Would you please rewrite this poem into plain English?

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Thank you in anticipation.

Old longings nomadic leap,
Chafing at custom's chain;
Again from its brumal sleep,
Wakens the ferine strain.

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View best answer, chosen by oristarA

please confirm spelling of ferine.

1 Reply

@oristarA,

It doesn't make any sense in English.

Was this an automated translation? What is brumal?

1 Reply

@PUNKEY,

It is correct.
The word means wild or feral.

0 Replies

@McTag,

Brumal means of, or relating to, winter.

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The stanza is from the poem "Atavism" by John Myers O'Hara.
It is quoted at the beginning of Jack London's The Call of the Wild.

1 Reply

@George,

It is? That's amazing. These words are not in my medium-sized dictionary. I'll take a look in the big one.

Okay, so it must be about dogs, and deep-seated wild lupine instinct.

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@oristarA,

oristarA wrote:

Old longings nomadic leap,
Chafing at custom's chain;
Again from its brumal sleep,
Wakens the ferine strain.

Here's how I'd restate it.

Repressed longings sometimes rise up like nomads who have been in camp
too long. The customs and restrictions of society can be as irritating as
a chain is to a prisoner. There is a wild streak within that rouses like a
bear after hibernation.

Hmmm . . .

I'm not sure that's any better.

1 Reply

@George,

Okay here's mine: I remember that The Call of the Wild is about a wolf-like dog, so this gives some resonance to the words the author chose.
Also, half-tamed dogs and wolves are often chained up. I don't think the use of "chain" is a coincidence here.

Old longings leap unbidden, from dim ancestral memory
Conflicting with everyday, civilised life:
Once again, as if from hibernation
Wilder instincts awaken.

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@McTag,

Quote:

Okay, so it must be about dogs, and deep-seated wild lupine instinct.

Or it's metaphorical.

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@oristarA,

oristarA wrote:

Thank you in anticipation.

Old longings nomadic leap,
Chafing at custom's chain;
Again from its brumal sleep,
Wakens the ferine strain.

Old nomadic longings leap
against the links of custom's chain
Waking from its wintery sleep
The wild against the white is strained

1 Reply

Cool.

You guys have given me excellent replies.

Thanks a lot.

1 Reply

@Fido,

Fido wrote:

oristarA wrote:

Thank you in anticipation.

Old longings nomadic leap,
Chafing at custom's chain;
Again from its brumal sleep,
Wakens the ferine strain.

Old nomadic longings leap
against the links of custom's chain
Waking from its wintery sleep
The wild against the white is strained

Thanks.

But I failed to understand "The wild against the white is strained".

Especially, what is "the white"?

1 Reply

@oristarA,

Winter and white, evil longings against custom which is considered ethical and so good... It is a contrast, of black against white, the strain of will against the white of society...

1 Reply

@Fido,

Fido wrote:

Winter and white, evil longings against custom which is considered ethical and so good... It is a contrast, of black against white, the strain of will against the white of society...

Thanks

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@oristarA,

So whose answer gets the prize?

1 Reply

@McTag,

McTag wrote:

So whose answer gets the prize?

Yours is cool, no doubt about that.

As for prize, some fair standards should be made before anything else. It's a close race, any minor/trivial flaw will be counted. Hmm... I'll take time to figure all that out. Very Happy

1 Reply

@oristarA,

oristarA wrote:

McTag wrote:

So whose answer gets the prize?

Yours is cool, no doubt about that.

As for prize, some fair standards should be made before anything else. It's a close race, any minor/trivial flaw will be counted. Hmm... I'll take time to figure all that out.

If anyone ever gets around to cutting you open, they are going to find you have an eel where your back bone should be...

1 Reply

@Fido,

Was that strange remark directed at Oristar or at me?

Either way, it seems singularly out of place.

1 Reply

@McTag,

McTag wrote:

Was that strange remark directed at Oristar or at me?

Either way, it seems singularly out of place.

Why don't you just take the prize from Eelback, and I'll come for the wine...

0 Replies

Would you please rewrite this poem into plain English?

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