March 2009

At our February gathering of the “Finding Personal Meaning in Poetry” group, we compared Inanna spoke, one of the oldest extant poems, dating back to 2000 B.C. and translated from the extinct Akkadian language of Mesopotamia, and Judith of Bethulia by John Crowe Ransom, based on the Book of Judith from the Old Testament. We observed that the community/king’s relationship to female sexuality is a metaphor for mankind’s relationship with nature. In Inanna the relationship is nurturing (as long as we responsibly husband the land and resources) while in Judith the relationship is ambivalent, nature’s protection can be turned toward our destruction if we fail to be respectful and perspicacious. We agreed that Inanna had much in common tonally with Song of Songs in its sensuality and with its incantatory rhythms. Some participants felt that Ransom’s effort to achieve a Biblical sound resulted in a stilted rhythm and confusing syntax, nothwithstanding some interesting rhymes and the musical effect of a question and short-lined answer at the end of each stanza. Some participants were put off in Judith by what they saw as Judeo-Christian misogyny and oppression of the feminine whereas the pre-Christian female deity in Inanna was more appealing. We greatly enjoyed and admired Paula’s beautiful reading of Inanna spoke. Our next meeting will be March 2nd. Usually we select pairs or groups of poems with common themes that correspond to the expressed interests of our participants. Comparing pairs or small groups of poems that share a similar theme or motif allows the group to appreciate and evaluate the perspectives, values and styles of different poets. Articulating our preferences helps us form strong attachments to particular poems and poets and discover our own values and aesthetics. The discussion itself is informal in that there is no obligation to speak. One can participate by listening. Links to our next set of poems for comparison and discussion can be found online. Thanks for participating!