Axis Mundi X discussion

From http://dictionary.reference.com/wordo...
Thursday June 26, 2008

Cockaigne \kah-KAYN\, noun:
An imaginary land of ease and luxury.

Cockaigne comes from Middle English cokaygne, from Middle French (pais de) cocaigne "(land of) plenty," ultimately adapted or derived from a word meaning "cake."



...and you thought he was singing about drugs.

I LOVE dictionary.com's word of the day. If I know it already I feel smart. If I don't know it I read the definition and feel smart.

What's that from, Ko?

Pieter Brueghel The Elder
Land of Cockaigne
Oil 1567

Did you ever hear about Cocaine Lil?
She lived in Cocaine town on Cocaine hill,
She had a cocaine dog and a cocaine cat,
They fought all night with a cocaine rat.

She had cocaine hair on her cocaine head.
She had a cocaine dress that was poppy red:
She wore a snowbird hat and sleigh-riding clothes,
On her coat she wore a crimson, cocaine rose.

Big gold chariots on the Milky Way,
Snakes and elephants silver and gray.
Oh the cocaine blues they make me sad,
Oh the cocaine blues make me feel bad.

Lil went to a snow party one cold night,
And the way she sniffed was sure a fright.
There was Hophead Mag with Dopey Slim,
Kankakee Liz and Yen Shee Jim.

There was Morphine Sue and the Poppy Face Kid,
Climbed up snow ladders and down they skid;
There was the Stepladder Kit, a good six feet,
And the Sleigh-riding Sister who were hard to beat.

Along in the morning about half past three
They were all lit up like a Christmas tree;
Lil got home and started for bed,
Took another sniff and it knocked her dead.

They laid her out in her cocaine clothes:
She wore a snowbird hat with a crimson rose;
On her headstone you’ll find this refrain:
She died as she lived, sniffing cocaine

Wystan Hugh Auden

Cocaine is quite the muse, apparently.
Thanks, Ko, for the link. And thanks Charissa, for the Auden.

One of the CDs I used to play for Jake when he was a toddler had that song! Good old Tom Chapin.

And I never thought of it in any other way except candy! It's nice listening with a baby's ears, so innocent.

But now I'm back to the jaded adult world.

Joy, beautiful spark of the gods, Daughter of Elysium, Touched with fire, to the portal, Of thy radiant shrine, we come. Your sweet magic frees all others, Held in Custom's rigid rings. All men on earth become brothers, In the haven of your wings.

Is that Schiller's "Ode To Joy"?

It is indeed! : )

Carl Orff does that for me.

Carmina Burana?

I love to watch 'Immortal Beloved'... the scene with him as a boy floating in a pond of stars just transports me...

A few years ago I had the immense pleasure of being in a choral group that performed Carmina Burana. We had a full orchestra, hired out the soloists, children's choir--the works. It was the most amazing musical moment of my life.