SunWinks! Sunday Gather Writing Essential March 3, 2013 Litany (SunWE)

Dearest Gather Devotees:

My esteemed Gather colleague Susan Budig and I got to talking about litanies.  Her Mindful Poetry Form of the Month is “Chant Poem” and my response to her prompt, I suggested, had the structure and feel of a litany.  In truth, what Susan defines as a “Chant Poem” and what I will refer to as a “Litanic Poem” are probably indistinguishable.

The Litany is a song/prayer form that is at least as old as the Old Testament Psalms.  Psalm 136 (135)* is a litany of praise and gratitude for the Exodus, which places it around 500 BCE:

⁷ who made the great lights,
for his steadfast love endures forever;
⁸ the sun to rule over the day,
for his steadfast love endures forever;
⁹ the moon and stars to rule over the night,
for his steadfast love endures forever;

¹⁰ who struck Egypt through their firstborn,
for his steadfast love endures forever;
¹¹ and brought Israel out from among them,
for his steadfast love endures forever;
¹² with a strong hand and an outstretched arm,
for his steadfast love endures forever;
¹³ who divided the Red Sea^[a] in two,
for his steadfast love endures forever;
¹⁴ and made Israel pass through the midst of it,
for his steadfast love endures forever;
¹⁵ but overthrew Pharaoh and his army in the Red Sea,^[b]
for his steadfast love endures forever;

*(Known in Jewish ritual as the “Great Hallel” and recited at Passover and other major feasts.)

Merriam-Webster Online defines “Litany”:

1 : a prayer consisting of a series of invocations and supplications by the leader with alternate responses by the congregation

2 a : a resonant or repetitive chant <a litany of cheering phrases — Herman Wouk>

b : a usually lengthy recitation or enumeration <a familiar litany of complaints>

c : a sizable series or set <a litany of problems>

 

An amusingly parochial, yet instructive, article on Litany may be found in the Catholic Encyclopedia (1913):

Litany*
by Francis Mershman

(Lat. litania from Gr. lite, prayer or supplication)

A litany is a well-known and much appreciated form of responsive petition, used in public liturgical services, and in private devotions, for common necessities of the Church, or in calamities - to implore God's aid or to appease His just wrath. This form of prayer finds its model in Psalm cxxxv: "Praise the Lord, for he is good: for his mercy endureth for ever. Praise ye the God of gods . . . the Lord of lords . . . Who alone doth great wonders . . . Who made the heavens", etc., with the concluding words in each verse, "for his mercy endureth for ever." Similar is the canticle of praise by the youths in the fiery furnace (Dan., iii, 57-87), with the response, "praise and exalt him above all for ever."…

*Click to read the complete article, which includes much historical detail, for instance: descriptions of the ancient Christian processions accompanied by chanted litanies and themselves referred to as litanies.

Litany of the Saints dates to the earliest centuries of Christianity.

Litany of Humility by Rafael Cardinal Merry del Val (1865-1930) is a traditional liturgical-style litany from the Victorian Era.

Herewith is a fairly comprehensive list of examples of litanic poetry through the centuries.  Please do click the links and investigate these poems and their authors.  What makes these poems litanic?  How do they compare to the traditional liturgical litanies in structure and feeling?

Elizabethan Age:

A Litany in Time of Plague- Thomas Nashe (1567-1601)

A Litany Sir Philip Sidney (1554-1586)

Victorian Era:

Lovers Litany – Rudyard Kipling (1865-1936)

Wife to Husband by Christina Rossetti (1830-94)

Modern Era:

A Litany by Gregory Orr (1947- )

Pride’s Crossing by James Tate (1943- )

Litany For Silence by young poet Rachelle Cruz

Cantare Pater Noster by DW

Folk Song:

Michael Row The Boat Ashore

Gabriel’s Mother’s Highway Ballad #16 Blues Arlo Guthrie

Finally, from The Book of Mercy by Leonard Cohen:

#43

Holy is your name, holy is your work, holy are the days that return to you. Holy are the years that you uncover. Holy are the hands that are raised to you, and the weeping that is wept to you. Holy is the fire between your will and ours, in which we are refined. Holy is that which is unredeemed, covered with your patience. Holy are the souls lost in you unnaming. Holy, and shining with a great light, is every living thing, established in this world and covered with time, until your name is praised forever.

***

#3

I heard my soul singing behind a leaf, plucked the leaf, but then I heard it singing behind a veil. I tore the veil, but then I heard it singing behind a wall. I broke the wall, and I heard my soul singing against me. I built up the wall, mended the curtain, but I could not put back the leaf. I held it in my hand and I heard my soul singing mightily against me. This is what it’s like to study without a friend.

As you can see, there is no simple formula; rather, there are many ways and schemes in which to compose a litanic poem, and a variety of elements which make a poem litanic.  Among those are:

• sacred feeling or content
• the element of entreaty or supplication (begging for mercy or favor)
• repetitive refrains, usually but not necessarily
  • one line in length
  • occurring after each individual line
• the repetitive element may alternatively be the beginnings of lines or sentences
• comprising an extensive and comprehensive list, like a catalogue poem

The Prompt:

Using one or more of the above examples as models, compose a litanic poem or prose poem.

• Put SunWE in the title and tags.
• Share your post with Gather Writing Essential group.
• Indicate in some way which devices or techniques I should be paying attention to.  (If responding to today’s, put Litany in the title field.)
• This prompt does not turn into a pumpkin a week (or even two) from today.  If your piece isn’t done in the next week or two, get it in when you can.  This is supposed to be fun.
• I will comment on every submission and include a link to it in the next column.
• If you would like a little more academic critique—but still very friendly and positive—include the word "rigorous" in your post (e.g. "rigorous critique wanted").

Responses to previous prompts below. Let me know if I missed yours.

As ever,

Doug

 

Descrimbolism

Missing out on life (SunWe: 2/24/13: Descrimbolism)

by Angela A.

Sunwe--Rest Easy, World--discrimbolism

by sarah leanne

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© 2013 Douglas J. Westberg. All Rights Reserved.  Please share this on Gather.com, and elsewhere on the web by means of a link back to this page, but please do not copy.   Doug's latest book is The Depressed Guy's Book of Wisdom from Chipmunka Publishing.

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