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Classic and Contemporary Poetry
SECOND OPINION, by STEPHEN CUSHMAN Poet's Biography First Line: Erat illimis fons. 'there was a clear spring' Subject(s): Mythology - Classical; Narcissus (mythology) | |||
Erat illimis fons. "There was a clear spring" doesn't quite get it, the sense of slimelessness Ovid wanted, and let's ease up on Narcissus. Imagine how it feels to have your name twisted into a term that's never a compliment. Okay, he's good-looking, a little stuck up, but why plunge overboard on sympathy for Echo -- she got hers for hoodwinking Juno -- and before you go slapping his name on someday else, make sure you read the damn story: Quod petis est nusquam. "What you seek is nowhere": wound beyond balm. And all because Narcissus said no to someone who bitched to Nemesis. Where would we be if everybody's id could revenge itself on the unrequiting, and what about empathy for the cursed kid suddenly burning in his own blind fire? Disorders need naming, though; let's be fair, and who can blame Nacke or Ellis or Freud that the beautiful boy forgot himself fully when he fell for his face and having kissed tasteless water only then realized the terrible error. That part doesn't fit; yet it's not the fault of your local therapist who's making a living and may not wonder why the gods would change a loser bad enough to name our problems after into white flowers with a saffron center. http://www.wlu.edu/~shenano | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...WHAT NARCISSUS GAVE THE LAKE by ELEANOR WILNER NARCISSUS AND ECHO by FRED CHAPPELL NARCISSUS by ROBERT SEYMOUR BRIDGES NARCISSUS by KATHRYN E. COLQUHOUN NARCISSUS (1) by JAMES ELROY FLECKER NARCISSUS (2) by JAMES ELROY FLECKER SONG TO MYSELF by GLORIA GODDARD NARCISSUS: A POMPEIIAN BRONZE by VYACHESLAV IVANOVICH IVANOV NARCISSUS by GRACE DENIO LITCHFIELD |
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