The Pope's Erotic Novel

One of the most popular books of the 15th century was the Historia de duobus amantibus or the Story of two lovers, written by Enea Silvio Piccolomini from Siena in 1444. It was first published in Cologne in 1468 and then in Rome in 1476, whereupon it followed a meteoric increase in publication. One reason for its popularity could be that it is one of the first notable erotic novels, only preceded by Petronius Arbiter's Satyricon and Boccaccio's Decameron, and the first epistolary erotic novel. Another reason could be that Piccolomini went on to become Pope Pius II in 1458.

Piccolomini in his older, more frumpy times

The novel follows the adulterous love of Lucretia, a married woman in Piccolomini's native Siena, and Euryalus, companion of Sigismund, the visiting Duke of Austria. Their relationship progresses from the search for reciprocal affection following a chance meeting, through love letters and secret meetings to a tragic finale. This plot has often been likened to that of Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet, and the popularity of the novel might have made it available to Shakespeare 153 years later.

Euryalus and Lucretia meeting on the title page of
an edition from 1500 (click the image to zoom)

Interestingly, the novel is in many ways highly transitional. It occured at a time of budding Renaissance, including a topic and imagery which, save for Boccaccio, had been taboo in Medieval times. Whereas modern readers might find that the relative absence of sex and the poetically introspective and psychological approach to love remind them more of romance than of erotica, contemporary ones would relish in the novel's deviance from the religious rigidity of a waning era.

Euryalus delivers a love letter. 
The illustration breaks with standards of Medieval illumination. 
These were kept alive in Venice, but the Florentine printers 
developed this style because they were printing for
a larger, less wealthy public. (click the image to zoom)

No one exemplifies this change more distinctly than the author himself, albeit in unexpected ways. As a young Poet Laureate of Gaspar Schlick, the Chancellor of the Holy Roman Emperor (Sigismund of Austria...), Piccolomini seems to have embraced the ideals of the Renaissance. In the novel, one of Euryalus' last resort for gaining access to Lucretia, her husband's cousin Pandalus, points out that "Why, she is so changed by love, you would not think her the same person. Alas for piety, alas for grief! No one, until this happened, in all the city was chaster than she, no one more modest. It is indeed amazing that nature has given to love so much power over men’s thoughts." (i). Nature, as Fransesco de Sanctis points out, and in particular human nature, is now what is right (ii). Lucretia and Euryalus are clearly meant to be together, while the laws of society, which were the prevailing good in Medieval texts and the authority behind Lucretia's faltering marriage, is now what is wrong. While Dante viewed nature as evil and Medieval literature tended to view love as something granted by external, supernatural powers, Piccolomini places love in human nature. This Renaissance humanism which focuses on man and nature rather than religion and religious concepts saturates the novel and rules of society and honour which causes the tragic end to their relationship confirms this attitude.

The lovers, in a fond embrace, are being warned by a servant that
Lucretia's husband is at the door. The print is probably 
re-used from some other work. (click  the image to zoom)

However, Piccolomini soon became Pope, resulting in a remarkable volte-face. As Pope Pius II, he famously stated "Aeneam rejicite, Pium suscipite!" ("Reject Aeneas, accept Pius!"). He distanced himself from the favourable descriptions of nature, and particularly that of Lucretia, as well as the success of his younger self, albeit unsuccessfully. In this sense, upon ascending to the top of the Holy See, Aeneas returned to pre-Renaissance sentiments, luckily for us, to no avail.

The erstwhile poet had already made his mark, providing posterity with lyrical and heartfelt descriptions of love and the experience of it. The English translation, introduced by the below paragraphs, makes for a delightful read and a story which remains as engaging and vivid today as it did almost six hundred years ago.

"

THE city of Siena, your native town and mine, did great honour to the Emperor Sigismund on his arrival, as is now well known; and a palace was made ready for him by the church of Saint Martha, on the road that leads to the narrow gate of sandstone. As Sigismund came hither, after the ceremonies, he met four married ladies, for birth and beauty, age and ornament, almost equal. All thought them goddesses rather than mortal women, and had they been only three, they might have seemed those whom Paris, we are told, saw in a dream. Now Sigismund, though advanced in years, was quick to passion; he took great pleasure in the company of women, and loved feminine caresses. Indeed he liked nothing better than the presence of great ladies. So when he saw these, he leaped from his horse, and they received him with outstretched hands. Then, turning to his companions, he said: ‘Have you ever seen women like these: For my part, I cannot say whether their faces are human or angelic. Surely they are from heaven.’ 

They cast down their eyes, and their modesty made them lovelier. For, as the blushes spread over their cheeks, their faces took the colour of Indian ivory stained with scarlet, or white lilies mixed with crimson roses. And chief among them all, shone the beauty of Lucretia. A young girl, barely twenty years of age, she came of the house of the Camilli, and was wife to Menelaus, a wealthy man, but quite unworthy that such a treasure should look after his home; deserving rather that his wife should deceive him or, as we say, give him horns. 

This lady was taller than the others. Her hair was long, the colour of beaten gold, and she wore it not hanging down her back, as maidens do, but bound up with gold and precious stones. Her lofty forehead, of good proportions, was without a wrinkle, and her arched eyebrows were dark and slender, with a due space between. Such was the splendour of her eyes that, like the sun, they dazzled all who looked on them; with such eyes she could kill whom she chose and, when she would, restore the dead to life. Her nose was straight in contour, evenly dividing her rosy cheeks, while nothing could be sweeter, nothing more pleasant to see than those cheeks which, when she laughed, broke in a little dimple on either side. And all who saw those dimples longed to kiss them. A small and well-shaped mouth, coral lips made to be bitten, straight little teeth, that shone like crystal, and between them, running to and fro, a tremulous tongue that uttered not speech, but sweetest harmonies. And how can I describe the beauty of her mind, the whiteness of her breast?

