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A SONG OF THE VULCAN DIASPORA by Kate Gladstone
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Kate Gladstone
Jul 22, 2016, 8:55:44 PM7/22/16
to
A SONG OF THE VULCAN DIASPORA:
[translation and footnotes by Kate Gladstone —
traditionally chanted to a tune somewhat reminiscent of "Sledgehammer" as sung by the twenty-first century Terran bard Rihanna]
In the ashes between stars we meditated
On impermanence
As we remembered Vulcan. [1]
There on the bulkheads we hung our lyres
As if our destroying kinsman had called to us for songs
As if he had demanded melodies of home,
As if he had said,
“Sing to me now
Of the power in Vulcan's logic!”
How can we chant the Stanzas of Surak under alien skies? [2]
If I forget thee, Vulcan, may my brain forget reason.
May my tongue cease to speak logic if I do not remember thee,
if I do not consider Vulcan's legacy my highest purpose.
Remember, each sentient being, what Nero did on the day Vulcan was destroyed.
“Tear it down,” he cried, “tear it down to the subatomic!”
Romulans, our kinfolk bound to emotion —
May long life and prosperity come
To the one who confronts you with your illogic,
As your captain has confronted us with its consequences.
May sentients live long and prosper
As they bring your descendants
To the contemplation of mortality in an unforgiving cosmos. [3]
[1] This and subsequent verses are structurally, and otherwise, uncannily similar to an ancient (approximately 3000 years before spaceflight)Terran lament. To date, Federation anthropologists have offered no completely satisfactory explanation for the seeming coincidence, which appears too thoroughgoing to be completely attributed to Preserver action.
[2] In Modern Standard Vulcan (ever since its initial codification by grammarians of the orthodox Surakian school), questions beginning with any word equivalent to "How?" are never rhetorical, but are always literal.
In other words, the implication here is the direct opposite of what it would have been in many Terran languages ("We cannot possibly chant," etc.) Here, the anonymous composer is not implying that Vulcan's heritage cannot be preserved or transmitted after the destruction of the homeworld: on the contrary, he or she is calling on fellow survivors of Vulcan's demise to find ways to preserve and transmit this heritage.
[3] The idioms used in the last line are generally translated as "contemplating mortality" and "in an unforgiving cosmos" when encountered in post-Surak Vulcan speech or writing; for instance, these are the only translations provided in the SAREK-GRAYSON STUDENT DICTIONARY OF MODERN STANDARD VULCAN.
However, these two phrases in question include archaic words which originally had quite different, much more concrete meanings: all of which are still found in poetic and ritual texts whose study remains central to the Vulcan primary school curriculum.
Specifically, the compound word which now means "contemplating" once had a much more concrete meaning: namely, "having one's head penetrated or cracked open" — similarly, the prepositional phrase which now means "in an unforgiving cosmos" once meant "through forcible contact with stone." In other words, any Vulcan schoolchild (and certainly a Vulcan poet or singer) would be well aware that a wish to see future generations of Romulans being brought to "contemplate mortality in an unforgiving cosmos" — an entirely justifiable wish, fully compatible with the anti-aggressive strain of Surakite thought — could also be quietly understood as an unadmitted hope that the Vulcans' obstreperous cousins might someday, somehow, get their heads smashed in by rocks.
[translation and footnotes by Kate Gladstone —
traditionally chanted to a tune somewhat reminiscent of "Sledgehammer" as sung by the twenty-first century Terran bard Rihanna]
In the ashes between stars we meditated
On impermanence
As we remembered Vulcan. [1]
There on the bulkheads we hung our lyres
As if our destroying kinsman had called to us for songs
As if he had demanded melodies of home,
As if he had said,
“Sing to me now
Of the power in Vulcan's logic!”
How can we chant the Stanzas of Surak under alien skies? [2]
If I forget thee, Vulcan, may my brain forget reason.
May my tongue cease to speak logic if I do not remember thee,
if I do not consider Vulcan's legacy my highest purpose.
Remember, each sentient being, what Nero did on the day Vulcan was destroyed.
“Tear it down,” he cried, “tear it down to the subatomic!”
Romulans, our kinfolk bound to emotion —
May long life and prosperity come
To the one who confronts you with your illogic,
As your captain has confronted us with its consequences.
May sentients live long and prosper
As they bring your descendants
To the contemplation of mortality in an unforgiving cosmos. [3]
[1] This and subsequent verses are structurally, and otherwise, uncannily similar to an ancient (approximately 3000 years before spaceflight)Terran lament. To date, Federation anthropologists have offered no completely satisfactory explanation for the seeming coincidence, which appears too thoroughgoing to be completely attributed to Preserver action.
[2] In Modern Standard Vulcan (ever since its initial codification by grammarians of the orthodox Surakian school), questions beginning with any word equivalent to "How?" are never rhetorical, but are always literal.
In other words, the implication here is the direct opposite of what it would have been in many Terran languages ("We cannot possibly chant," etc.) Here, the anonymous composer is not implying that Vulcan's heritage cannot be preserved or transmitted after the destruction of the homeworld: on the contrary, he or she is calling on fellow survivors of Vulcan's demise to find ways to preserve and transmit this heritage.
[3] The idioms used in the last line are generally translated as "contemplating mortality" and "in an unforgiving cosmos" when encountered in post-Surak Vulcan speech or writing; for instance, these are the only translations provided in the SAREK-GRAYSON STUDENT DICTIONARY OF MODERN STANDARD VULCAN.
However, these two phrases in question include archaic words which originally had quite different, much more concrete meanings: all of which are still found in poetic and ritual texts whose study remains central to the Vulcan primary school curriculum.
