BarB

The Word of the Week for May 13, 2013 is Bhil

 

http://www.rehupa.com/

 

The poem this week is “The Sword of Lal Singh.” According to Lal Singh:

 

Men I have slain with naked steel,

Mahratta, Afghan, Jat and Bhil,

 

The word Bhil is derived from the Bil or Vil which mean Bow. In the history of independent India these tribes of India were regarded as the fighters who were in a war against the Mughals, Marathas and the Britishers. Bhils furnished the needs of Princes of Mewar with bowmen, supplies or by guarding their families.

 

 In feudal and colonial times, many Bhils were employed by the ruling Rajputs (members of northern India’s warrior caste) in various capacities, e.g. as Shikaris or hunters because of their knowledge of the terrain. Many had even become warriors in armies. Bhils respected their motherland and were ready to defend it if anybody tried to occupy it.

BB

The Word of the Week for May 6, 2013 is Milesian

 

http://www.rehupa.com/

 

 

While researching Milesian, I came across this article on the Irish Roots website regarding a book published in 19^th century: A Genealogical History of the Milesian Families of Ireland.

 

I haven't read this book so this is not a recommendation and I couldn't find the title or author among those listed on the REH Bookshelf: http://www.rehupa.co...bookshelf_d.htm However, it was something that was definitely available during REH’s lifetime and possibly could have been a reference book in one of the libraries he visited .

 

 

A Genealogical History of the Milesian Families of Ireland

Price: $25.00

compiled and edited by B.W. DeCourcy, with added materials.

Irish Septs, Family Mottoes, chiefs, territorial holdings, pedigrees, dates of arrival
Ancient name in Gaelic, Founder, Meaning of Name, Title of Chief, counties of settlement

Early Work on Irish Families This book, first published in the 19th century, is a classic. It was one of the first popular genealogy books to appear in its time. This is the I.G.F. edition, from 2002. Following is the introduction to the book, written by Michael C. O'Laughlin, along with the table of contents.

This original work by DeCourcy stands as one of the few works of its kind produced in the 19th century. No other work of the era brought forth more information in such a concise and easily understood format (even when in error). The massive works of O'Hart such as the Landed Gentry, are of the same era, but do not allow the same overview. The latter were bulky and expensive by comparison, and sometimes in error as well!

The classic 20th century work of the Rev. Patrick Woulfe, Irish Names and Surnames appears some 40 years after the appearance of Milesian Families. The work of MacLysaght came even decades later. There is a great debt owed to the earlier works upon which the modern works are based. This book, Milesian Families, doubtlessly woke many an Irishman to exploration of family history and legend, an endeavor continued to this day. It also provides us with a way to correct errors.

A groundbreaking work researched one-hundred and twenty years ago will have need of review and updates. The knowledge and use of the gaelic language has changed. The meanings and spelling groupings attributed to many of the Irish names given here are incorrect in the light of current knowledge and translation skills. The spellings used for the old Irish here, are notably different from what you will read most often today. Common sense needs to prevail as well. If a name is listed as arriving in 1620, that does not mean it arrived in Ireland only in 1620. Immigration has been a constant, and families have arrived continuously from the time of Strongbow to the present day. It likely means the author had a reason to give 1620 as a date for at least one family of the name.

As with any work of this type, further documentation is needed to prove any individual family history. There are possible leads here for you regarding origins and dates. The more knowledgeable the reader, the more understandable this book becomes.

What can be said for the ancient legends and oldest pedigrees stretching beyond our imagination ? They are laid down in this book in short order, and your judgment is required. The closer we come to the 19th century, the more sure the facts will be. Make no mistake about it however, this is a noteworthy and valuable work, if only to double check our current theories." If you are interested in more information see: http://www.irishroots.com/id4926.htm

 

The poem this week is REH's "A Legend." The first line states: "Told in the old Irish Manner" so I did further research. Another website give more information about Milesians. Because it’s a fascinating story and it gives the poem a deeper understanding. I’m printing excerpts of it here.

http://freepages.gen.../Heremon/D1.htm

 

Milesius of Spain, King of Braganza, Father of the Irish Race, son of Bille mac Galicia King of Galicia, Andalusia, Murcia and Castile, was born in Brigantia, Corunna, Galicia, Spain and died in Braganza, Spain.

