So I was toolin' around and found this post by Brooke over at The Brookeshelf. Some guy animates an Edward Lear poem. I'm totally digging it, remembering how Lear opened up the whole world of poetry to me when I was in fourth grade.
And then it hits me: Could these wonderful Internets also contain even more Edward Lear? Not just, but more: They contain an Edward Lear poem recited by Ken Nordine. To wit.
Ken Nordine was a 50's jazz poet, a voiceover artist, a man whose voice you hear and never forget. The first time I heard it was when I was young and he was doing ads for Levi's. He's done stuff with Jerry Garcia and put out a number of Word Jazz disks in his time. In the annals of spoken word, he's a great.
Then I'm checking out the comments on his video on YouTube and there's all this stuff about people not digging his politics. Ken defends himself by saying they're Lear's politics but what I'm seeing is people object to Nordine suggesting that Lear's poem did not apply equally to the political leaders shown in the video.
Reading the poem straight it is difficult to make out if Lear is just riffing on the possibilities of what a charismatic and war-like leader the Akhund was (according to one citation I found) or if he was merely using the unique sound of the title as a way of taking charge against the behavior of despotic leaders in general. I'm no Lear scholar, it's difficult to say, but I'm guessing the latter.
I also find it curious is that this poem, "The Akond of Swat," is included in the Edward Lear volume of Poetry for Young People series put out by Sterling, edited by Edward Mendelson. Here's their introduction:
"The poem never tells us who the Akond of Swat might be, but there really was a person with that title; he was a religious leader in what is now Pakistan, and Lear read about him while planning a trip to India."All very well and good, but I suspect there's more to this story.
As for Mr. Nordine's politics, all I can say is if the images offend then close your eyes and listen. The man has a great voice.
3 comments:
The Akond (Akhund) of Swat was hardly "warlike". He was a very widely respected spiritual leader. The accusation of warlikeness would have come from the British, who tried to invade and conquer the fertile Swat valley around 1863.
The Akhund, on the advice of political figures, issued a jihad against the British, which was taken very seriously in those times. Neville Chamberlain, leading the British forces, found himself badly outnumbered (60,000 to 7,000), and eventually was forced to retreat. The British never succeeded in taking Swat.
See here.
As for Lear, conventional wisdom seems to be that he used the name "Akond of Swat" purely for its sound.
Lear appears to have been on a trip when he encountered the Akhund of Swat in British papers. The press and politics being what they are I don't imagine the British understood a jihad any better than modern day Americans and no doubt descriptions of the Akhund's actions might have been painted as war-like.
Lear did apparently base the entire poem on his imaginings which is why the poem plays with all sides of what a political figure -- real or imagined -- might be like. I understand George W. Bush is viewed as Satan Himself in some parts of the world. That might color the way some history books and press accounts are written, and how a naive nonsense poet might approach a character study.
The internet is a wonderful thing. My first hit on the Akhund of Swat delivers this particular summary:
In the 19th century the Akund of Swat rose to power. He was a Sufi ascetic with a highly charismatic and warlike personality who united the Swatis and made his capital at Saidu Sharif.
One can find anything to support one's argument on the internet.
I just wanted to say, that I had no idea about the political views on 'The Akond of Swat'. I have a book from when I was a child, called The Akond of Swat (same poem and everything). It was and still is a favorite, but I have never seen another copy again.
Just my little 2 cents worth :)
Claire.
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