Poem: "Dancing with the Beast of Tanagra": ysabetwordsmith

Poem: "Dancing with the Beast of Tanagra"

This poem came out of the November 3, 2009 Poetry Fishbowl. It was prompted by

stonetalker, cheered by several other people, and sponsored by

janetmiles. It refers to an episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation and there is a "Darmok Dictionary" online. I am really pleased to be able to share this with you, because "Darmok" was one of my favorite episodes and a splendid example of xenolinguistics.

Dancing with the Beast of Tanagra

“Darmok” –
This was the episode
I watched with my ears set to the screen
and a cup of tea cooling in my hands,
a friend and myself knee-to-knee on the floor,
both of us calling out translations and hypotheses
as quickly as we could think of them,
breathless and laughing,
even in the face of tragedy.

Even when we guessed wrong
and had to revise our ideas
      Shaka, when the walls fell
it was exhilirating just to stretch out
and fly beyond the boundaries of the human brain
into a language so vivid with imagery.

It reminded me instantly of the saying
that learning a new language
is like wrestling with an angel,
the object being not to win but to surrender,
brawl becoming embrace:
      Sokath, his eyes uncovered!

Every language is an ocean undiscovered,
an island untamed and dense with wilderness.
In every ocean there are deeps and storms,
on every island, beasts –
for to open yourself to a language
is to swallow its ideals and its reasoning
without ever knowing if it will destroy you
or reward your sacrifice with untold riches.
      Darmok and Jelad at Tanagra.
      Picard and Dathon at Eladril.

There is only the ocean and the jungle,
and the warmth of a friend by your side,
and the words in your ears like the beating of breakers
when you go forth to dance with the beast of Tanagra.

Open your mind like a door,
and believe that what you receive will be worth the risk.
      Temba, his arms wide.

marina_bonomi

November 4 2009, 17:14:04 UTC 11 years ago

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'wrestling with an Angel' indeed. Hat off for this one, Elisabeth, it's just perfect. The feeling, the excitement, the undercurrent of fear taking the plunge, the discovery... magnificent!

ladymondegreen

November 4 2009, 17:33:14 UTC 11 years ago

I like that one a lot too. Especially since the language I'm currently wrestling is ASL. ;)

November 4 2009, 17:42:29 UTC 11 years ago

Not familiar with the acronym. Is it American Sign Language? I've long been intrigued by sign languages but I've yet to take the plunge.

November 4 2009, 17:54:36 UTC 11 years ago

Yes, that's right. I've been intrigued by it for years, and I'm finally in a community that uses it extensively enough that I have people I can practice with a bit, albeit at limited intervals.

I'm teaching myself using a website that shows the signs and explains some of how they're used. There's enough vocabulary there that I'm hoping I can build my sentence skills.

Hmm...

ysabetwordsmith

November 4 2009, 19:30:50 UTC 11 years ago

I have several books on ASL, plus one on Plains Indian Sign/tradesign. I know a little ASL, and some tradesign. Plus bits and pieces that I've picked up from assorted characters of mine using sign language in my main fantasy world. The tradesign I discovered first, then the fantasy stuff, and those were pretty well set by the time I started exploring ASL.

The amusing thing is, if I lose my voice -- which usually happens once or twice per winter -- my audio language interface downshifts and all my gestural languages come to the front. I wind up combining all those bits plus cultural hand-signs like OK, for use as conversation until my voice comes back.

Re: Hmm...

November 4 2009, 20:09:41 UTC 11 years ago

That's pretty cool! Do your companions tend to understand you?

November 5 2009, 23:45:54 UTC 11 years ago

Fairly well, yes. I'm borrowing heavily from languages that are very representational, rather than the more abstract modern ones (although there's a bit of that too).

November 4 2009, 23:22:02 UTC 11 years ago

Thanks for the link! You are braver than me, at the moment I'm just brawling with Spanish.

From what I've seen of ASL (through movies and TV) it is a *beautiful* language, I was somewhat disappointed afterwards when I saw Italian Sign Language for the first time. Ours feels 'exaggerated' somehow, with a lot of emphasis on facial expressions. The result, honestly, is rather ugly. Of course the usefulness and merit of such a language transcends mere aesthetics, and yet, doesn't the form influence the content somehow?

November 5 2009, 15:43:51 UTC 11 years ago

I sort of wonder if Italian sign language (having never seen an example) is based the exaggerated gestures of the Comedia del'Arte? It strikes me as the sort of thing that might have deliberately been borrowed for telegraphing emotion to large groups of people.

November 5 2009, 17:16:09 UTC 11 years ago

That's possible. It would be an interesting thing to explore.

November 5 2009, 22:23:43 UTC 11 years ago

If you find a connection, I'd be interested in sponsoring a poem about it, or maybe just a poem about the conjecture.

11 years ago

Try this...

November 5 2009, 17:22:38 UTC 11 years ago

Re: Try this...

November 5 2009, 22:24:13 UTC 11 years ago

Ah, Judi, my inspiration to learn ASL.

November 6 2009, 00:56:19 UTC 11 years ago

Cool! Small world.

By the way, I love your butterfly icon.

technoshaman

April 20 2013, 00:08:55 UTC 8 years ago

*smiles* that is the best Judi ever... I don't know if she was doing that cold or not, but I know Tom was improv'ing, especially the last verse, and the fact that Judi held it together *until the song was over* .... dedication to her art, she has it.

It's inspired a few people out on this coast to start sign-singing as well.. :D

Odd... I don't feel any kind of fear when learning something new. OTOH if I'm not learning I get *bored*. Happiness is the enlightenment that comes in recognising a new pattern, be it language, art, science, music... not that those are all that different from one another, especially when done well...

Open your mind like a door,
and believe that what you receive will be worth the risk.

Many, many moons ago someone said, "The most evil thing in the world is a closed mind." I'm not sure if it's the *most* evil thing... but it sure ranks up there.

8 years ago

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