 

Milesius, in his youth and in his father's life-time, went into Scythia, where he was kindly received by the king of that country, who gave him his daughter in marriage, and appointed him General of his forces. In this capacity Milesius defeated the king's enemies, gained much fame, and the love of all the king's subjects. His growing greatness and popularity gained him the jealousy of the king; who, fearing the worst, resolved on privately dispatching Milesius but he did not dare to do it openly.

 

Milesius killed the king and left Scythia. He went into Egypt with a fleet of sixty sails. Pharaoh Nectonibus, then king of Egypt, being informed of his arrival and of his great valour, wisdom, and conduct in arms, made him General of all his forces against the king of Ethiopia who were then invading his country. Here, as in Scythia, Milesius was victorious; he forced the enemy to submit to the conqueror's own terms of peace.

 

As a result of his exploits Milesius found great favour with Pharaoh, who gave Milesius who was a widower, his daughter Scota in marriage; and kept him eight years afterwards in Egypt. During the sojourn of Milesius in Egypt, he employed the most ingenious and able persons among his people to be instructed in the several trades, arts, and sciences used in Egypt; in order to have them taught to the rest of his people on his return to Spain.

 

At length, Milesius took leave of his father-in-law, and steered towards Spain; where he arrived to the great joy and comfort of his people; who were much harassed by the rebellion of the natives and by the intrusion of other foreign nations that invaded after his father's death, and during his own long absence from Spain. In fifty-four battles, victoriously fought, he routed, destroyed, and totally drove them out of the country, after which he settled in peace and quietness.

 

During his reign a great famine occurred in Spain which last for twenty-six years. Although it was due to drought, Milesius superstitiously believed the famine was the result of a judgment and punishment from their gods, for their negligence in seeking out the country destined for their final abode, so long before foretold by Cachear their Druid or magician. The time limit of the prophecy for the accomplishing this was now nearly, if not fully, expired.

 

To expiate his fault and to comply with the will of his gods, Milesius, with the general approbation of his people, sent his uncle Ithe, with his son Lughaidh [Luy], and one hundred and fifty stout men to bring them an account of those western islands; who, accordingly, arriving at the island since then called Ireland, and landing in that part of it now called Munster, left his son with fifty of his men to guard the ship, and with the rest travelled about the island.

 

Informed, among other things, that the three sons of Cearmad, called Mac-Cuill, MacCeacht, and MacGreine, did then and for thirty years before rule and govern the island, each for one year, in his turn; and that the country was called after the names of their three queens - Eire, Fodhla, and Banbha, respectively: one year called "Eire," the next "Fodhla," and the next "Banbha," as their husbands reigned in their regular turns; by which names the island is ever since indifferently called, but most commonly "Eire," because that MacCuill, the husband of Eire, ruled and governed the country in his turn the year that the Clan-na-Milé (or the sons of Milesius) arrived in and conquered Ireland.

 

And being further informed that the three brothers were then at their palace at Aileach Neid, in the north part of the country, engaged in the settlement of some disputes concerning their family jewels, Ithe directed his course thither; sending orders to his son to sail about with his ship and the rest of his men, and meet him there. When Ithe arrived where the (Danann) brothers were, he was honourably received and entertained by them; and, finding him to be a man of great wisdom. and knowledge, they referred their disputes to him for decision.

 

That decision having met their entire satisfaction, Ithe exhorted them to mutual love, peace, and forbearance; adding much in praise of their delightful, pleasant, and fruitful country; and then took his leave, to return to his ship, and go back to Spain. No sooner was he gone than the brothers; began to suspect that Ithe intend to bring others to invade. Resolving to prevent this, they pursued Ithe with a strong party, caught up with them at Magh Ithe or "The plain of Ithe" (an extensive plain in the barony of Raphoe, county Donegal). His son and the men left onboard the ship found him and brought his dead and mangled body back into Spain to incite his friends and relations to avenge his murder.

 

Milesius made preparations in order to invade Ireland not only to avenge his uncle's death but also in obedience to the will of his gods, signified by the prophecy. But, before he could do this, he died, leaving the care, and charge of that expedition upon his eight legitimate sons.

 

The eight brothers soon after their father’s death sailed with a fleet of numerous ships well manned and equipped. Before they could land, they met many difficulties and various mischances occasioned by the diabolical arts, sorceries, and enchantments. The magic arts used by the Tuatha-de-Danann, to prevent the invasion obstruct their landing enchanted the island so it would appear to the Milesians in the form of a Hog. A great storm was raised so that the Milesian fleet was dispersed and five of the eight brothers lost their lives.

