Translated from the English by Dan Righippler Discover what a moth will do - They employ you and me with hesitation on Sunday, Discourage payment for a nuclear weapon perhaps, Like a truant is not doing very well. A small amount of snow will come off, 5 Converted room Lulu half finished with gold leaf; Muscular follower of Charlton: 'Supported' written on the back. Treeless region of the planet undrained - Unusual term I deserve, 10 Neat prose produced in another language, Turn round taking item I have, it's nourishing! About to put Jack in room on board: nuclear rabbit? Open on time, quiet please, fully content, Unusual numbers backing the favourite 15 Suggest becoming very friendly, Strangely ruthful but injurious. Forgotten it's crazy - left late: Bend a rule in order to lengthen the rally on count, Mild way to rebuke? 20 Abandoned widow from in France taking the lead, In tears over some Greek wine - Ulcer, it developed in the inner ear! A soft fruit: aristocrat possessing excellent qualities. The moth prevalent in the opening line is symbolic of the eating away of society and the impending abolition of the Sunday trading laws, referred to in lines 2 and 14, and so significant in Gardner's time. There is a thread of environmentalism running through the poem, with references to the nuclear campaign (lines 3 and 13) and destruction of the rain forest (line 9).The mention of his craft in line 11 signifies the affinity Gardner felt with his poetry, and the rebellious use of the word "rebuke" in line 20 reveals, for me, an inner secret in the poet's heart, reminiscent of Shaw's conclusion to 'Candida'. Line 23 sums up the poem in its entirety: Gardner felt there would always be a barrier between his work and his audience, in effect a deafness to his talent. The likening of the aristocracy to soft fruit in the concluding line is without doubt an indictment of the failing system, showing that Gardner was indeed a poet ahead of his time. This is surely his greatest work, and the one which will silence his critics forever. |
1990 Cleon II - The Forgotten Masterpiece by Phil Gardner |
©
Phil Gardner 2002/3. |
