tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4029797379711350813.post7508379506780444640..comments2024-03-28T14:04:54.557-07:00Comments on the prowling Bee: There is a Languor of the LifeSusan Kornfeldhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05384011972647144453noreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4029797379711350813.post-25727775785529501742023-11-27T16:05:25.033-08:002023-11-27T16:05:25.033-08:00The premier ED lines presaging “A Drowsiness” (F55...The premier ED lines presaging “A Drowsiness” (F552, 1863) chill my spine:<br /><br />“This is the Hour of Lead —<br />Remembered, if outlived,<br />As Freezing persons, recollect the Snow—<br />First—Chill—then Stupor—then the letting go—”<br /><br /> ‘After Great Pain’ (F372, 1862), as Susan K said.<br />Larry Bhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02810899482852120751noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4029797379711350813.post-13718651320449111052023-11-27T15:08:34.995-08:002023-11-27T15:08:34.995-08:00Wouldn’t Occam ask, Why suspect God, when ED’s oth...Wouldn’t Occam ask, Why suspect God, when ED’s other lover, Death, specializes in excising “Vitality”? Larry Bhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02810899482852120751noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4029797379711350813.post-84261084346448454282017-02-01T18:39:03.036-08:002017-02-01T18:39:03.036-08:00On re-reading the poem it seems clear to me that t...On re-reading the poem it seems clear to me that the "Mightier than He" refers to God who according to Christian doctrine, takes people from life as he will.Susan Kornfeldhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05384011972647144453noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4029797379711350813.post-76611632252058300892017-02-01T14:36:51.838-08:002017-02-01T14:36:51.838-08:00There is a valid physiological basis to this poem....There is a valid physiological basis to this poem. The body responds to pain by releasing natural neurotransmitters and then the endorphins<br /> that will seem to reduce the sensation of pain, and other responses that produce a languor in some cases. mcjeepshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15354406129562154763noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4029797379711350813.post-5202086727884202652014-08-14T14:25:48.204-07:002014-08-14T14:25:48.204-07:00I like the inversion of conventional expectations ... I like the inversion of conventional expectations in this poem. We normally think of a doctor or a surgeon as working to relieve pain. Here, pain is life and vitality. Absence of pain is death and relieves the surgeon of purpose. <br /><br /> There is, as you point out, also tension in the concept of "imminent languor" -- an urgency behind dullness that is interesting. This kind of death doesn't end pain -- it obscures it. There is a sense of active ignorance or avoidance that means that the pain is never really obscured. Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com