Auden: cartwheels

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Marius Hancu - 24 Jul 2009 17:35 GMT

Hello:

We're dealing with a fanatic, trying to save mankind from the Devil
and from itself.

1. Could "Papa" be God?

2. Who are the First and the Second Sons? One of them must be Christ,
I guess, the Son of God.

3. "Turn the cartwheel", does it mean "produce cartwheels?" (as in
gymnastics?)

---
Dance Macabre

...

For the Devil has broken parole and arisen,
He has dynamited his way out of prison,
Out of the well where his Papa throws
The rebel angel, outcast rose.

...

For I, after all, am Fortunate One,
The Happy-Go-Lucky, the spoiled Third Son;
For me it is written the Devil to chase
And to rid the earth of the human race.

...

I shall ride the parade in platinum car,
My feature shall shine, my name shall be Star,
Day-long and night-long the bell I shall peal,
And down the long street I shall turn the cartwheel.

By W.H. Auden
p. 130
-----

--
Thanks.
Marius Hancu

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Cheryl - 24 Jul 2009 18:17 GMT

> Hello:
>
> We're dealing with a fanatic, trying to save mankind from the Devil
> and from itself.
>
> 1. Could "Papa" be God?

Yes, I think so.

> 2. Who are the First and the Second Sons? One of them must be Christ,
> I guess, the Son of God.

First and Third? I don't see a second in the excerpt. I don't suppose
Auden was into Hermeticism - I gather from Google that they have three
'sons of God' - the third is Anthropos, or humans spirit.

It sounds like a character that chases the devil - but then removes evil
from the world by ridding the world of humans:

You shall leave your breakfast, your desk and your play
On a fine summer morning the Devil to slay.

For it`s order and trumpet and anger and drum
And power and glory command you to come;
The graves shall fly open and let you all in,
And the earth shall be empied of mortal sin.

The 'I' who is the third son and chasing the devil also gets rid of
mortal sin by luring every human to the grave by encouraging them to
fight the devil. But I don't know why that 'I' is called the Third Son.

> 3. "Turn the cartwheel", does it mean "produce cartwheels?" (as in
> gymnastics?)

I think so. At first I thought of the possibility of St. Catharine's
Wheel, but on reflection the idea of cartwheeling with exuberance and
celebration fits better.

Cheryl

> ---
> Dance Macabre
[quoted text clipped - 27 lines]
> Thanks.
> Marius Hancu

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Marius Hancu - 24 Jul 2009 21:47 GMT

> The 'I' who is the third son and chasing the devil also gets rid of
> mortal sin by luring every human to the grave by encouraging them to
> fight the devil. But I don't know why that 'I' is called the Third Son.

Well, upon seeing the Third Son, I assumed that there must be the
other two, somewhere in some tradition:-)

Killing the devil, the commentator say, is just a red herring. What
he, this fanatic/dictator, wants is to get rid of any all mankind:
"And to rid the earth of the human race."

Thanks.
Marius Hancu

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Mike L - 24 Jul 2009 21:59 GMT

> > The 'I' who is the third son and chasing the devil also gets rid of
> > mortal sin by luring every human to the grave by encouraging them to
[quoted text clipped - 6 lines]
> he, this fanatic/dictator, wants is to get rid of any all mankind:
> "And to rid the earth of the human race."

This being a Danse Macabre, isn't the Third Son Death? I don't think
it's helpful to look too closely to conventional theologies here.

Yes, it's gymnastic, or Folies Bergere, cartwheels.

--
Mike.

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Marius Hancu - 24 Jul 2009 22:04 GMT

> This being a Danse Macabre, isn't the Third Son Death? I don't think
> it's helpful to look too closely to conventional theologies here.

Not a bad call, I'd say. However, the comments I make make more
reference to a fanatic (Hitler? I'm not sure, but this was written in
1939) and the text doesn't make a reference to death directly.

> Yes, it's gymnastic, or Folies Bergere, cartwheels.

OK.

Thanks.
Marius Hancu

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Discussion Groups / English Usage / July 2009

Auden: cartwheels