Received: from mgmt.utoronto.ca (fmgmt.mgmt.utoronto.ca [128.100.43.253]) by tapehost.texas.net (8.8.8/2.4) with SMTP id MAA13526 for ; Tue, 7 Apr 1998 12:46:01 -0500 (CDT) Received: by mgmt.utoronto.ca (5.65v4.0/1.1.10.7/26Jan98-0432AM) id AA30044; Tue, 7 Apr 1998 13:39:13 -0400 From: LouisFors Message-Id: <559f63d1.352a64b7@aol.com> Date: Tue, 7 Apr 1998 13:39:01 EDT To: emweb@fmgmt.mgmt.utoronto.ca Mime-Version: 1.0 Subject: Pondering # 544 Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit X-Mailer: AOL 3.0 for Windows 95 sub 49 Sender: owner-emweb@fmgmt.mgmt.utoronto.ca Precedence: bulk Reply-To: emweb@fmgmt.mgmt.utoronto.ca Content-Type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII X-UIDL: 5026182e2b7e05b817bd7a8912b01ef9 Dear Friends: I've been pondering # 544. Here it is: The Martyr Poets -- did not tell -- But wrought their Pang in syllable -- That when their mortal name be numb -- Their mortal fate -- encourage Some -- The Martyr Painters -- never spoke -- Bequeathing -- rather -- to their Work -- That when their conscious fingers cease -- Some seek in Art -- the Art of Peace -- My first approach is to wonder in what sense ED is using the word "martyr"? Webster's 1828 defines the word first as "One who, by his death, bears witness to the truth of the gospel..." Sub definition: "One who suffers death in defense of any cause." I doubt if it makes much difference which definition ED is using. I still can't think of any *poet* or *painter* who literally suffered death either by defending the gospel or some other cause. (I'm trying scan the past 2000 years, and perhaps am not doing very well.) On the other hand, there is no compelling reason to think that ED wasn't using an expanded definition of "martyr," or a broad definition of "poet" and "painter," particularly since she ends by speaking of all art. Stanza one suggests that martyr poets "told it slant," leaving those who followed with an opportunity to seek their personal pathways. And stanza two suggests that in art lies peace, apparently for the artist. There is a great temptation to think directly of ED biographically, as I have implied in at least one spot above, in unlocking the gems in these eight lines. As usual, ED takes but little time to state something to keep her readers busy for a long time. Martyrs? (Still a puzzlement for me.) The nature of art? >From a very chilly Santa Fe, Louis Forsdale