 

However, the part of the fleet commanded by the surviving brothers landed safely. They fought with and routed the three Tuatha-de Danann Kings at Slieve-Mis. Another bloody battle was fought at Tailten and the three (Tuatha-de-Danann) Kings and their Queens were slain, and their army utterly routed and destroyed.

 

Heber and Heremon, two of the remaining brothers divided the kingdom between them (allotting a proportion of land to their brother Amergin, who was their Arch-priest, Druid, or magician; and to their nephew Heber Donn, and to the rest of their chief commanders. Together, they became jointly the first of one hundred and eighty-three Kings or sole Monarchs of the Gaelic, Milesian, or Scottish Race, that ruled and governed Ireland, successively, for two thousand eight hundred and eighty-five years from the first year of their reign. This continued with their submission to the Crown of England in the person of King Henry the Second; who, being also of the Milesian Race by Maude, his mother, was lineally descended from Fergus Mór MacEarca, first King of Scotland, who was descended from the said Heremon so that the succession may be truly said to continue in the Milesian Blood from before Christ one thousand six hundred and ninety-nine years down to the present time.

 

After a year of reigning together, in subsequent battles, ultimately Heber and later also Amergin were slain by Heremon.

 

I don't doubt there are many on this Forum -- Deuce, comes to mind immediately that are far more knowledgeable in this area than I and will be able to add more information. 

BB

The Word of the Week featured poem, “To an Earth-Bound Soul” is REH’s tribute to Françoise Villon. As stated in the Word of the Week thread on this Forum, Villon was a great innovator In terms of poetic themes. REH wrote poems using these themes also.

 

Carpe Diem (Latin; seize the day,) to enjoy the pleasures of the moment without concern for the future)

 

REH’s poem, “Age” fits this category with the usual REH twist to it.

 

Age sat on his high throne

And scoffed to see me ride,

But I was on the beaches

And racing with the tide.

Age sat on his golden throne

And named me as a fool,

But I was splashing maidens

Nude in a forest pool.

Age sat in his corner

And mocked my furious zest,

But I was breaking sun spears

On my hairy chest.

Age stole from his neighbor

Great stores of gems and gold.

Age called me from my games

To fight for his treasure hold.

Age cowered in his castle

And preached great deeds and high,

But I was laughing, laughing,

As I went forth to die.

 

"Ubi sunt" (Latin; where are... [they]— is a phrase taken from the Latin Ubi sunt qui ante nos fuerunt?, meaning "Where are those who were before us?".

 

This theme emphasizes the transitory nature of youth, life, and beauty, found especially in medieval Latin poems. REH’s “Drake Sings of Yesterday” gives us these things in the life of Sir Francis Drake.

 

On Devon downs I met the ghost of Drake;

His sigh was a sea-wind that whispered past:

“Dost know barnacles crust the rotting strake,

And salt weed shrines the fallen mizzen-mast?

The sword of glory long has turned to rust. . .

Aye, shattered now the prows that long of yore

Beat up the sunset through the blinding gust

That lashed us off the gold-fat Carib coast.

 

“The glory and the glamor and the glee,

The raiding and the roving and the rage

Have faded like the spume upon the sea,

And History sands down another page.

 

“Where are the bawcocks and the bullies bold,

The swaggerers, the rufflers, all of they

Who strutted on the deck and filled the hold

With silk and spice and yellow Spanish gold:

The loot of Ind, of Panama and Cathay?

 

“Frown hard upon their deeds if so ye will,

And name them crimson-handed, black of heart—

They braved unknown worlds and seas, had their fill

Of death and danger where the sunsets spill

Unreckoned perils, and they took their part

Of cannonade and cutlass, wind and rack.

They paved the way for ye who were to come;

Aye, ye who followed rode a beaten track. . .

Oh, winds, winds, winds, winds, winds;

Oh, winds that set our rigging all a-hum!

Oh, tides, tides, tides, tides, tides;

Oh, tides that gripped our sterns on unmapped seas!

Oh, galleons, galleons, galleons,

Oh, galleons that loomed against the dawn!

Oh, battle-thunder, battle-thunder,

Oh, battle-thunder off the wide, white leas!

Oh, hissing cutlass, hissing cutlass,

Oh, hissing cutlass backed by English brawn!

