This oddity of a work is infused with the mixture of Seranoga’s beloved ‘Maria’ and the more earthly sexualised conception -Mary Magdelene. Maudlin is clearly a play on ‘Magdelene’, and ‘He’ maybe the bisexual Seranoga himself, enjoying the perversity of being one of his beloved ‘Marys’. The rest of the verse is riddled with mythic/occult…
Lent
Lent is a curious later work (circa 1967) written for his short collection ‘Pocket Myriads’. A total decoding seems impossible though the basic theme is relatively clear. The first verse speaks of noble Christian pursuits. Ignatius is the Saint Ignatius who founded the Society of Jesus (the Jesuits). This line carries a Joycean ring -Dedalus…
Odes to Anansi (iii)
The third ode to Anansi is possibly the most beautiful whilst being also relatively straightforward. The poet enquires of the god if he still dwells here and the god answers that he does. Speaking in poetic verse Anansi gives an account of his poisonous bite as analogous to being lost in the world of myth/story. The question is…
Un-named Fragment (iv) and Turning
Fragment 14 shows clearly Seranoga’s interest in Persian mythological history, though it’s not clear what we are to make of it. Is it just scribbled fancy or something more well thought out? The most confusing part assuredly is Mazda as being given light as an attribute (a primary creator god) as coupled with Mithras’ ‘might’,…
Odes To Anansi (iv)
The fourth ode to Anansi is in fairness the most well known. Written after he had left south America it is not entirely sure what language it was originally penned in. His awareness of this African god may have been a later addition to his allies, though it is possible he could have heard of it much…
The Quiet Day
One of Seranoga’s classic themes ‘time’ is here treated to a short meditation. The concept seems to be blended with nature or a kind of Platonic form of nature (green geometry, seed of experience?). The sense is that it is poetry itself that drives time or at least is the only available expression of it….
River Men
It is fascinating to note that both the ‘River man’ and ‘River men’ use the male gender. This can only be deliberate. The poems ostensibly seem quite different, with the former being a relatively straightforward meditation on temporality, reflection and dwelling. The ‘River men’ by contrast is a very different beast. Many faced and highly…
Morality
The influence that the still relatively fresh psychoanalytic theories of Europe imparted into the South American continent through figures like Franco da Rocha (1864-1933) and Durval Marcondes (1899-1981) weighs heavily on Seranoga’s work in various places. As noted elsewhere, the ‘attic’ in ‘the Flood’ is taken to be a metaphor for the unconscious. ‘Morality’ is metaphorical…
Here I am
Another small poem from ‘Songs of the River’, ‘Here I am’ is as enigmatic as anything Seranoga wrote. Much has been made of the difference of definition between ‘stars explode’ (any star), ‘three rivers flow’ (specific) and a ‘few stones roll’ (indeterminate yet clearly not all). These have been considered has elemental references with air…
Sobek’s Song
This poem first surfaced in 1939 and was translated in 1958 and was included in his ‘Songs of the River’ volume. His usual themes are here again, the water, the feminine and the spiritual. Of course much is made of the name Gabriel as a reference to what many think is Seranoga’s real name (Juan Gabriel Marquez). This…
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