POLONIA PRUFROCK PONTIFICATES
(On Dens and Groupies )
“ I have heard the mermaids singing, each to each.
I do not think that they will sing to me.”
*****
And good riddance, too, frankly
For they can set up quite a cacophony
No, I am not a Den Mother, nor was meant to be
I am just an Independent-Minded Woman
Used to doing pretty much as I please
Prudent enough to negotiate the World
But keeping movement to the bare minimum
I’m barely able to learn to be Human
In the sense that others suffer from this disease
I walk about my realm with my lips curled
And an expression just this side of being glum
Far from that of Jack Horner who pulled out a plum
At least most of the time, yes much of the time
Now tell me Madam, Sir, is that a crime?
How can I try to be something I am not?
How can I not try ways to stem the rot?
I’m not the kind to hatch intrigue or plot.
I totally revolt against anything the wee-est bit twee
No, I am no Den Mother, and I totally refuse to be
I simply do what I have to do
Though I might let slip a hint or two
But woe to those who’d use me as a tool
I’m not here, for you, to be of use
For myself, not you, I’m meticulous
Why, Groupies, to my hints, are you obtuse?
Do you not know you look ridiculous?
Do you really take me for a Fool?
It’s not without learning that I have grown old
Life taught me many things as the years rolled
So should anyone think they have found a ripe peach
Or that I’ll go for a spin around the beach
Just give yourself one tight slap each
From me , you’ll get nothing that is the wee-est bit twee
*******
Yet I must say this frankly without shame
Emotional Blackmail can’t be let to sail
Although at times it can afford some glee
Let it not encrypt in cell memory
And ruin your character
Coming to personalities, hold your tongue
And think again and again ere you act
It takes no time for refined to turn vulgar
Carefully sort your friends tested and tried
And from the dross separate the true steel
Remember many come just for entertainment
With great luck you may find one true comrade
Beware
Of factions that none gains from being in
Be wary of one, more so of two, and most of three
Beware you do not lose your own true voice
Beware the pressure does not cloud your judgement
Beware when favours you begin to buy
Beware of sacchrine sweetness, greetings gaudy
And deadly as Den Mom is also Don Man
Sitting and waiting at the writing station
It can not look more impressive than that
In short: this is my message, you may heed
Or not, depending on your choice and need:
Neither Den Mother nor a Groupie be
For Den oft loses both itself and band
And jealousy soon destroys the coterie
If your own resolve cannot uphold you
You can’t stand on what others do or say
Depend not on another, Mom or Man
I hope my words will help to set you free!
“ And these few precepts in thy memory
See thou character “
******
Isn’t it time someone cleared the air?
It’s suffocating
Pray you undo this button, and so on?
Wherever the female phenomenon is referred to , please add the male version also,
And vice versa
“She then: "Does this refer to me?"
"Oh no, it is I who am inane."
"You, madam, are the eternal humorist,
The eternal enemy of the absolute,
Giving our vagrant moods the slightest twist!
With your aid indifferent and imperious
At a stroke our mad poetics to confute—"
And—"Are we then so serious?"
(On Dens and Groupies )
“ I have heard the mermaids singing, each to each.
I do not think that they will sing to me.”
*****
And good riddance, too, frankly
For they can set up quite a cacophony
No, I am not a Den Mother, nor was meant to be
I am just an Independent-Minded Woman
Used to doing pretty much as I please
Prudent enough to negotiate the World
But keeping movement to the bare minimum
I’m barely able to learn to be Human
In the sense that others suffer from this disease
I walk about my realm with my lips curled
And an expression just this side of being glum
Far from that of Jack Horner who pulled out a plum
At least most of the time, yes much of the time
Now tell me Madam, Sir, is that a crime?
How can I try to be something I am not?
How can I not try ways to stem the rot?
I’m not the kind to hatch intrigue or plot.
I totally revolt against anything the wee-est bit twee
No, I am no Den Mother, and I totally refuse to be
I simply do what I have to do
Though I might let slip a hint or two
But woe to those who’d use me as a tool
I’m not here, for you, to be of use
For myself, not you, I’m meticulous
Why, Groupies, to my hints, are you obtuse?
Do you not know you look ridiculous?
Do you really take me for a Fool?
It’s not without learning that I have grown old
Life taught me many things as the years rolled
So should anyone think they have found a ripe peach
Or that I’ll go for a spin around the beach
Just give yourself one tight slap each
From me , you’ll get nothing that is the wee-est bit twee
*******
Yet I must say this frankly without shame
Emotional Blackmail can’t be let to sail
Although at times it can afford some glee
Let it not encrypt in cell memory
And ruin your character
Coming to personalities, hold your tongue
And think again and again ere you act
It takes no time for refined to turn vulgar
Carefully sort your friends tested and tried
And from the dross separate the true steel
Remember many come just for entertainment
With great luck you may find one true comrade
Beware
Of factions that none gains from being in
Be wary of one, more so of two, and most of three
Beware you do not lose your own true voice
Beware the pressure does not cloud your judgement
Beware when favours you begin to buy
Beware of sacchrine sweetness, greetings gaudy
And deadly as Den Mom is also Don Man
Sitting and waiting at the writing station
It can not look more impressive than that
In short: this is my message, you may heed
Or not, depending on your choice and need:
Neither Den Mother nor a Groupie be
For Den oft loses both itself and band
And jealousy soon destroys the coterie
If your own resolve cannot uphold you
You can’t stand on what others do or say
Depend not on another, Mom or Man
I hope my words will help to set you free!
“ And these few precepts in thy memory
See thou character “
******
Isn’t it time someone cleared the air?
It’s suffocating
Pray you undo this button, and so on?
Wherever the female phenomenon is referred to , please add the male version also,
And vice versa
“She then: "Does this refer to me?"
"Oh no, it is I who am inane."
"You, madam, are the eternal humorist,
The eternal enemy of the absolute,
Giving our vagrant moods the slightest twist!
With your aid indifferent and imperious
At a stroke our mad poetics to confute—"
And—"Are we then so serious?"
“I have heard the mermaids singing, each to each. / I do not think that they will sing to me” are among the closing lines of T. S. Eliot's 1st professionally published poem, "The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock." As a student at Ooxford, he began writing "Prufrock among the Women" in February 1910 and finished it in July or August of the following year, but added a middle section ("Prufrock's Pervigilium") in 1912, which was not published until 1966. Ezra Pound arranged for its publication in the June 1915 issue of "Poetry: A Magazine of Verse." Eliot later (1917) included it in a chapbook in England, "Prufrock and Other Observations," which "The Times Literary Supplement" reviewed with the comment, "The fact that these things occurred to the mind of Mr. Eliot is surely of the very smallest importance to anyone, even to himself. They certainly have no relation to poetry."
ReplyDeletePolonia is the Latin name for Poland and came to be both a national personification and the name of the Polish diaspora.
This is also based on the parting speech of POLONIUS to Laertes in Hamlet
ReplyDeleteThe r in Mother is missing in line 19 of the main body of the poem
ReplyDelete