No, I don't have any further information
about love
only that it is
a flame's gleam
from a votive glass on a star's grave
it remains alive night and day
in storm rain and snow
without oil without a wick
burns on its own
as if love is a miracle
and since our subsistence
dangles from the miracle
we believe blindly in the everlasting
committal flame of love.
Only when you approach with your candle
to take the flame back home
this flame
dies out after a few steps
on its own
without storm rain and snow
in the same way that every miracle dies out
when you detach it from its nourishing idea.
---------------------------------------------
Personal notes:
This poem was published as part of the collection 'The finder's fee' (2010).
To understand this poem it is important to become aware of a few Greek Orthodox customs.
It is customary to maintain a glass filled with water and oil, and a wick that floats on the surface of the oil, at every Greek Orthodox grave. The wick is meant to be lit up by the deceased's relatives, who are responsible for keeping the flame alive. This ritual is symbolic - the flame symbolises the continuous presence of the dead in the memories and lives of the ones they left behind. By keeping the flame alive, the relatives honour the memory of the deceased.
In this poem, Dimoula makes a connection between love and the flame in this votive glass. Love is often described as a 'flame', but it is interesting that the poet has chosen to make an association with a flame that is present at a grave. As in other poems, she makes a connection between love and death.
She also makes a connection between love and the blind faith associated with religion and miracles. For Dimoula, love is a miracle, and like miracles, it is irrational and otherworldly. For Dimoula the presence of love does not follow the usual rules of nature. Love's flame does not require a wick and oil to remain alive, and water cannot extinguish it.
The second custom that Dimoula references in this poem relates to a religious ritual performed during Easter. When Greeks go to church on Easter Saturday they take with them small wax candles. At some point during the liturgy, the priest holds out a lit candle that everyone uses to lit their own candles. The candle's flame is meant to symbolise the news of Christ's resurrection (and the message that death is not the end of life). The pilgrims try to maintain the flame alive throughout the rest of the night (a difficult task!) and many take the flame back to their homes.
Dimoula makes a parallel between the difficult task of keeping that flame alive and the difficult task of maintaining one's belief in love. To believe in love is illogical and instinctive, just like love is. This belief is the 'nourishing idea' of love. And just like religion, people believe in love as an essential part of their lives ('subsistence'), despite its irrationality.
However, just like religion, love is extinguished when rationalised.
about love
only that it is
a flame's gleam
from a votive glass on a star's grave
it remains alive night and day
in storm rain and snow
without oil without a wick
burns on its own
as if love is a miracle
and since our subsistence
dangles from the miracle
we believe blindly in the everlasting
committal flame of love.
Only when you approach with your candle
to take the flame back home
this flame
dies out after a few steps
on its own
without storm rain and snow
in the same way that every miracle dies out
when you detach it from its nourishing idea.
---------------------------------------------
Personal notes:
This poem was published as part of the collection 'The finder's fee' (2010).
To understand this poem it is important to become aware of a few Greek Orthodox customs.
It is customary to maintain a glass filled with water and oil, and a wick that floats on the surface of the oil, at every Greek Orthodox grave. The wick is meant to be lit up by the deceased's relatives, who are responsible for keeping the flame alive. This ritual is symbolic - the flame symbolises the continuous presence of the dead in the memories and lives of the ones they left behind. By keeping the flame alive, the relatives honour the memory of the deceased.
In this poem, Dimoula makes a connection between love and the flame in this votive glass. Love is often described as a 'flame', but it is interesting that the poet has chosen to make an association with a flame that is present at a grave. As in other poems, she makes a connection between love and death.
She also makes a connection between love and the blind faith associated with religion and miracles. For Dimoula, love is a miracle, and like miracles, it is irrational and otherworldly. For Dimoula the presence of love does not follow the usual rules of nature. Love's flame does not require a wick and oil to remain alive, and water cannot extinguish it.
The second custom that Dimoula references in this poem relates to a religious ritual performed during Easter. When Greeks go to church on Easter Saturday they take with them small wax candles. At some point during the liturgy, the priest holds out a lit candle that everyone uses to lit their own candles. The candle's flame is meant to symbolise the news of Christ's resurrection (and the message that death is not the end of life). The pilgrims try to maintain the flame alive throughout the rest of the night (a difficult task!) and many take the flame back to their homes.
Dimoula makes a parallel between the difficult task of keeping that flame alive and the difficult task of maintaining one's belief in love. To believe in love is illogical and instinctive, just like love is. This belief is the 'nourishing idea' of love. And just like religion, people believe in love as an essential part of their lives ('subsistence'), despite its irrationality.
However, just like religion, love is extinguished when rationalised.
I wonder who queried love in the first instance? I would be too afraid to ask Kiki for a response such as this!
ReplyDeleteThank you for your notes again, they shed a lot of local context and I think many would relate regardless because these customs are mirrored in other religions, which also I guess shows love and religion's universality.
As always, beautiful and poignant
J