Chiming in on Vikram’s Roman theme…

If the dominant note of the previous Roman theme was the wars that swept in great waves across the Roman empire, this time’s seems to be the more tangible remnants of that empire, the ineradicable (or, at any rate, uneradicated) pieces of sea-worn glass it left in its wake.

And one of the more intriguing forms of immortality is surely the anonymous portrait or statue, the

         youth who passed and left no trace
      Of good or ill that did betide him,
      Save the disdain upon his face.

Cather handles the topic wonderfully, using the bust both as a starting point and as a lens through which to take a remarkably sweeping look at the Life and Times of the unknown youth. Cather weaves the various skeins together with enviable skill (this is one of those poems I really wish I could’ve written), treading the well-worn territory of Ancient Roman imagery with grace and assurance, while never losing sight of her central character, and segueing smoothly into an unexpected but nonetheless perfectly harmonious last verse.

Notes

Aspasia: Famous teacher of rhetoric. See

http://members.home.net/cheree/aspasia.html

Ritratto d’ignoto: Probably a reference to Antonello da Messina’s famous masterpiece “Ritratto d’Ignoto” (Portrait of an unknown man)

http://www.sicily.cres.it/uk/localita/PA/cefalu/fotografie/dipinti/ritratto.html

Biography

Willa Sibert Cather was born in Back Creek Valley, Virginia., on December. 7, 1873. She died on April. 24, 1947. Cather’s work made her one of the most important American novelists of the first half of the 20th century. When Cather was nine, her family homesteaded in pioneer Nebraska. She was a tomboy at home in the saddle. enjoyed distinguished careers as journalist, editor, and fiction writer. Cather is most often thought of as a chronicler of the pioneer American West. Critics note that the themes of her work are intertwined with the universal story of the rise of civilizations in history, the drama of the immigrant in a new world, and views of personal involvements with art. Cather’s fiction is characterized by a strong sense of place, the subtle presentation of human relationships, an often unconventional narrative structure, and a style of clarity and beauty.

– http://www.uic.edu/depts/quic/history/willa_cather.html

[follow the link to the whole review - I’ve just included an excerpt]

Some interesting snippets:

Cather never wrote openly about lesbian or gay themes. Much her work, however, can be interpreted with a lesbian or gay subtext if one knows to look for the clues. Nothing overt would have been tolerated by the publishers (and probably by the reading public as well).

– http://www.uic.edu/depts/quic/history/willa_cather.html

Cather did not really take herself serious as a poet - she believed that women should not write poetry at all - but during her Pittsburgh years, she nevertheless wrote rather steadily and April Twilights were her first collected published work. She, however, later regretted the publication.

– http://fp.image.dk/fpemarxlind/fiction.htm

Links

http://fp.image.dk/fpemarxlind/ is a well written and informative Cather site

  Comparisons to Kipling are inevitable (or, at least, I'm incapable of
  avoiding them <g>) - see, for instance, "If", and large portions of "Puck
  of Pook's Hill"
    poem #271
    [broken link] http://www.cs.cmu.edu/People/rgs/puck-table.html

  Go back and read the rest of the Roman theme:
    Poem #702 John Masefield, 'Night Is On The Downland'
    Poem #703 A. E. Housman, 'On Wenlock Edge'
    Poem #704 Christopher Isherwood, 'On His Queerness'

The links from Poem #703 also summarise the first Roman theme.

Afterword:

Thanks to Vikram Doctor for the guest theme - I enjoyed the opportunity to revisit one of my favourite historical periods.

— Martin