Tuesday, November 12, 2013

ch.16, v.56-71




When thou doth ope thy mouth, my sweet companion,
And quoth from it the word for the sight of the eyes,
When it doth flee from thence,
Thou doth quoth the word "Blindness."

When thou doth speaketh thusly, my learned companion,
From the words of thy mouth,
A name for the hearing of the ears, how it doth grow quiet,
Then thou doth speak "Deafness" for its name.

But what sayest thou when all the rich raiment
Of all the many fragrance,
Yea, the tender sweetness and also the powerful pungency,
When all doth withdraw from my once-mighty muzzle?








Hast thou no single word there in thy awesome armory of words
With which thou can declare this loss--of among all mine, the heaviest?
Hast thou no name with which to tell it,
As I am cast thus adrift from knowing my world, and my way?

 
Exegesis and Commentary
I never realized that dogs could lose their sense of smell, but it certainly looks like Frida has, the way she sniffs around and around trying to locate the source of or fully take in a smell.

3 comments:

St. Frida said...

Anosmia!

Babka said...

Ah, yes. Anosmia.

Anonymous said...

Fergus also lost his sense of smell, along with his vision and hearing, in the last part of his life. I can only imagine the enormity of these losses in the day-to-day experiences of our beloved companions. I'm glad, though, that your touch still brings Frida comfort and peace, as my touch did for Fergus.
~Rosie