"a
libidinous cat"
a libidinous cat
eats
the night clouds,
an insect worships
Edgar Allan Poe,
I made some moonlight
to shine
on your nakedness,
we raid
hell's auditorium
and recover
a saxophone sunset,
my sense of history
cracks,
who won the battle of Plassey?
we beguile our time
watching
a wicked star
as high appellations crumble,
the horror
the horror
a city
drenched in platinum
is your recent address,
your lips
the shade of an easy gree,
I know
your gentle face
and the wrath
within,
all is not lost,
Juliet,
in our underground opera
of contraband songs,
the blade of love
cuts less.
Night at the Pub -- Inam Hussain Mullick
In 1843 Edgar Allan Poe submitted "The Gold-Bug" to a writing contest sponsored by the "Philadelphia Dollar Newspaper." It won the grand prize and $100, the largest sum Poe ever received for any of his writings. (He had already sold it for $52 to "Graham's Magazine" but withdrew it after learning about the contest; but he kept the money, offering to make it up in reviews he would submit.) It became his best-known story during his lifetime, circulating in 300,000 copies of various newspapers, for which he was not paid, and advanced his career as a public lecturer. Two years later Thomas Dunn English claimed it probably had the largest circulation of any American story. It was also the 1st of his stories to be translated into a foreign language, the beginning of the French love affair with his works. Poe compared its success with his popular poem, "The Raven," though he crowed that "the bird beat the bug."
ReplyDeleteIn 1757 Robert Clive's East India Company forces defeated Mirza Muhammad Siraj ud-Daulah, the last independent nawab of Bengal Subah, The realm, known as the "Paradise of Nations," was the richest in the world, accounting for 12% of the global GDP. The decisive battle was fought at Palashi ("Plassey"), about 150 km (93 mi) north of Kolkatta. The victory led to the British control over Bengal and, ultimately, all of India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh.
"Gree" means "victory" according to Inam. It is a Scots word meaning "speriority" or "mastery." Among other meanings are "good will," "favor," "pleasure," "satisfaction," "rank," "degree," "position," "the prize," "the honor of the day," and "a step." (These are derived from the Latin "gratus" [pleasing] or "gradus" [grade], via the French "gre"). (When referring to a step, the plural forms ("steps") are
ReplyDeletegrees," grece,' and "grese," but these plurals can also be used as singulars -- "greece," "greese," "griece," and "grize" all refer to a flight of steps, a staircase, or a degree. "Grieced" is an adjective meaning "having steps." As a verb it means "to agree or consent, to live in amity, or to reconcile.