Oh, plunder, plunder, plunder,

Oh, plunder from a thousand cargoes drawn!

…

“Ah, such dreams grip and cut me like a knife!

Let others rest in sweet slumbering death—

I cannot sleep; I need the sting of life,

The pounding of my veins, the fire, the strife,

The slashing spray, the sea-wind’s blasting breath;

The joy, the pain, the peril, sun and snow,

The tavern, and the ale at Plymouth Hoe!

 

“I cannot rest in Nombre Dios Bay.

Up through the seething fathoms I arise.

When night reefs sails to drink the dying day

And stars are longboat lanterns in the skies,

Then sea to sea I live it all again—

My youth and manhood. . . Devon and the Main!”

 

I met the ghost of Drake one Devon night;

He sang of sail and sword and reaving stench—

And in his eyes there burned the sea-thrown light

Of life-loving life not even Death can quench.

 

"Memento mori" (Latin; 'remember that you will die') is an artistic or symbolic reminder of the inevitability of death. It’s also a pretty common theme in REH’s poetry. I chose “The Bride of Cuchulain” for this theme but there are many other poems that would fit nicely.

 

Love, we have laughed at living,

Love, we have laughed at death;

At ecstasy and giving, and all vain things of breath.

 

We know, for we rent the curtain

To gaze behind the lure,

That naught but death is certain, that naught but death is pure.

 

From our thrones of ivory, flattered

By the cringing tribes of earth,

We have watched the idols shattered to the flute of our empty mirth.

 

Dazzled by fleeting glory,

The scarlet courtiers come;

Challenging ages hoary, pulses the regal drum.

 

But the breeze of the night is dreary

And the moon is bent and old

And your head on my breast is weary and my soul is thin and cold.

 

Come to the upland meadows,

Come to the ocean grey;

We and the world are shadows swiftly drifting away.

 

There, where the grey sea crashes

Along the ancient shore,

There where the spent spray lashes the sands forevermore,

 

I will weave the pale sea flowers

To twine on your pallid brow

That you may forget lost hours and Time be only Now.

 

Then all earth’s joys and sorrows

Shall be as ocean’s spray

And all the sad tomorrows fade in one dim Today.

 

Danse macabre (French; dance of death) REH wrote a few poems with this theme. But his “Dance Macabre” offers his own version of the dance of death.

 

I saw the grass on the hillside bend

Beneath no mortal shoon;

A demon ran where the sward began

And capered in the moon.

 

Black as Nubia was his skin,

Naked as night he stood,

And he danced to a hidden violin

Deep in the still black wood.

 

On the swarded hill he leaped and sprang,

Where the brooding nightwinds pass,

As if he would tread the stars down

And trample them in the grass.

 

He trod a measure dark and strange,

It was old when Time began,

In darksome glory he stepped the story

That vaunted the fall of Man.

 

REH also gives us a more personal dance with death is his “The Adventurer’s Mistress”:

 

Ah, beldame Death! Her love is grim

And she leads to trails that are long and dim.

She is aloof from loves and hates—

She bears my taunts and she waits! She waits!

And a single instant off my guard,

A foot-a-slip on the pallid sward,

A saddle-girth loosed, a rended sail,

A hand that misses a wave-lashed rail,

A reef that lifts ’neath the plunging strakes,

A horse that falls or a sword that breaks—

And the music stops and the whirl is o’er

And my feet are still for I dance no more.

But I’ll not grudge the game, I trow,

As I feel her kiss on my fading brow.

For I hold her dance is the only joy

That thrills the years and fails to cloy.

Aye, I hold her measure above all treasure

And I’ll only laugh as she bends to destroy.

 

LEFT FOOT,

RIGHT FOOT, WE WHIRL AND PRANCE

AND SPIN AWAY ON OUR WORLD LONG DANCE!

 

How much REH was influenced by Villon’s themes is probably a good topic for some future article. In the introduction to The Grim Land and Other Others, Tevis Clyde Smith wrote: "Though by no means the best poem in the book, “To An Earthbound Soul” brings back so many memories of Bob, and is about François Villon, like Bob so fascinating a character that I cannot help comment on it.  We talked often of this father of modern French literature.” 

 

I’ve chosen one of REH’s poems for each of the categories but there are many others and I’m also sure that many of you have favorites that would fit just as well or even better.