"

The remaider of the novel can be found by clicking here.

What do you think?

What is your opinion of the about-face of Pius the poet pope? He could have distanced himself from his earlier work either because of the requirements of office, because of old age and changed values but also for a number of other reasons. What do you think these might be and can you sympathise with his choices?

Also, an erotic novel more or less without sex: is that a contradiction in terms? Is it an erotic novel at all or would you classify it as something else? If so, what and why?

Finally, the personal aspect. Love, romance and sexuality are highly personal themes. Could this be the reason for the novel's popularity back then? What is your personal reaction to the novel? Who deserves your personal sympathy, Aeneas or Pius?

Comments on The Tale of Sir Bob are always welcome! 

Further reading: A quick but good introduction, a thorough analysis, a look at illustrations and a young literate's reactions

Sources: (i), (ii), Pic1, Pic2, Pic3, Pic4

Kurt Vonnegut's Backwards Movie

I am a slow reader, but Kurt Vonnegut's A Man Without a Country is to date the only book I have read all in a day. Kurt Vonnegut's innocent and quaintly humorous tone betrays a wit as sharp and piercing as an antibiotic syringe and this kept me rapt for an entire day. Expectations were therefore high before reading Vonnegut's most acclaimed novel, Slaugherhouse Five.

The novel figures on Modern Library and Time Magazine's lists of the 100 most significant English-language novels and the American Library Association's list of the 100 most frequently challenged books 1990-1999 (i.e. books requested for withdrawal from libraries). It is also known as one of the great anti-war novels, as it follows the protagonist Billy Pilgrim's experience of the Second World War, the bombing of Dresden and their results for Billy's subsequent civilian life. Vonnegut, who experienced the Dresden bombing, created this compelling argument against war halfway through his semi-autobiographic novel. The protagonist, many years after the war has become somewhat peculiar. He can't sleep, and goes into the kitchen.

"

Billy looked at the clock on the gas stove. He had an hour to kill before the saucer came. He went into the living room, swinging the bottle like a dinner bell, turned on the television. He came slightly unstuck in time, saw the late movie backwards, then forwards again. It was a movie about American bombers in the Second World War and the gallant men who flew them. Seen backwards by Billy, the story went like this:

American planes, full of holes and wounded men and corpses took off backwards from an airfield in England. Over France a few German fighter planes flew at them backwards, sucked bullets and shell fragments from some of the planes and crewmen. They did the same for wrecked American bombers on the ground, and those planes flew up backwards to join the formation.

The formation flew backwards over a German city that was in flames. The bombers opened their bomb bay doors, exerted a miraculous magnetism which shrunk the fires, gathered them into cylindrical steel containers, and lifted the containers into the bellies of the planes. The containers were stored neatly in racks. The Germans below had miraculous devices of their own, which were long steel tubes. They used them to suck more fragments from the crewmen and planes. But there were still a few wounded Americans, though, and some of the bombers were in bad repair. Over France, though, German fighters came up again, made everything and everybody as good as new.

When the bombers got back to their base, the steel cylinders were taken from the racks and shipped back to the United States of America, where factories were operating night and day, dismantling the cylinders, separating the dangerous contents into minerals. Touchingly, it was mainly women who did this work. The minerals were then shipped to specialists in remote areas. It was their business to put them into the ground., to hide them cleverly, so they would never hurt anybody ever again.

The American fliers turned in their uniforms, became high school kids. And Hitler turned into a baby, Billy Pilgrim supposed. That wasn't in the movie. Billy was extrapolating. Everybody turned into a baby, and all humanity, without exception, conspired biologically to produce two perfect people named Adam and Eve, he supposed.

"

If the significance of this passage eludes you, have no fear. The below illustration, accompanied by Kurt Vonnegut's reading of the passage succincly explains how contrary and illogical war is.

What do you think?

Do you think Vonnegut makes a compelling argument with this passage, or could it be read otherwise? Assuming it communicates an anti-war message, you agree with him and the way he presents it? Vonnegut is known for using short sentences meant for high reading speed rather than contemplation. Do you think this is a fitting style for discussing a topic as deep as war? Did the segment make you want to read more from Vonnegut?

Comments on The Tale of Sir Bob are always welcome! 

Sources: Vonnegut, Kurt: Slaugherhouse 5, London 2000, 60-61, pic, film, as given

The Importance of Soaking in Politics

Having previously covered singing heads of state, the time has come to have a look at the role of bathing and bath-houses in politics. At first glance, one would not expect these inconspicuous activities and rooms to be of any consequence but they might in fact be partially responsible for the end of the Cold War.

Water Wings

Nikita Khrushchev was fat and ungainly. He had had no more than four years of school education and was thought to have survived Stalin's purges mainly because no one found him a threat. Still, following Stalin's death in 1953 this inconspicuousness was what allowed him to maneuver to the top of Soviet Russia.

Before this, in 1949, the massively self-centered and -confident Chairman Mao had been slighted at Stalin's 70th birthday. He was treated as just another of the many guests, was granted very little time with the Soviet leader and later relocated to a remote villa outside Moscow for several weeks where there was nothing to do except playing table tennis at a broken table. (This was before table tennis was outlawed on the belief that it damaged players' eyesight.)

