World Class Poetry Blog

Gaudeamus: A Poem That Celebrates The Taboo
7 March 2008, the poet @ 11:32 pm

Because I felt that my last installment of the Millennial Poetics series was a bit incomplete I was prepared to expound on it a little more in this blog post. Instead, I’m going to reprint a poem from a poet I heard as a feature at a poetry reading tonight.

If you’ll remember, the last post in the series dealt with taboos. In poetry, there aren’t any. I approached the subject from the perspective of the audience-poet relationship. The poet must keep his or her audience in mind. But there really is more to it than that. I stuck to the extremes of sex and religious fervor because those two extremes seem to be at odds with each other in today’s world - at least in Puritan America. But taboos are not all sexual, nor are they all religious. Some taboos are emotional, or psychological. Others surround death. From culture to culture, what is considered taboo may vary and therefore it is difficult to discuss taboos as comprehensively as I’d like to.

The poet I’m about to recite is a Latin scholar. A former teacher of Latin, to be precise. I have heard her read in limited doses, but tonight, for the first time, I heard a full presentation as she was the featured poet in a poetry reading in Gettysburg, Pa. The event takes place every first Friday and is hosted by a friend of mine, Dana Larkin Sauers.

Today’s discussion, however, centers around Marilyn Tenenoff. She is a very intelligent and passionate soul whose poetry comes alive on the stage. Her readings are vibrant, passionate, and full of verve. On the page, her poems come alive as well. I will be writing a full review of Marilyn’s book, Watch the Watering Can, but for now I want to reprint one poem:

De Brevitate Vitae

I rage autistic. Gaudeamus.
Soapbox schizophrenic. Gaudeamus.
Let the Dead be Dead.
Manic Hyde Park. Gaudeamus.
Protons clap like billiard balls.
So much tumult. Gaudeamus.
So much Gaudeamus noise.
Crows caw. Cicadas hum.
Owls hoot. Coyotes howl.
Gaudeamus.
Human voices. Brass band.
Cymbals crash. Bugles blare. Tubas boom.
Gaudeamus.
Microbes shriek. Gaudeamus.
Cosmos fever
spikes my skull like radio
and bends the Gaudeamus rim of Time,
and Gaudeamus I say Gaudeamus.

Lightning flares on window glass.
Thunder shakes the earth.
Gaudeamus. Gaudeamus.
Wind makes horizontal signs
and I defy it all.
I frolic like a gopher.
Gaudeamus. Never mind
the predators that hover in the sky.
I savor Gaudeamus
all the pungent sour apples.
Horseradish and licorice.
Jalapeno peppers. Gaudeamus.
And the scarlet raspberries
that ripen in the field.
I am winning. Gaudeamus.
I say Gaudeamus Igitur.

Sparks flare. Embers burn.
They snap and sizzle
right in front of me.
Gaudeamus I say Gaudeamus.
Moon River rolls along
and so do I.
Gaudeamus. Gaudeamus.
Hang the neon streamers.
just to say I am alive.
Paint the walls burnt umber
to Gaudeamus say that I exist,
to say that I have overcome.
I Gaudeamus breathe.
The particles of life
smash against my skin.
I smell the forest orchid scent.
I laugh. I cry. I dance.
I Gaudeamus whirl,
a dervish in a trance.
I scream, I win,
through holocausts of tears.
Gaudeamus I say Gaudeamus.

This force of life is warm. It is intense.
I wear it like a costume
in a Gaudeamus opera.
I wrap it round my shoulders
like a Gaudeamus shawl.
Gaudeamus I say Gaudeamus.
I spit in the eye of Death.
Let the Dead be Dead.
On this blazing Gaudeamus day
in a frenzy of fire,
in riotous desire,
I fornicate.
I Gaudeamus fornicate
on the graves
of the dear dear Dead.

The Poet Blasphemes The Dead!!

When Marilyn Tenenoff finished reading that poem this evening, Gary Ciocco, another friend of mine, turned and whispered to me, “That’s blasphemy, isn’t it? That’s blasphemy.”In contemplation, I nodded assent. Indeed, I believe it is. But is it permissible?I think to understand and appreciate this poem in all its nuances, you have to understand the origin of the phrase “Gaudeamus” and its associative counterpart, “De Brevitate Vitae,” the poem’s title. The latter means, “on the brevity (or shortness) of life.” The former means “let us rejoice.”

According to the Wikipedia entry for “Gaudeamus Igitur,” the first words to a Latin song by the title, “De Brevitate Vitae,” the lyrics are a bacchanalian celebration of the fact that we will all one day die. The song references sex and death throughout, either in jest or irony, but the intent is to “spit in the eye of Death.” That is, we claim victory over death. The sentiment is the pagan equivalent to the Christian doctrine of Christ’s victory over death as expressed in the words of St. Paul, “Grave, where is thy victory? Death where is thy sting?”

“De Brevitate Vitae” is sometimes known as “The Gaudie,” but whatever it is called, it is almost always ribald and encased in revelry. One could say it is the reverse expression of Carpe Diem. Instead of “seize the day” for life is awesome and should be taken like a bull by the horns, it is more like “death is not so great and has no power over life” so let us dance and drink and fornicate on the graves of the “dear dear dead.” One could just as well say, “Fuck the afterlife!”

Marilyn Tenenoff’s poem is the perfect example of what I mean by no taboos. Poetry is an expression of a point of view. Agree with it or not, judge it by its poetic merits. Tenenoff’s “De Brevitate Vitae” has a raw, uncontrollable passion. It sets its own music. The poem moves to a crescendo as the tension is built up from the first word all the way up to “This force of life is warm.” Then, the poet masterfully takes her reader by the hand and leads him to the poem’s logical and grand finale, that finishing act, the terrible, blasphemous end, where livers and lovers do the dirty deed on the homes of the dear departed. In a frenzy of fire, the fornication isn’t so much dirty as it is a celebration. We’re not dead yet, so let us rejoice.

Read the next installment in the Millennial Poetics series

2 Comments a “Gaudeamus: A Poem That Celebrates The Taboo”

1. Autism Game — September 12, 2008 @ 5:26 pm
   

   As a father of two ASD boys, I really appreciate your blog and the information you post!

2. the poet — September 13, 2008 @ 3:44 pm
   

   Yes, considering the adult nature of the content I publish here, I’m sure you do.

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