Sunday, March 17, 2013



On St. Paddy’s Day

On city streets and hills and village squares
Neighbors celebrate with ethnic pride
Something ancient –– veiled in mist –– with airs
That sound like merry mourning countrywide.
Pipes of clay so white and pints of brew
Abound among the throngs that flood the pubs ––
Declaiming Emerald the sacred hue ––
Decrying England’s cruel historic snubs.
Yet, maudlin sentiment soon drowns the ire.
‘Tis nostalgia that’s the order of the day ––
Sweet dreams of something mythic –– far away ––
Dissolve with drink the potency of fire.
A nation’s wounded pride may fill its heart
Yet give no strength save that which tears apart.

~ FreeThinke
 - The Sandpiper - Spring 1997


20 comments:

  1. St. Paddy's Day is a holiday that I love. Never mind that I don't drink (green) beer.

    A nation’s wounded pride may fill its heart
    Yet give no strength save that which tears apart.


    St. Patrick himself never advocated conflict, did he?

    ReplyDelete
  2. St. Patrick was a really great guy, AOW.

    Please read what said about him at Z's place earlier today.

    Hey! How did you like the Green Unicorn? I thought he was a great find. ;-)

    ReplyDelete
  3. We can celebrate the Irish Calvinistic wing of the Roman Catholic Church which brought us the abuse scandal and ha nearly destroyed the Church.

    Plus we can thank the Irish for much of the corruption in big city public employee unions.

    Pardon me if I sit out St. Patrick Day. We all have our prejudices.

    ReplyDelete
  4. FT,
    I just read your excellent comments over at Z's.

    The unicorn you chose for this blog post was a great find with appropriate symbolism.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Ducky, Ducky, Ducky!

    You have a positive genius for missing the point.

    No wonder you always seem to be in a fit of pique. I hope you keep an abundant supply of Prilosec on hand at all times.

    St. Patrick, himself, had nothing whatsoever to do with any the things at which you sneer reflexively.

    The sonnet, if you bother to examine it, contains much fodder for intelligent discussion. It's critical of the Irish and the British both, and hardly a chauvinistic paean of praise to Catholicism or of Ireland's beloved patron saint -- a man you would doubtless dismiss as nothing but a figment of vain Irish imaginings -- a spurious figure of myth and legend.

    Not so. He was an historic personage whose remarkable life -- insofar as we've been able to determine -- is well worth examining.

    HAPPY ST. PATRICK'S DAY, Canardo!

    ReplyDelete
  6. This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

    ReplyDelete
  7. This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Looks like we've been the victims of a drive by rant....

    What it has to do with St. Patrick?

    have a beer, enjoy the day.

    ReplyDelete
  9. This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

    ReplyDelete
  10. FT, very, very little is known about Patrick.

    His role in the conversion to Catholicism is certainly vastly overplayed.
    It holds as much water historically as the Exodus legend. In other words, myth and fraud.

    ReplyDelete
  11. This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

    ReplyDelete
  12. We have only YOUR word for that, Canardo. As usual, you happen to be wrong. Your persistent iconoclasm is predictable and tiresome.

    Where do you store all those barrels of cold pee you love to toss around? Don't your neighbors complain about the stench?

    ReplyDelete
  13. NOTICE:

    SEVERAL COMMENTS have been DELETED, because they were predigested SPAM -- i.e. "boilerplate' -- and had no relevance to the topic.

    Such negative contributions are not welcome here.

    ReplyDelete
  14. FT,
    Most of the time, when any of us post something positive or lovely, along comes Duck to piss on the post.

    Duck, of course, isn't the only one to do so.

    People seem to revel in unpleasantness. I'm sick of that!

    ReplyDelete
  15. This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

    ReplyDelete
  16. If THIS is thehigh point, I'd hate to imagine the low.

    ReplyDelete
  17. Just be sure to wish the Duck Man Happy St Stalin's Day on April 3rd. He's a staunch advocate of the biggest myth and fraud ever perpetuated upon mankind, Marx.

    It was a lovely sonnet FT.

    Slainte

    ReplyDelete
  18. Ahoy, Finntann,

    Thank you for your kind words about the sonnet. I'm of Celtic stock, myself, but the Cornish variety with some Scots thrown in -- a great, great grandfather to be exact. His name was Colqhoun.

    There's a unique lyrical strain in the Celts at once wistful, defiant and whimsical. Despite Christianization, the Celts have never been fully tamed.

    I agree about Marxian mythology , but then there is the equally deleterious myth made of whole cloth by a modern mischief-maker that we human beings are soulless creatures governed by the Id, the Ego and the Superego -- the New Trinity.

    I find the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost model -- i.e. the Old Trinity -- far more believable, myself. Not that I don't have my doubts.

    Erin go bragh!

    ReplyDelete

IF YOU DON'T UNDERSTAND THE FOLLOWING, YOU DON'T BELONG HERE, SO KINDLY GET OUT AND STAY OUT.

We welcome Conversation
But without Vituperation.
If your aim is Vilification ––
Other forms of Denigration ––
Unfounded Accusation --
Determined Obfuscation ––
Alienation with Self-Justification ––
We WILL use COMMENT ERADICATION.


IN ADDITION

Gratuitous Displays of Extraneous Knowledge Offered Not To Shed Light Or Enhance the Discussion, But For The Primary Purpose Of Giving An Impression Of Superiority are obnoxiously SELF-AGGRANDIZING, and therefore, Subject to Removal at the Discretion of the Censor-in-Residence.

Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.