Naturally, Mao was seething with resentment and when Khrushchev came for a state visit in 1958 he was put up in a fairly worn down hotel with no air conditioning in the hot China summer. During the following talks, Mao chain-smoked in spite of Khrushchev's intense hatred for smoking and talked down to him, but suddenly he seemed to change his ways and invited him to his private residence at Zonghanhai.

Mao Swimming. He was said to have been aided in this venture by his profuse fat

When Khrushchev turned up the following day, he suspected trouble. Mao greeted him wearing slippers and a bathrobe and insisted he join him in the pool. Mao was an proficient swimmer, but the 200 pound Khrushchev had never learned to swim. Soon, Mao was doing laps and talking incessantly, interpreters running up and down along the pool while Khrushchev was standing awkwardly at the children's end of the pool. The humiliation was not complete yet, however. A pair of water wings were produced and with Khrushchev paddling like a dog or simply bobbing up and down, Mao ducking and diving the talks progressed amidst splutters and discomfort.

Khrushchev in happier times

Needless to say, the stunt did nothing to improve Sino-Soviet relations. By 1966, their border conflict almost escalated into open war and this allowed Kissinger to reestablish American-Chinese relations. This further pressured Soviet to withdraw their aid to the North-Vietnamese which led to disengagement, SALT and 1989. Therefore, interestingly, the Cold War was ended, at least in part, by water wings.

The Ugandian Swimming Champion

Uganda's dictator Idi Amin also considered himself quite the swimmer. He used to boast that he was the Ugandian swimming champion. However, as this video shows, there was not much competition as competitors swimming past him were bound never to swim again.

Finnish Sauna Diplomacy

After the war, Finnish President Jushi Kusti Paasikivi and his successor Uhro Kekkonen navigated the Cold War skillfully through the policy of "active neutrality". By doing this, they could have dealings with both the Soviet and the West and especially Kekkonen had a secret tool for this purpose; cultural diplomacy.

Kekkonen would invite foreign digitaries to join him in his sauna and there, he would start negotiating, hammering out a deal. The sauna would take its toll, softening the visitors up for compromise. Often, Kekkonen would not let them leave until an agreement had been reached and dignitaries who have met with this treatment include Soviet Premier Khrushchev and former UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon. On one occasion, in 1960, after sweating in the sauna until five in the morning Khrushchev issued a statement supporting Finland's desire to integrate with the West.

Khrushchev never noticed the wicked gleam in Kekkonen's eye

Finnish sauna diplomacy is still being used. All Finnish diplomatic and consular missions have their own sauna for the purpose, and Finnish soldiers are known to build saunas wherever they go. There is, however, a danger to sauna diplomacy. Olli Rehn of the European Commission economic and monetary affairs was recently accused of sexism after an attempt at sauna diplomacy.

What do you think?

Do these tactics rock your belief in the solidity of your political system? Are they morally sound or do, perhaps, the ends justify the means? A well known business tactic is to give visiting businessmen awkward flights and have a liason professional keep them busy until his meeting. This makes them tired, unable to make good decisions and more likely to aggree to the business' demands. Is this justifiable, in your opinion?

Comments on the Tale of Sir Bob are welcome, as ever!



Sources: "Water Wings", "The Ugandian Swimming Champion" as shown, "Finnish Sauna Diplomacy", Pic1, Pic2, Pic3

PIFs - The Tattered Past of Public Information Films

PIFs, or Public Information Films, seems to be a thing of the past. Nowadays, people get their share for fearmongery through fantastically animated cgi-documentaries but before these were of any real quality image-wise, governments had to rely on patronising, blatant truisms which any sensible person today would take for granted. It is, however, exactly these properties which makes the PIFs either amusing or quite creepy to us today. As a challenge, one of the PIFs below is a fake. Can you spot it?

Following the war, new threats loomed...

and new solutions.

Later, with death tolls rising to seven-digit numbers per annum, kite safety had to be addressed.

You would think this had become common knowledge by the 80s, but

They never listen to the sensible kid. That's why they introduced the twice shy cat:

And they say cats are clever. However, this 1973 film depicting dark and lonely water as an active agent is just ridiculously creepy.

His brother, it seems, was less malicious though just as creepy and righteous.

Life was indeed harder in the 70s. Even a rug could kill you.

Or a chair...

Even man's best friend could be a killer.

Felt worse for the dog, really. In any case, in the 90s, some PIFs focused more on being grisly than which message came across. In this PIF it's clearly better to hit a child at 30 mph than at 40mph.

Luckily, though, there were Hale and Pace.

Which brings us around to our fake. The fairly easy to spot spoof here was of course the chair and fries skit from the Armstrong and Miller show. (More from them here.)

Sources: As given

Things Which Look Like Hitler

Why people keep likening things to Hitler, I do not know. It might be a strategy for dealing with the past or it might simply be the familiarity of the nefarious dicatator's exterior which lie at the root of the association. In any case, here are a few things that look like Hitler.

The Original

Adolfish

Der Furrer

The Dogtator

And finally:

A house in Swansea

Swansea City Council is fearing it might attack that pole. For more pictures of animals that look like Hitler, click here.

Barry Lyndon Plot Summary, Chapter 19

• Barry declares that this final chapter shows how his fall is brought on by what he calls ungrateful scoundrels.
• He buys Bryan a horse. In contrast to Bullington, Bryan's rebelliousness is described in a favourable light. The horse turns out to be quite wild, and when Bryan disobeys his father and rides the horse, he falls off and dies. The sorrow brings Barry and Lady Lyndon together for a few months.
• Barry sells the ancient oaks of Hackton Castle for a pittance to raise money, then loses it gambling.
• Barry confines Lady Lyndon to the Castle under the watch of his mother. Now, close to destitution, he describes his mother in a more positive tone than at the height of his career. He intercepts letters written in lemon juice from Lady Lyndon to her former lover Sir George Poynings. Through Barry's secretary, Redmond Quin (the son of Nora and Captain Quin), she plans to escape but Barry finds them out.
• In constant need of money, Barry is given an offer on his mines from a London firm. They need Lady Lyndon to approve in person at their offices, and so Barry and Lady Lyndon goes to London in spite of Bell Brady's misgivings.
• The meeting turns out to be another scheme of Quin's. Barry is, after some roamings, thrown in the Fleet Prison where he lives out his days under the care of his mother.

