I talked with some friends on Discord about the Old Man River poem in Lackadaisy, and one person suggested that I post how I summed up the poem. I also expanded a little bit on some of the words in it. I really, really love this poem, it is super thoughtful and playful at the same time. I think it was a really great choice to show the audience what a creative and intelligent person Rocky is on the inside, even though he seems like someone who never thinks about anything except for causing trouble.
“Old Man River! That seems far too austere a name for something made of mirth and rage!”
Rocky is pointing out that it’s weird that someone would name the river “Old Man River” when it’s such an exciting and intense body of water. He thinks that the name is too serious.
Austere: cold and serious
Mirth: joy and excitement
Rage: anger and aggression
“O roiling red blood river vein, if chief among your traits is age, you’re a wily, convoluted sage!”
This is the first time Rocky compares the river to a vein, because he does it a couple of times. He’s also saying, “if being old is the most noticeable thing about you, then you must be a pretty chaotic and wise old man”.
Roiling: churning or unsettled. For example, a pot of boiling water.
Chief: most important
Wily: mischievous and clever
Sage: a wise old person
“Is ‘old’ the thing to call what rings the vernal heart of wester-lore?”
Rocky is pointing out again that “old” is a weird thing to call the river, since there are so many more interesting things about it. He’s bringing up out that the river is also very important in American folklore and myths, and has inspired all kinds of stories.
Rings: surrounds
Vernal: young or related to springtime
Lore: mythology and stories
“What brings us brassy, myth-made kings! And preponderance of bug-type things…”
Again, Rocky is bringing up that the river is important to American folklore, and that it inspired legendary characters that are still popular hundreds of years later. He also comments that the river attracts bugs, which he doesn’t like as much as he likes legendary stories.
Brassy: overly proud
Preponderance: too many
“To challenge titans come before? O demiurge to a try at Avalon once more”
Rocky being dramatic and nerdy about old legends that are related to the river. He could also be referring to Manifest Destiny, which was the belief that the Europeans were destined by God to spread all across North America. But I don’t know if that was intentional.
Titans: giants in Greek mythology, or anything else that is extremely large
Demiurge: a higher being that creates a new world
Avalon: a mythical island paradise from a Celtic legend
“And what august vitality in your wide aorta stream. You must have had to oversee alchemic change of timber beam to iron, brick, and engine steam!”
Rocky is also pointing out that the river was used to transport materials for building cities. He compares the river to a vein again, because veins deliver blood around the body, and blood is how the body spreads out nutrients and other materials, just like how the river was used to spread materials to grow the United States.
August: majestic, awe-inspiring
Vitality: power or strength
Aorta: the main artery in the circulatory system
Oversee: manage or be in charge of
Alchemic: related to alchemy, which was the medieval “science” of changing things from one material to another
Timber: wood
“Your umber whiskey waters lance the prideful, sober sovereignty of faulty-haloed Temperance, and wilt her self-sure countenance.”
This is Rocky bringing up how people are also using the river to smuggle alcohol around the country. He’s saying that the river’s brown water looks like a literal river of whiskey, and that it is directly harming the Temperance movement, which was the cultural phenomenon where people shunned alcohol and got it banned.
Umber: a dark reddish brown color
Sovereignty: authority or power
Faulty: flawed, imperfect
Haloed: surrounded by a halo, which is a ring of light around an angel’s head
Wilt: to die
Countenance: appearance or face
“Yes, righteousness is vanity, but your sport’s for imps, not elderly.”
Rocky is criticizing the Temperance movement, saying that people enforce it because they think they are better than others.
Vanity: seeing yourself as better than you actually are
Imp: a small demon or evil spirit, or a child
“So, if there’s a name for migrant mass of veteran frivolity”
Rocky is starting to say what he thinks the river SHOULD be named, and saying that it’s true that the river is old, but it is still something playful.
Migrant: traveling, going from place to place
Veteran: old or experienced
Frivolity: a carefree attitude
“That snakes through seas of prairie grass and groves of summer sassafras”
He is describing how the river flows through the Great Plains.
Snake: to move or twist around
Grove: a small area filled with trees
Sassafras: a tree that’s known for its flavorful bark
“A name that flows as roguishly as wild waters, fast and free. It’s your true name, Mississippi.”
Rocky is saying that the best name for the river is something that’s long and silly and mischievous, just like the river. He thinks that “Mississippi” is the perfect name for it.
Roguishly: improperly and mischievously
Mississippi: from its indigenous name that was written down as “Michi Sepe”, which means “great river”
Thank you for writing and sharing this poem in your comic, Tracy : ) I really like it and can remember it word-for-word.
