of the Office for the Dead. The original meaning of “dirge” in English referred to this office.
Daranak falls came from the phrase “Dadanak ang dugo” its directly translated “the spilling of blood” It is located at Bgy. Tandang Kutyo in the town of Tanay. A favorite location shooting area of most local. The Saudi crown prince, Mohammed bin Salman, will arrive in the UK on Wednesday for what is effectively a state visit that will include lunch with the Queen, dinner with the Prince of Wales and the. I f one design could be said to epitomise the resurgent optimism of postwar Britain then Calyx by Lucienne Day fits the bill. It was a furnishing textile for Heal Fabrics showcased in a “contemporary” dining room in the Homes and Gardens pavilion of the Festival of Britain in 1951. Gilbert's Painting is a high quality painting contractor serving Phoenix and surrounding areas. If you're looking for a professional painting company that does the job to a high standard then contact us.
Here’s the poem. Notice how the poet touches all four seasons in the first stanza, then draws our focus, in the second stanza, to the irony of a death in spring, and how it might better have happened, if not in winter, at least in the fall:
Why were you born when the snow was falling?
You should have come to the cuckoo’s calling.
Or when grapes are green in the cluster,
Or, at least, when lithe swallows muster
For their far off flying
From summer dying.
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Why did you die when the lambs were cropping?
You should have died at the apple’s dropping,
When the grasshopper comes to trouble,
And the wheat-fields are sodden stubble,
And all winds go sighing
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For sweet things dying.
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It’s possible that the poem is written for no particular person’s death, but as a meditation upon the inharmonies of existence: the things that the poet might overhear said when someone is born or dies. In other words, if we searched the details of Rossetti’s life, we might find no particular death corresponding to the writing of this particular poem. Poets, afterall, adopt personas, and imagine occasions for writing, and thus we need not, of necessity, rush to personal tragedy as the source that prompted Rosetti’s poetic imagination. Here’s a portrait of Rossetti, painted by her brother:
And here’s a drawing of Rossetti, also by her brother:
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Source for both images: Wikipedia Commons
Necessity is the Mother of Invention15/10/2018 How Nail Polish and Nipple Cream can Reduce Maternal Health Barriers in Rural VietnamZoe Jackson & Rachel Morgan are promoting post-birth maternal healthcare education to new mothers in rural Vietnam. If you asked me to name a universal truth in this world, one that transcends race, religion, socioeconomic status and cultural context, it would be this: Motherhood is hard. Yes, it’s usually many other wonderful and rewarding things as well, but I’d be pretty hard-pressed to find a mother who could tell me unequivocally that her journey thus far has been nothing but smooth sailing. When I was a kid, my mother placed a magnet on our refrigerator that read: “Every mother is a working mother”. As a child, I never fully grasped the wisdom of that simple statement, but as I moved into adulthood I gradually began to notice how so many women around me were tirelessly constructing their schedules, priorities, professional careers, and sometimes–it seemed– their very identities around motherhood, and it finally hit me just how much truth that fridge magnet carried with it. In fact, that seemingly innocuous little magnet served to highlight another common thread of truth that ties mothers of all different backgrounds together: Often new mothers and their support networks are so busy focusing their energy on the baby’s needs that the mother’s physical, mental and social needs can go unidentified and unmet. Despite some increasing awareness of this issue in countries like Canada, Australia and the UK, there is still a long way to go in recognizing and addressing the multitude of potential post-birth challenges for women all around the world. |