Tuesday Word: anacreontic

[ellesieg.livejournal.com]

Anacreon was a Greek poet whose most popular and enduring works dealt with the topics of love, lust, etc. and getting wasted, man. Legend has it that he choked to death on a grape seed, an all too appropriate death, although really, the guy would have probably washed it down with wine the second it caught in his throat, whether intentionally or coincidentally, and grape seeds are super tiny, right? I know you can drown in like an inch of water and die from a single well-placed blow, but come on.

Well, anyway, he gave us the word "anacreontic." It originally applied to verse written in the meter he used in his poems, but eventually expanded to include all poems or songs that deal with Anacreon's favorite topics.

Patriotic Fun Fact for the United States' upcoming Fourth of July festivities: Ralph Tomlinson, a member and one-time president of the Anacreontic Society, a group of amateur musicians founded in London in the mid-1700s, penned "To Anacreon in Heaven," and one John Staford Smith composed the tune. It became the Society's official song, and then AMERICA'S official song -- sort of -- as the text of Francis Scott Key's "Defence of Fort M'Henry" and the melody of "To Anacreon in Heaven" were combined to create what we now know as "The Star-Spangled Banner."

God help us if we ever decide the national anthem needs an update, although it is a bit droning and somber, huh? Maybe it's about time someone mashed together some patriotic poem and the music from Chumbawamba's "Tubthumping" or DJ Snake and Lil Jon's "Turn Down for What." It'd certainly keep people on their feet!

Comments

[prettygoodword.livejournal.com]

When sung as "To Anacreon in Heaven," the tune is usually rendered in a rather more spirited manner -- it is, after all, a drinking song.

---L.

[med_cat]

Ah yes, I did wonder about that; makes sense :)

[med_cat]

Certainly a word with an interesting backstory--I'd heard (vaguely) of Anacreon, but didn't know of the adjective. And thanks for the bonus patriotic fact!