{"id":259,"date":"2017-03-27T12:57:19","date_gmt":"2017-03-27T20:57:19","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/ralockhart.com\/WP\/?p=259"},"modified":"2017-03-27T12:57:19","modified_gmt":"2017-03-27T20:57:19","slug":"villanelle-for-ragnark","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ralockhart.com\/WP\/villanelle-for-ragnark\/","title":{"rendered":"Villanelle for Ragnarök"},"content":{"rendered":"

The villanelle is a fixed poetic form consisting of nineteen lines. There are five sets of three lines (tercets) ending with a quatrain. There is also a fixed line relationship. The first and third line are repeated and the poem ends with these two lines. The villanelle began as a rustic, pastoral song and dance of peasants and other \u201coutsiders.\u201d The most famous villanelle is Dylan Thomas\u2019 \u201cDo not go gentle into that good night.\u201d After nearly dying out, the villanelle has come back strongly and is popular among contemporary poets and lyricists. One of my favorites, is Frank Scott\u2019s \u201cVillanelle for Our Time,\u201d made famous by Leonard Cohen [His YouTube version can be found here: https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=9UzvVOy0Dq8<\/a>]. <\/p>\n

My \u201cVillanelle for Ragnar\u00f6k\u201d is a response to a dream that I initially recorded as a poem I called, \u201cWelcome and toast, $5.99 a cup.\u201d This dream-poem has haunted me as it points to a \u201cfinal\u201d Ragnar\u00f6k, an image that becomes more and more compelling each day. Here is the dream-poem.<\/p>\n

\n

Welcome and toast, $5.99 a cup<\/b><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

<\/b><\/p>\n

\n

The setting:<\/i><\/p>\n

An anywhere, everywhere <\/p>\n

living room middle crust<\/p>\n

at best or no crust at all<\/p>\n

The characters:<\/i><\/p>\n

Strangers all, but known <\/p>\n

to me; everyone friendly<\/p>\n

not a party, but festal still<\/p>\n

The hostess:<\/i><\/p>\n

Black-gowned but all<\/p>\n

eyes on the black earthen<\/p>\n

cups, squatting on her tray<\/p>\n

The drink:<\/i><\/p>\n

Black too, Blavod<\/i> it is<\/p>\n

libation for night’s time<\/p>\n

black clay holding black<\/p>\n

The toast<\/i><\/p>\n

She says it costs $5.99<\/p>\n

a cup for this final<\/em> toast<\/p>\n

just drink up and welcome<\/p>\n

Ragnar\u00f6k<\/i><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

The dream tells me that the drink is Blavod.<\/em> I did not consciously know this name, but in researching it, I discovered that it is black <\/em>vodka\u2014a triple distilled vodka infused with Catechu<\/a>, an extract from the heartwood<\/a> of Burmese<\/a> catechu acacia<\/a> trees. In legend, the acacia is associated with a number of Ragnar\u00f6kean events, such as Noah\u2019s Ark built from acacia wood as the world was engulfed in deluge. In a number of traditions, the acacia plays a crucial role in prophecy. It is often the wood of the \u201csecret of secrets,\u201d hence its use to construct the Ark of the Covenant. The burning bush from which God spoke to Moses, was acacia. So, in toasting the final Ragnar\u00f6k, drinking vodka infused with burnt acacia feels apposite.<\/p>\n

More recently, as part of immersing myself in Ragnar\u00f6kean reflections, words came and formed themselves in lines and I saw that it was becoming a villanelle. I completed this in what I\u2019ll call a Ragnar\u00f6kean mood\u2014a mood becoming more common. I may set this to a background beat and give it voice. Here are the words.<\/p>\n

\n

Villanelle for Ragnar\u00f6k<\/font><\/strong><\/p>\n

Toasting Ragnar\u00f6k<\/p>\n

Facing full on the ending<\/p>\n

Join in or sleepwalk<\/p>\n

This is the last shock<\/p>\n

We know not what is coming<\/p>\n

Toasting Ragnar\u00f6k<\/p>\n

Time has left the clock<\/p>\n

Raise your glass, join the singing<\/p>\n

Join in or sleepwalk<\/p>\n

You miss the sweet talk<\/p>\n

That covered over everything<\/p>\n

Toasting Ragnar\u00f6k<\/p>\n

No time left to mock<\/p>\n

Those who called for the seeing<\/p>\n

Join in or sleepwalk<\/p>\n

Do you hear the knock?<\/p>\n

The Coming Guest is asking<\/p>\n

Toasting Ragnar\u00f6k<\/p>\n

Join in or sleepwalk<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The villanelle is a fixed poetic form consisting of nineteen lines. There are five sets of three lines (tercets) ending with a quatrain. There is also a fixed line relationship. The first and third line are repeated and the poem ends with these two lines. The villanelle began as a rustic, pastoral song and dance […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-259","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-coming-soon"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ralockhart.com\/WP\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/259","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ralockhart.com\/WP\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ralockhart.com\/WP\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ralockhart.com\/WP\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ralockhart.com\/WP\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=259"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.ralockhart.com\/WP\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/259\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":260,"href":"https:\/\/www.ralockhart.com\/WP\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/259\/revisions\/260"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ralockhart.com\/WP\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=259"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ralockhart.com\/WP\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=259"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ralockhart.com\/WP\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=259"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}