Lit Analysis 1: To Paint a Water Lily
A while ago I received a request to try analyzing some literature, so now I will honor that. I don't know that I'm really able to analyse these things right now since I don't know how to look for rhythm and stuff. What I can do is point out something strange. I have a funny problem: I tend to see something that completely isn't there, and yet people have trouble denying it. You'll see what I mean. Poem:
A green level of lily leaves Roofs the pond's chamber and paves The flies' furious arena: study These, the two minds of this lady. First observe the air's dragonfly That eats meat, that bullets by Or stands in space to take aim; Others as dangerous comb the hum Under the trees. There are battle-shouts And death-cries everywhere hereabouts But inaudible, so the eyes praise To see the colours of these flies Rainbow their arcs, spark, or settle Cooling like beads of molten metal Through the spectrum. Think what worse Is the pond-bed's matter of course; Prehistoric bedragoned times Crawl that darkness with Latin names, Have evolved no improvements there, Jaws for heads, the set stare, Ignorant of age as of hour- Now paint the long-necked lily-flower Which, deep in both worlds, can be still As a painting, trembling hardly at all Though the dragonfly alight, Whatever horror nudge her root.
So first of all the reader must come to terms with the fact that this guy refers to the plant as a lady. It must be because of that painting (okay, I was certain there was a painting of a woman looking out into a pond with water lilies, but now I can't find it). So when he says "The two minds of this lady," he means the water lilies' two sides. There's the Above World, filled with insects that to us seem peaceful, or at least harmless. The worst dragonflies can do to you is bump into your face, but most of the time they are beautiful. Flies, when they land, look like drops of metal. When you take a magnifying glass to them then they seem scary.
As for the second half, that's where I get a little confused. I'm not used to this language, and I know it's supposed to be different somehow, but I'm not sure of the details. He's saying something like the flies above are flying around going crazy while the lilies have been sitting motionless here since prehistoric times, that would be my guess. "Ignorant of age as of hour," you know. "Still / as a painting" ha! I see you.
But then, as my brain was trying to comprehend the second half, something magical happened. I reread these lines:
Jaws for heads, the set stare... Jaws for heads. No, it couldn't be.
Crawl that darkness with Latin names. Really?
Now paint the long-necked lily-flower. Okay, that could be either, but still.
Though the dragonfly alight, / Whatever horror nudge her root.
Is he talking about a Venus Fly Trap? This is too perfect! Venus is Latin, it has a long neck and a jaw for a head, and if something nudges it, it clamps and kills the bug. Yes!
But, uh, what do I do with this? Is it meaningless despite all my effort? Ah well, I laughed pretty hard.
Today's song of the day is brought to you by a lady named Nadezhda Obukhova. Apparently she was quite the performer back in her day. She has a delicious, mellifluous voice with a very theatrical presentation. Now, listen to her sing Three Russian Romances (hehe, the second one).