the travails of the English major

[elsajeni]

Okay, so it's Semi-Pornographic Metaphysical Poetry Week in my English class. In other words, I have just read an assload of John Donne, and I am very, very tired of trying to figure out which bits are euphemisms for orgasms and which bits aren't. Metaphysical poetry is complicated and annoying. I'd really rather just have "The Flea" read:

See this flea?
It bit us both,
Which, because of the 17th-century idea
That pregnancy results from an exchange of blood,
Represents us having sex,
Which you don't want to do.
C'mon, baby, please?
I'm getting a serious case of poetic blue balls over here.

Also, the Norton's editors are apparently very big on making sure everyone knows that "death" or "dying" was 17th-century slang for orgasm. This footnote appears in every single one of the Donne poems I had to read. Every. Single. One. And my thought process when I first came across it went roughly like this:

1) "Duh."
2) "Wait. Why do I already know 17th-century slang for orgasm?"
3) "Damned metaphysical poetry."

Back from UT, by the way. Whee.

Comments

[slithers.livejournal.com]

orgasm-le petit mort - little death

gives whole new means to the phrase, everytime i see you i die a little.

[masanbol.livejournal.com]

I just burst out laughing, btw, in the middle of my VB class, because I read your translation. I love you, and I got weird looks, and it's all your fault.