Metaphysics of Thirst

[jisbell00]

Metaphysics of Thirst


Je meurs de soif auprès de la fontaine:
I die of thirst beside the fountain, says
this line of French. A half millennium
gone by, that line cropped up in different works,

much as one might add basil to a stew.
I’m puzzled though by its conceit. What if
this fountain stands for Love, or God – some vast
upper case entity? What if this is

our soul’s dark night? The speaker might then be
Mankind, whose thirst the fountain doesn’t meet.
We might just drink, but don’t – that is in fact
how people live their lives, it seems to say.

Or what if this is just a very thirsty
man by a well? He doesn’t drink, and we
are left unknowing. Does some obstacle
prevent him? Might he drink if he so chose?

But there’s a sense in which all this is moot.
The gap between the speaker and the well
cannot be bridged, though twice five hundred years
eat at this page; nor will he die of thirst.

Age will not wither him – nor will that well
run dry. The youngest child will not outlive him –
forever thirsty, with a well at hand
that he will never drink from. Not a drop.
 

[Firebird]

Hi John, I really enjoyed this. It reminded me of one of Borges’s explorations of a line through time. I loved “much as one might add basil to a stew”. Excellence. The conceit at the end is lovely too.

Can Man’s thirst ever be quenched? It also reminded me of ‘the name of the rose’ and how it outlives the rose. The sign outliving what is signified. It’s a little bit of optimism in this context anyway.


Very nice.

Really enjoyed.

Cheers,

Tristan

[Macavity]

Absorbing read John. The herb analogy was wonderfully playful. The fixed moment triggered a thought of Keats Urn Ode. And the reader will always be prompted to pen a thought for what happens next. Age will not wither and the child will not outlive. The price of the timeless art!

Enjoyed

Phil

[Jim]

Hi John, I like this poem. I enjoyed your meditation on that famous line. Do you know Richard Wilbur's ballade in which he uses the line as a refrain?

"Duke, keep your coin. All men are born distraught,
And will not for the world be satisfied.
Whether we live in fact, or but in thought,
We die of thirst, here at the fountain-side."

[jisbell00]

Hi Tristan, Phil, Jim,

Thanks for your comments! It’s good to hear this one seems to be working.
Tristan: my wife is very fond of basil! So it’s made it into a couple of poems now. Glad you like the conclusion signifier and signified and all.
Phil: yay, basil! It does feel to me as if they all trotted out the same herb for their different dishes. This one seems to be drawing a lot of analogies, ut yes, Keats does seem to pop into the mind here, does he not?
Jim: I may have read the Wilbur – I have his collected – but I didn’t remember that one. Might it be a translation of one of the French originals Wilbur did a lot of translating from the French over the years! It’s very nice in any case – he is really great, n’est-ce pas.

Cheers, thanks all,
John