Wormley

Opprobrium : Coffles are lines of people tied together, as in slave chains or chain gangs. Tallies are taxes. Talents are taken offerings (taxes seen from the other side). Manus e nubibus is Latin for hand from the clouds. Does this line imply that heaven is shackled by hopelessness which generates apathy? This would be akin to the concept that only the ready are lucky. Scholars : McGuiness’s Gaelige works are laced with Latin. These last several poems more closely capture that ancient reflection than the many others. There are many Roman symbolisms as well (Moses’s Horns, for example). You cannot discuss this poem without reading and fully digesting the poem by Yeats that is clearly referenced here. Amantes – lovers, amentes – lunatics. The idea, it seems, is not so much to be Latin as to be anchored in old basics, time tested moralities. Another anchor. Anchor of the past. A stability of thought and reason. One choice? Mmm? Well, maybe. Maybe not. Cracks : Eye candy. Cute. But ‘Hostage of gravity’ ? There is a kind of black hole feeling to this poem. No? What is at the center of a black hole, hmmm? Yup. Unity. One-ness. McGuiness. White Horse : A very special potato failed in the years 1845+. It was the ‘white’ or ‘horse’ potato. A British salve without salvation was soup in the form of flavored water made aromatic with cheap herbs. The recipe for the supposed hunger fooling broth was dispersed to the many work houses (poor houses wherein it was intended that the facilities, work and services be so odious that the lazy Irish would be disinclined to utilize the services).