Thackeray's commentator, G.M. Fitz-Boodle wraps up the narrative as follows.

• After an unsuccessful gambling career on the continent, Barry tries to blackmail Lord George but fails. He tries to get Lady Lyndon to flee with him, but is thwarted in this endeavour by Bullington, the rumor of whose death was false: "Bullington assaulted his step-father [...] and administered to him a tremendous castigation in the Pump-room" (OUP 2008, 308).
• After this encounter, Barry is sent from prison to prison, living on an annuity through Lady Lyndon. When she dies, this annuity is discontinued. Bullington dies in the Napoleonic Wars and all the Lyndon property passes on to Lord George, heir of the Tiptoffs.
• Barry dies from delirium tremens brought on by alcohol abuse.

Barry Lyndon Plot Summary, Chapters 16, 17 and 18

Chapter 16

• Through Lady Lyndon's porter, Barry gains access to all her correspondence and is thus able to stalk and pursue her while making it appear that she is pursuing him.
• He kidnaps Lady Lyndon's lady in waiting, Miss Amalia Kiljoy, and marries her to Ulick. By this and through other threats he shows his determination to get Lady Lyndon.
• She flees to England but Barry goes on ahead, making it seem like she is following him. Her family and society picks up in this, which further drives her towards Barry. By using this and bribing her servants, Barry is finally able to marry Lady Lyndon on 1773, taking the name Barry Lyndon.

Chapter 17

• After a short introduction, the second part of the novel has Barry travel with Lady Lyndon to Hackton Castle where he spends his time abusing her and her assets by redecorating and gambling. Indirectly, he effectuates an old curse stating that when a certain rookery should fall, so should the castle.
• He buys back the marshy lands of his ancestors but still takes a dim view of Ireland.
• Barry and Lady Lyndon starts being apart. The latter is mistreated.
• He has bad luck at gambling but consorts with Dr. Johnson, Boswell and other famous personages (as referred to in the opening chapters).
• He enters politics and wins a seat in Parliament from Lord George of the neighbouring Tiptoffs, relatives of Lady Lyndon, who are exceedingly hostile towards him.

Chapter 18

• Barry finds Lady Lyndon intolerable and troublesome and only manageable when her son is used as leverage or when coaxed.
• His son by Lady Lyndon, Bryan, is portrayed with fondness and Barry tries to secure peerages for himself and his son. Bryan is fond of Bullington, who is sent to Ireland where he grows rebellious and embraces Catholicism. After two years he returns and is continually in conflict with Barry.
• The Tiptoffs keep spreading stories of Barry's mistreatment of Lady Lyndon, Bullington and the estate, stories which Barry characterises as slander. However, more often than not, these stories seem to be true.
• After having been beaten half to death by Barry, Bullington flees the house and volunteers for an English regiment in the American war of independence. This is pounced upon by the Tiptoffs, who thinks that Barry raised a regiment in order to have Bullington join it and be shot by a hired assassin. Later, he is said to die in just such a way.
• Meanwhile, disgraced at court and increasingly poor, Barry and his family goes to Paris where he spends more money, gambles, pawns heirlooms and cheats on Lady Lyndon. When France declares war on Britain in 1778, he returns and moves on to Ireland for financial reasons.
• News of Bullington's death are presented as one of the very few positive elements.

Barry Lyndon Plot Summary, Chapters 7, 8 and 9

Chapter 7

• Barry enters the service of Captain de Potsdorff, nephew and heir to the minister of police, as an ordinance. He brags about his former merits to the Captain and then tells of his slyness in his service.
• He writes a letter to his mother. The answer makes him homesick.
• He overhears the police minister advising the Captain to withhold any promotion of him, and when he is sent to spy in the Chevalier de Balibary, who turns out to be his Roman Catholic uncle (Balibary being a latinisation of Ballybarry), he gives himself away on purpose.

Chapter 8

• Barry joins forces with his uncle and together they spend the days gambling. They work out small reports for the Captain.
• The Uncle is on a spying mission for the Austrians.
• They develop a gambling language and play several important personages.
• Barry reports back a pre-planned story to the Captain. When he reports that Prussian officers had been gambling with his uncle, the captain plans to have him arrested and sent out of the country. Since any promotion is denied him from the Captain's hand, Barry resolves to swap places with his uncle, bringing two pistols.

Chapter 9

• The scheme works and the Uncle soon joins Barry in Dresden, having caught the Captain trying to burglarise his red box of intelligence and had him sent off to Spandau prison.
• Barry decides to abandon military life and take up a full time gambling career with his uncle.
• He discusses whether gambling is disreputable and claims it is no more so than other professions.
• He tells many stories of success and failure, about the nobility they played and claims that women likes "to play [...] but not to pay" (OUP 2008, 130-131)
• An associate of theirs, the impostor Count Alessandro Pippi, drugs them and makes off with their funds. They pawn their clothes and jewellery and continue gambling.