BB

Keith,

Thanks for the compliments. It's great to hear from you on this thread! I know you're a serious fan of REH's poetry.

 

Word of the Week for April 8, 2013 is slattern

 

http://www.rehupa.com/

 

This week's poem: “To An Earth-Bound Soul” is another one of those that remained unpublished during REH’s lifetime.

 

This poem begins: “Villon, Villon your name is stone” and refers to the French poet, Françoise Villon. (c. 1431–1464) who according to online sources, was a thief, killer, barroom brawler, and vagabond. He was arrested, tortured and condemned to be hanged but the sentence was commuted to banishment by the parliament on 5 January 1463.

 

Villon was a great innovator in terms of the themes of poetry and, through these themes, a great renovator of the forms. He understood perfectly the medieval courtly ideal, but he often chose to write against the grain, reversing the values and celebrating the lowlifes destined for the gallows, falling happily into parody or lewd jokes, and constantly innovating in his diction and vocabulary; a few minor poems make extensive use of Parisian thieves' slang. Still Villon's verse is mostly about his own life, a record of poverty, trouble, and trial which was certainly shared by his poems' intended audience.

 

Some of the most commonly themes featured in Villon's poetry are:

 

"carpe diem" (Latin; seize the day,) to enjoy the pleasures of the moment without concern for the future

 

"ubi sunt" (Latin; where are... [they]— is a phrase taken from the Latin Ubi sunt qui ante nos fuerunt?, meaning "Where are those who were before us?". This poetic motif emphasizes the transitory nature of youth, life, and beauty, found especially in medieval Latin poems)

 

"memento mori" (Latin; 'remember that you will die') is an artistic or symbolic reminder of the inevitability of death.)

 

"danse macabre". (French; dance of death)

 

 For examples of the themes of carpe diem, ubi sunt, momento mori, and danse macabre in REH’s poetry, see the Poems and Verse of REH thread under Howard’s Other Literary Creations below.

BB

 

 

Cromsblood,

Thanks for the wonderful compliments. Between the powerful images he paints and his vocabulary, REH's poetry really makes it easy to want to learn more about it.

BB

 

 

Word of the Week for April 22, 2013 is metopes

 

http://www.rehupa.com/

 

 

The photo in this Word of the Week is the corner block of a frieze of metopes and triglyphs depicting Helios, the Sun God.

 

This relief metope of Helios is the best preserved of all the metopes from the Temple of Athena at Troy. The sun God's team of four horses is shown tempestuously charging out from the sea. A diadem-like rayed halo surrounds the God's head. The sweeping surge of the team is emphasized by the deep, fluttering folds of Helios' garments and the diagonal, echeloned arrangement of the horses.

 

Also of interest in the Word of the Week excerpt from the proem “Skulls and Orchids” is REH’s reference to Ictinus. Little is known about him except that he was the architect of the Parthenon, and of an almost equally celebrated temple of Apollo, near Bassæ in Arcadia. According to Wikipedia, he must have been the contemporary of Pericles, Phidias, and Sophocles. His great work, the Parthenon, was erected between 448-438 B.C., under the administration of Pericles, on the site of the temple of Athene Parthenos, or the Virgin, destroyed by Xerxes in the Persian war. It was by universal consent the most perfect example of a Greek temple. Down to 1687 it remained almost entire. In that year the centre was destroyed by an explosion in the siege by the Venetians, during their war with the Turks.

 

Note that “gynaeconitis“ in the excerpt. This was Word of the Week on November 22, 2010: http://www.rehupa.co...cat=13&paged=12

(scroll down almost to the bottom)

 

Finally, a word about REH’s proems. or prose poems. There are six of them in the Collected Poetry (pp. 671-684): “Proem,” “Flaming Marble,” “Skulls and Orchids,” “Medallions in the Moon,” “The Gods That Men Forget” and “Bloodstones and Ebony.”

 

Proem begins with the words:

 

Let no man read here who lives only in the world about him. To these leaves, let no man stoop to whom Yesterday is as a closed book with iron hasps, to whom Tomorrow is the unborn twin of Today…But I have dreamed as men have dreamed and as my dreams have leaped into my brain full-grown, without beginning and without end, so have I, with gold and sapphire tools, etched them in topaz and opal against a curtain of ivory…Scan them here, men of strange eyes and strange souls.

 

REH’s proems are more examples of the beauty and variety of his poetry.

BB