I was re-reading one of my Mary Stuart stories "Airs Above the Ground" and the heroine said, "Whither thou goest, I will follow. Excelsior." That got me laughing and thinking about P-Doobie with hand puppets quoting Longfellow. I looked up "Excelsior" on Wikipedia and found the poem and thought we should all read it again!
Turtle Tchotchke Tuesday
9 years ago
3 comments:
For years I have concealed my ignorance by not asking what the heck that poem is all about. Now my ignorance is revealed to all. WHAT THE HECK IS THAT POEM ALL ABOUT? The dictionary says excelsior is wood shavings. What has wood shavings to do with a guy carrying a banner to his death?
One school of philogists holds that the young man confused "Excelsior!" with "Excelsius!" the comparative of the adverb "excelse," but what with the late hour and the severe Alpine cold, he confused it with the comparative of the adjective or past participle "excelsus." Others arrayed in opposition to this theory hold that the banner with the strange device and the young man's odd behavior were striking developments in American publicity.
Far more troubling is the poet's suggestion that village maidens in Switzerland are in the habit of inviting complete strangers to lay their heads on their virgin breasts.
Say it with me, thithter! Excelsior! Say it with me, buthter! Excelsior!
Well, thanks a heap, p-doobie. As if I weren't confused enough already----
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