Mark Knopfler's Songs About War

There are many ways to write songs about war. Some songs are angry, some are eager but fortunately most can be understood as anti-war songs. Of these, Mark Knopfler is one of those who in my opinion is most successful in describing the powerlessness of those who suffers because of war; soldiers, civilians and those left behind. This is a collection of his best anti-war songs with a reference to the war in question where applicable.

Brothers in Arms
from the album with the same name, one dedicated to an anti-war agenda.

The Man's Too Strong
from the same album. Who is the man? A father would be an authority figure. So might a dictator. In a family, there might be no distinction.

Done With Bonaparte
from the solo album Golden Heart. This clearly refers to the Napoleonic wars, but notice how the last verse foreshadows the Second World War.

Remembrance Day
from his most recent album, Get Lucky. This is about the First World War as indicated through the title and specific topical wording. This song beautifully concludes the list, showing how small the individual becomes in war and how great our obligation to the victims should be.

Barry Lyndon Plot Summary, Chapters 5 and 6

Chapter 5

• An officer in Barry's regiment, Lieutenant Fakenham, is struck by a bullet. Barry and a private carry him to Warburg, but on returning he is struck unconscious and robbed of the reward by the private.
• He is laid up in the same house as Fakenham and decides to go mad in order to stay there with nurse Lischen.
• He steals Fakenham's identity and deserts, fleeing to Cassel. Here, he meets a Prussian officer, Monsieur de Galgenstein who accompanies him towards Düsseldorf.
• On the way, Barry tells the story of Morgan Prussia, who joined Frederick the Great's "giant regiment". He pretended to have six brothers, left with money to enlist them and settled on a farm with the money.
• That evening, in a guest house, Galgenstein blows his cover and forces him to enlist in the Prussian army. In an interpolated tale, Barry describes how Galgenstein was later hanged as a spy. Barry is taken off towards the army compound.

Chapter 6

• In the transportation, Barry meets a pastor candidate who appears as an educated and morally clean version of himself. Upon arrival in a hospital, he tells his story and that of several of their travelling companions. Upon arrival he is drafted into a regiment in Pomerania.
• In the prison dorm, Barry gets acquainted with Le Blondin, a blonde Frenchman who later stages a mutiny, bringing the soldiers' burden to the forefront.
• He then meets Fakenham again and, having had a laugh at his expense, gives him a piece of advice which procures his liberty.
• Barry gives some general notes on being a soldier in the Seven Years' War. He prefers the Prussian army to the English and is rewarded by General Bülow. He keeps out of harm's way through threats.

Barry Lyndon Plot Summary, Chapters 3 and 4

Chapter 3

• On his way to Dublin, Barry first meets Captain Freeny, the highwayman, then Mrs. Fitzsimons, an impostor. The Fitzsimons invite him to stay with them and during his stay, Barry's financial reserves are nigh depleted. By the time Barry sees through their scheme, they see through his.
• He is turned out of the house and debts and the threat of exposure forces him to join the army and thus flee Ireland.

Chapter 4

• Barry, headed for Germany and the Seven Years' War, keeps getting into squabbles on the ship. Fortunately, Captain Fagan boards the ship and keeps him with money and protection. He reveals to Barry how the duel was arranged and after a while gets him promoted to the rank of corporal. Fagan also keeps him with money.
• Barry narrates how the Seven Years' War would appear from the soldiers' point of view but confesses that he does not fully understand it. He doesn't have a high opinion of military life; he ponders desertion, gambles and gets into squabbles and speaks slightingly of British valour.
• He tells of his killing of a French colonel and his young ensign, Fagan's death and how he and some other soldiers came to a house, drank the wine of an old woman and her daughters then burned their house down. All this is narrated surprisingly dispassionately.

Two Satirical Poems About One Man

Jonathan Swift's A Satirical Elegy on the Death of a Late Famous General and Robert Southey's After Blenheim both take a satirical approach to John Churchill, 1st Duke of Marlborough. One of Winston Churchill's ancestors, he served as a general in the British Army, most notably in the War of the Spanish Succession (1701-1714) where he famously won the Battle of Blenheim in 1704.

Both poems give interesting comments on war and warmongering contrasting the glory and skill of soldiering with the death and devastation of war. They both exhibit the tone which would appear more prominently in war poets such as Wilfred Owen two hundred years later.

A few notes...

A Satirical Elegy

• The poem is written in iambic tetrameter. In English, heroic verse, a form traditionally used in epic and dramatic poetry, is iambic pentameter. The missing iamb, then, signifies a lack and reflects the satirical content in form. The rhyme is masculine end rhyme in couplets (aabbccdd...)
• The elegy as a poetic composition usually laments and pays tribute to someone who has died. However, Swift does the opposite, making this the second formal reflection of satirical content. For my post on the mock-epic, click here.
• Swift's satires were, in general, Juvenalian ones. These are opposed to Horatian satires, which are gently mocking folly. Named after Horace, the Horatian satire is fairly sympathetic while Juvenalian satire, named after Juvenal, takes a more scornful view of its target, which is evil rather than folly. Juvenalian satires are more likely to use dark humour and sarcasm and see no hope where Horatian satires do. Swift's comments on Marlborough here are distinctly Juvenalian.
• A few explanatory notes:
• Swift takes a scornful view of the life and achievements of Marlborough which is shown amongst other things in the lines mentioned below.
• Line 6-8: This refers to the final judgement. According to Swift, Marlborough will not do well at the last trump.
• Line 16: Swift emphasises the physical and unpleasant for satirical effect. This he commonly did, perhaps most notably in The Lady's Dressing Room. For my discussion of this satire, click here.
• Line 17-22: Nobody grieves for him because he caused enough grief "in his day".
• Line 26: The praise of the general is like a bubble; seems substantial , but is hollow and easily undone.
• Line 32: This line refers to Genesis 2.7 albeit with a twist. While Genesis states that "[...]God formed man of the dust of the ground [...]", Swift claims that Marlborough sprung from dirt, which has slightly different connotations. See my note on line 16 in relation to this.

