Obscure Oscar Wilde Poetry

[tree_and_leaf]

The things one finds when one suffers from the sudden inability to remember extremely common bits of liturgical Latin!



Ave Maria Gratia Plena


Was this His coming! I had hoped to see
A scene of wondrous glory, as was told
Of some great God who in a rain of gold
Broke open bars and fell on Danae:
Or a dread vision as when Semele
Sickening for love and unappeased desire
Prayed to see God's clear body, and the fire
Caught her brown limbs and slew her utterly:
With such glad dreams I sought this holy place,
And now with wondering eyes and heart I stand
Before this supreme mystery of Love:
Some kneeling girl with passionless pale face,
An angel with a lily in his hand,
And over both the white wings of a Dove.

FLORENCE.

An intersting, if minor - and decidedly ambiguous - sonnet, though I'm not at all sure about the wisdom of rhyming 'Semele' with 'utterly'...

Comments

[parrot-knight.livejournal.com]

This reminds me of a discussion of which I heard part on Radio 3 before Christmas, concerning the roots of the New Testament nativity stories in Greek mythology. It's one of those areas I don't know as much about as I would like; A-level New Testament studies is a long way away.

[tree_and_leaf]

Yes, it's an interesting topic, although also not one I know much about, other than the obvious stuff about the star.

[parrot-knight.livejournal.com]

I hadn't heard the stuff about the star; thinking back there was much discussion of Christian iconography and how much Mary's impregnation owes to the various visitations of Zeus upon young women.

[tree_and_leaf]

Well, I was thinking more about the motif of the star as herald of the birth of important people. As far as Zeus' erotic adventures go, I think he differences outweigh the similarities... but it is an interesting subject for discussion.

[lilliburlero.livejournal.com]

I wondered if one of the dodgy midi files was the dismal little tune we used to sing in school (the hymnal claimed it as a "Swedish Folk Song"), but the connection timed out. Now when I try to remember the Ave Maria I remember it to this ghastly little four-note jingle (we didn't say the Latin prayer very often).

[tree_and_leaf]

I hear it to the plainsong setting we use for the Angelus after High Mass at the church I go to when I'm in Oxford. In English, though, to preserve the Anglican appearances ;)

[lilliburlero.livejournal.com]

I'll never forget the English, which I hear like this: Hailmaryfullofgracethelordiswiththeeblessedartthouamonstwomenandblessedisthefruitofthywombjesusholymarymotherofgodprayforussinnersnowandat thehourofourdeathamen.
Until I was about 11 I never consciously saw it written down, so I heard "pray for us sinners" as "pray for us in us", giving rise to much unwarranted theological speculation.

[nineveh-uk.livejournal.com]

I'm afraid that my mind has rather stuck on a crude pun in the first line. Don't tell me it wasn't deliberate, Oscar.

[tree_and_leaf]

I bet it was, giving the Danae reference later on. Showers of gold, forsooth.

[nineveh-uk.livejournal.com]

Forsooth indeed. Though otherwise I rather like it. Oddly, the main thought on art resulting from my own trip to Florence two years ago was to wonder why on earth we hadn't done an Annunciation for GCSE Art.