Specifically, the compound word which now means "contemplating" once had a much more concrete meaning: namely, "having one's head penetrated or cracked open" — similarly, the prepositional phrase which now means "in an unforgiving cosmos" once meant "through forcible contact with stone." In other words, any Vulcan schoolchild (and certainly a Vulcan poet or singer) would be well aware that a wish to see future generations of Romulans being brought to "contemplate mortality in an unforgiving cosmos" — an entirely justifiable wish, fully compatible with the anti-aggressive strain of Surakite thought — could also be quietly understood as an unadmitted hope that the Vulcans' obstreperous cousins might someday, somehow, get their heads smashed in by rocks.
Arthur T.
Jul 23, 2016, 5:16:13 PM7/23/16
to
In
Message-ID:<7f6d4d53-b0f4-45a3...@googlegroups.com>,
glad to see you posting here, again.
--
Arthur T. - ar23hur "at" pobox "dot" com
Message-ID:<7f6d4d53-b0f4-45a3...@googlegroups.com>,
Kate Gladstone <handwrit...@gmail.com> wrote:
>A SONG OF THE VULCAN DIASPORA:
>[translation and footnotes by Kate Gladstone —
>traditionally chanted to a tune somewhat reminiscent of "Sledgehammer" as sung by the twenty-first century Terran bard Rihanna]
I'll have to see if I can find the tune. In the meantime, I'm
>A SONG OF THE VULCAN DIASPORA:
>[translation and footnotes by Kate Gladstone —
>traditionally chanted to a tune somewhat reminiscent of "Sledgehammer" as sung by the twenty-first century Terran bard Rihanna]
glad to see you posting here, again.
--
Arthur T. - ar23hur "at" pobox "dot" com
Kate Gladstone
Jul 23, 2016, 8:43:54 PM7/23/16
to
The song "Sledgehammer" is sung and played during the closing credits of the new movie STAR TREK: BEYOND — and, yes, it WILL work (with judicious stretching).
Re my long silence (which I'd mentioned before, here, at LONG and rare intervals) —my ability-to-filk VERY suddenly disappeared, a few years ago — literally in mid-syllable during composition — and since then has only returned VERY rarely, with VAST efforts, and EXTREMELY weakly: notabl (in fact, glaringly) inferior (in my own observation and in others') to what I had been able to do (and had done so constantly and effortlessly!) ever before.
I actually went to a neurologist, to other doctors, and then to some pshrinks, over this (along with other concurrent matters): they couldn't find anything that could account for this (and certainly not for it coming on, literally, in a split-second). These days, when I read or listen to anything I wrote before, it's literally like listening to the work of a stranger with an ability that the listener lacks: I can't even figure out HOW "she" (or, rather, I) even DID that!
HEEEELLLP! (asking this not for the first time ... )
Re my long silence (which I'd mentioned before, here, at LONG and rare intervals) —my ability-to-filk VERY suddenly disappeared, a few years ago — literally in mid-syllable during composition — and since then has only returned VERY rarely, with VAST efforts, and EXTREMELY weakly: notabl (in fact, glaringly) inferior (in my own observation and in others') to what I had been able to do (and had done so constantly and effortlessly!) ever before.
I actually went to a neurologist, to other doctors, and then to some pshrinks, over this (along with other concurrent matters): they couldn't find anything that could account for this (and certainly not for it coming on, literally, in a split-second). These days, when I read or listen to anything I wrote before, it's literally like listening to the work of a stranger with an ability that the listener lacks: I can't even figure out HOW "she" (or, rather, I) even DID that!
HEEEELLLP! (asking this not for the first time ... )
Gary McGath
Jul 25, 2016, 6:04:25 AM7/25/16
to
On 7/22/16 8:55 PM, Kate Gladstone wrote:
> A SONG OF THE VULCAN DIASPORA:
> [translation and footnotes by Kate Gladstone —
> traditionally chanted to a tune somewhat reminiscent of "Sledgehammer" as sung by the twenty-first century Terran bard Rihanna]
>
>
> In the ashes between stars we meditated
> On impermanence
> As we remembered Vulcan. [1]
It was only after reading the footnotes that I realized what you were
> A SONG OF THE VULCAN DIASPORA:
> [translation and footnotes by Kate Gladstone —
> traditionally chanted to a tune somewhat reminiscent of "Sledgehammer" as sung by the twenty-first century Terran bard Rihanna]
>
>
> In the ashes between stars we meditated
> On impermanence
> As we remembered Vulcan. [1]
doing. I'm not at all familiar with "Sledgehammer," and I haven't paid a
lot of attention to the recent alternate world fanfic movies, but still,
very nicely done!
--
Gary McGath http://www.mcgath.com
Gary McGath
Jul 25, 2016, 7:16:27 AM7/25/16
to
speculation.)
From the way you describe it, I wonder if you might have had a
micro-stroke. Those can be very hard to detect. When people lose an
ability from a stroke, they can sometimes get it back by just exercising
whatever's left of the ability on a regular basis, not expecting it to
be particularly good at first.
If that applies, it would suggest the remedy is to write whatever you
can regularly, not showing it to anyone if you don't want to, not
worrying about how good it is, but just exercising the neural pathways
that have to take over, writing something every day. Maybe that would
help even if no stroke was involved.
It's quite possible I'm making no sense, or that you've already tried
it. If so, sorry. But it's a thought.
Kate Gladstone
Jul 26, 2016, 9:26:21 PM7/26/16
to
Micro-stroke or not (which might be hard to determine, years later), I have steadily DONE my best to keep doing what I once was able to do — the rare, scanty, and imperfect results are certainly not the outcome of quitting.
Kate Gladstone
Jul 26, 2016, 9:27:22 PM7/26/16
to
Thanks for thinking about the matter, Gary. I am upset at myself, not at you.
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