After Blenheim

• The poem is written in alternating iambic tetra- and trimeter. The final couplet consists of two lines of iambic tetrameter, decisively ending the stanza but also disrupting the metric pattern. The masculine end rhyme follows an abcbdd pattern in all stanzas, except the second which plays a disruptive role. Here, the word found is repeated in the fourth and fifth line, adding tension and changing the rhyme pattern to abcbbb.
• The ballad was originally sung, which accounts for the first four lines, corresponding to the four line ballad stanza. This, coupled with alliteration, also accounts for the relatively harmonious feel of the poem.
• Where Swift uses the properties of the elegy to create a sense of the uncanny and grotesque, Southey does so with those of the ballad. Incidentally, Freud's "uncanny" is discussed in these three posts.
• The effect of the poem stems largely from the combination of the peaceful, sunlit setting, the violent events discussed and the old farmer's repeated insistence that the victory was supposedly great and famous.

What do you think? 

In both these poems, structure is used as much to produce an emotional response as content. What do you think of this strategy? Is it a necessity of satire? Does it help the satire along or does it obscure the message of the poems and mar their content? On a slightly different note, do the reader have to be aware of standards of structure to be affected by the form of the poem? If so, how much awareness or literary competence is required?

The Tale of Sir Bob appreciates your input!

"Mock-Epic" Literature

The mock-epic literary genre was especially prominent in 18th century literature. Central literary figures like Alexander Pope and Jonathan Swift used the mock-epic, also known as the mock-heroic, for satirical purposes. The use of Classical forms, doctrines and imagery either to emphasise or deliberately blow trivial events out of proportion offered an efficient method for satirising and elaborating on the object of their critique. THis could by illustrated by the quite similar excerpts from The Rape of the Lock by Pope (1712), Swift's The Lady's Dressing Room (1714) and Description of a City Shower (1710).

The Rape of the Lock and The Lady's Dressing Room both describe aspects of the ladies' toilet by using Classical myths and literal methodology. Where Pope draws parallels between the rites of beauty and the rites of mass, Swift uses imagery from Greek and Roman mythology (such as the myth of Celia and Strephon and the myth of Pandora's box). While Pope draws further parallels between Belinda's toilet and the Classical armor of a hero, the entire mock-epic satirically expands the petty squabble of two Catholic families into an epic struggle in the manner of the Iliad.

Swift's Description of a City Shower evokes biblical, diluvian imagery to rain scorn upon what he considers to be a corrupt and doomed city. Political conflict, which was slowly tipping in Swift's disfavour, prompted him to make use of imagery from the Aeneid, drawing parallels between Aeneas and Dido and Tories and Whigs sheltering from the weather. Also, the use of biblical references, such as describing dust (the biblical material for the first man) as evil further marks this out as a mock-epic.

Sources:
The Norton Anthology of English Literature, Volume C: The Restoration and the Eighteenth Century, 8th edition, New York and London: Norton, 2006
Goring, Paul: Eighteenth-Century Literature and Culture, London: Continuum, 2008

Turning Points in US Foreign Policy

The Civil War

Confederate dead, May 1863

The Civil War (1861-1865), the bloodiest conflict in US history, was a struggle between the industrial, Union North and the agrarian Confederate South based on primarily ideological and economic issues such as slavery and trade. It represents a turning point in several ways; apart from the abolition of slavery, it changed the nature of US expansion from a territorial to an economic focus, in search of markets for initially northern industrial goods. Further it deepened the political division between north and south a divide still clearly visible today.

The Spanish - American War

This war, which was fought in 1898, consisted of military support for Cubans who rebelled against Spanish rule. The US was worried about their assets in Cuba and supported the rebels to safeguard these. It represents a turning point in US foreign policy towards Cuba through the Platt amendment, introducing Cuba as a strategic hot-spot. In addition, it extended US presence to the Pacific and East Asia through the acquisition of the Philippines.

The Roosevelt Corollary

Teddy

The Roosevelt Corollary (to the Monroe Doctrine) of 1904 represented a shift in US policy towards other countries in the Western Hemisphere (and by extension towards those in the Eastern). It reserved to the US the sole right of military intervention in countries within its sphere of influence, contrary to the Monroe Doctrine, which had no specifications on this point. It was the background for the construction of the Panama Canal and was later replaced by Franklin Delano Roosevelt's Good Neighbor Policy.

The Washington Naval Treaty

The 1922 Washington Naval Treaty governed the naval capabilities of the US, European powers and Japan, placing the US and Britain above the rest. The treaty constitutes a turning point because of the increased US commitment to safeguarding its economic interests. Furthermore, the establishment of the prominence of the US navy signals a desire for overseas expansion, which can be seen as related to the Hay's Open Door Policy and the Roosevelt Corollary.

The New Deal

Frank

The New Deal was a set of government programs initiated by Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1933 as a response to the Depression. Focusing on relief for unemployed, restructuring of business practices and recovery of the domestic economy, these isolationist programmes represented a turning point in US history because of the increased influence of the federal state on domestic life, especially business life. American society is traditionally anti-statist and adverse to this idea, which explains why the New Deal also introduced the first ever social welfare system in US history. The New Deal itself lost prominence due to the boom during the Second World War, but government influence in this area was not severely restricted until the Reagan era.

NSC-68

The National Security Council Report 68 of 1950 was the political application of George Kennan's advice of containment of the Soviet Union. Although Kennan advised economic and social containment, the NSC-68 deviated from this by prioritising military intervention over diplomatic containment. It thereby represented a turning point not only in US-Soviet relations but also a general shift in foreign policy practice towards former colonies and the third world. NSC-68 can be seen as the political foundation and prelude to the Korean War.

The Gulf of Tonkin Resolution

Photo taken from USS Maddox in 1964 showing
three North Vietnamese torpedo boats

This resolution of 1964 was the response to the allegedly two, though probably only one attack by the North Vietnamese on US ships in the Gulf of Tonkin. It gave the executive broad powers to step up the military commitment in Vietnam, leading to a massive troop build-up and aerial bombardment culminating in 1968. This represents a turning point in terms of expanded executive war powers, leading to dramatic effects on the domestic consensus, later known as the "Vietnam Syndrome" and the extension of the traumatic Vietnam War. The resolution was attempted reversed by the War Powers Act.

The War Powers Act

This 1973 act of congress was a response to executive accumulation of war powers following World War Two. Specifically, it demanded congressional approvement for any military engagement lasting more than 60 days, and further reports by the executive to Congress. While this might be said to represent a shift to more legislative control with foreign policy, the fact is that later presidents have either kept military engagements brief or popular with the public, thus often forcing Congress to give its approval without executive request. To the extent that the WPA can be called a turning point, this has got to do with political practices rather than a real shift in power.

The Carter Doctrine

Formulated by national security advisor Zbigniev Brzezinski and named after President Carter, this 1977 doctrine was a commitment to the security of the Gulf area and a response to the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan. It represents a turning point due to its expressed commitment to the Middle East, leading both to the armament of the Mujahedin and later involvement in the area.

The Homeland Security Act

Terrorist attacks, 9.11 2001

In response to the 9/11 attacks in 2001, the Homeland Security Act was rushed through Congress. It called for the establishment of the Department for Homeland Security and broadened the power of law enforcement and intelligence agencies to conduct surveillance of the US public as a anti-terror measure. The constitutionality of the Act has been questioned and it represents a dramatic twist of domestic policy as a complement to a turn in in foreign policy. It can also be seen as a turn against anti-statism, human rights conventions and legislative power due to the role of the Executive in the period of the passing of the act.

Sources:
Jenkins, Philip: A History of the United States, London: Palgrave 2003

Cox, Michael & Doug Stokes: US Foreign Policy Oxford, Oxford University Press 2008
Nye, Joseph S.: Understanding International Conflicts, London: Longman 2003
and as given

Why the US isn't French - A Mosquito's Tale

In November 1801, Napoleon had a plan. Unbeknownst to the rest of the world, France had just annexed the massive 828.800 square miles Louisiana Territory. As far as the rest of the world knew, Louisiana was still Spanish. Meanwhile, the French revolution had granted the slaves of future Haiti their freedom, resulting in the rise of Toussaint L'Overture. He had, however, shown a regrettable tendency to cooperate with the Americans and with the state coffers rapidly drying out, Napoleon was in need of money. It was time for an overseas empire.

The Louisiana Territory,
here represented in white

He sent his brother-in-law, General Charles Leclerc, to regain administrative control of Haiti before swiftly moving on to New Orleans. This city was the outlet for most of the cotton, farm produce and other export from the American interior and the key to the Louisiana territory. If successful, this would both create a self-sufficient French American-Carribean territory but also control the trade in the area, which would supply the funds for Napoleon's plans for the old world.

Generals L'Overture and Leclerc

All was set for the takeover. American Southerners feared the spread of a Haitan slave rebellion and were also increasingly opposed to President Jefferson's policies. Central US figures were on Napoleon's payroll, such as "Agent 13", Brigadier General James Wilkinson. The commander in chief of the US army had been in Napoleon's pocket since 1787 and George Rogers Clark, conqueror of the Northwest Territory also recieved an annual payment.

Considering this support, it is not unlikely that Napoleon would be able to establish a foothold in the Americas. If the war in the old world should fail, as it did, he could well escape from Elba to the American territory where his skills and fame would rally central and competent characters and legions to his cause. He could then possibly move on to expand the territory towards Mexico, like the US ended up doing, and even emerge from a potential war with the US and Britain fairly victorious. This would change history as we know it.

Haiti before L'Overture

Everything hinged on the successful subjugation of Haiti, however. Nobody evisaged any problems in that venture. Initially, the war was going well and L'Overture's forces were driven back from the coast. However, clandestine supplies from the US and Britain was brought in which made the conflict drag out in time. It was in these uncertain times that French soldiers started succumbing to a strange malady.

Initially, the soldier would lose strength, soon becoming to weak to walk. Then, black vomit, yellow skin and convulsions would herald death. With the onset of the April showers, the frequency of these cases would increase dramatically. Leclerc's original force of 20.000 would be diminished to just a few thousand with casualties including Leclerc and 18 other generals. Reinforcements would arrive which who succumb to the same illness. At the French capitulation in December 1803 an estimated 50.000 French had died from the disease.

Aedes Aegypti

It turned out to be the old scourge of Caribbean colonies, yellow fever. The disease had originated in Africa and spread with the slave trade. A viral disease, it was spread by Aedes Aegypti, the Yellowfever Mosquito. The April rains led to enormous swarms originating from the swamps and mires abundant on the island and the French, who had never before been exposed to the disease and were vulnerable to the environment died in droves. Furthermore, the appropriate social and medical measures were not taken. Moving the army into the mountains and away from the swamps, prohibited by Napoleon, probably would have reduced the casualties.

Ironically, it was a disease introduced by the slave trade that defeated the army sent to subjugate former slaves. Also, the European diseases which decimated Native American populations found a counterpart in a disease from the colonies. The army that was to augment a French overseas empire failed to do so and as a result, rather than making America French, Napoleon had to sell the Louisiana Territory for a pittance to Jefferson in 1803, who gained the political victory of his life. However, the real credit for the Louisiana Purchase does not lie with the president, but with a mosquito the French did not know how to handle.

Sources:
Cowley, Robert (ed.): More What If?, Oxford 2002
Peterson, Robert K. D.: Insects,disease, and military history: the Napoleonic campaigns and historical perception, in American Entomologist 1995, 41:147-160 at link 
Pictures: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5

Some Interesting Online Reference Sites

There are lots of interesting reference sites on the web, freely available for use. These are just a few of them.

Brewter's Dictionary of Phrase and Fable
Although the hardcover version is updated and thus more extensive, it is also more expensive. The online version is based on the 1898 original but still of great use. Did you for instance know that:

• Most phrases involving Dutch mean the opposite of what is indicated. Thus, a Dutch concert is noise, Dutch courage is not really courage and a Dutch auction is an auction where bidders decrease their bids towards the minimum price.
• To whistle down the wind is to defame someone.
• To nurse an omnibus is to send a bus from a rivalling before and after another bus in order to pick up its passengers.

Myth Encyclopedia While the Larousse Encyclopedia of Mythology is probably the best printed encyclopedia of myths and gods, this online Myth Encyclopedia does a pretty decent job on the digital arena.

The Phrase Finder

Wondering where you have got "once more unto the breach" from or who first said "at one fell swoop"? The Phrase Finder is a good place to look up phrases, idioms, sayings and expressions.

Urban Dictionary

Although it is a bit silly, the Urban Dictionary is useful for looking up slang. And funny wordplay of course. What, for instance, is Deja Moo? The feeling that you've heard this bull before...

and while on the subject of words...

The Online Etymology Dictionary

Etymology means the study of the true sense of words. It comes from Greek etymon which means "true sense" and logos which, of course, means "word". The word entered English via Old French. This, I found with a quick search in the Online Etymology Dictionary.

Sources as given

German Sing-along - Die Partei hat immer Recht

The German hits just keep coming, do they not? After Papa Trinkt Bier and Staplerfahrer Klaus and the German Indian Winnetou, it is time for something a bit more pompous. This is the state sponsored Die Partei hat immer Recht - the party is always right - with the full text and my translation underneath so we can all join the chorus.

Ready? Eins, zwei, drei ...

Thanks to IA!

Representations of Native Americans

While studying for a task on the Disney adaptation of J.M. Barrie's Peter Pan I came across an interesting and captivating source on the representation of Native Americans in American images. Kevin Gover, Director of The Smithsonian's National Museum of the American Indian gives his talk on false, perpetuated images of the Native American called "Will the White Man's Indian Ever Die?" and points out how "memorable, powerful and hard to shake"* these are. Enjoy this entertaining, interesting and surprisingly hard to come by lecture!

*Source: Lect. (09:30)

The Story of a Riff - Update

In September I traced the career of a riff in The Story of a Riff - Bullet in the Fever Stranglehold Train. I showed how the riff had travelled from Savoy Brown's Hellbound Train (1972) via Ted Nugent's Stranglehold (1975) and U2's Bullet the Blue Sky (1987) to Fever Dog from the 2000 film Almost Famous.

Now, it seems like Led Zeppelin's When the Levee Breaks predates these. From the 1971 album Led Zeppelin IV, it bears distinct similarities to Bullet the Blue Sky, especially thanks to John Bonham's drum and Robert Plant's vocals. As one commentator wrote on the youtube page for the vid below;

" This song is like having sex in a fast car while eating ice cream and everything's glitter and confetti

It is interesting, though, to see how the Zeppelin version again is an adaptation of a 1929 blues. It was written by Kansas Joe McCoy and Memphis Minnie after the Great Mississippi Flood of 1927, but is impossible to come by due to Sony Music forcing their copyright. However, this makes the riff 81 years old, by the last count.

For the other 4 versions of the riff, see the first post.

Harris' List

This is a small excerpt from Harris' list of Covent-Garden ladies Or man of pleasure's kalender for the year 1793. Containing the histories and some curious anecdotes of the most celebrated ladies now on the town, or in keeping, and also many of their keepers. The title says it all, really.

The "man of pleasure" would browse this handbook in order to find a suitable "fallen lady". Sadly enough, it seems the ladies were actively pursuing an entry in the list for advertising purposes. It was written by the Irish poet Samuel Derrick from inside a debtor's prison and based on the list of available ladies carried by the famous whoremonger Jack Harris. Derrick kept publishing the list, sometimes on the sly before dying and passing on the profits to a former mistress, brothel-keeper Charlotte Hayes. Thus, the list was very much a product from the underbelly of society seeming like another page out of John Gay's The Beggar's Opera.

 

Frontispiece



For more entries from Harris' list, go to amazon.co.uk.

Source: Harris. Harris's list of Covent-Garden ladies Or man of pleasure's kalender for the year 1793. Containing the histories and some curious anecdotes of the most celebrated ladies now on the town, or in keeping, and also many of their keepers. London, [1793]. Eighteenth Century Collections Online. Gale. NTNU Universitetsbiblioteket. 19 Dec. 2010
CW3325762730&source=gale&userGroupName=ntnuu&version=1.0&docLevel=FASCIMILE>.