(translated by dame daisy kloverleaf)
i
the billigits hootch distillery
makes hundred proof liquid artillery
but it is best to sip it calmly calm
lest you drink yourself onto the pillory
ii
willie donkey downs a quart everyday
he offers some to horses who say neigh
horses are not snobbly snobs or too high
they prefer equine beer made from good hay
iii
there is an e in scotland scotch whiskey
most of the rest go second vowell free
billies spell it w-h-i-s-k-i
and call it whiskigits on delivery
iv
two fingers lead to three sheets in the wind
magic donkeys drink from bucket and bin
lacking fingers they do not much worry
cos it takes hands to carry original sin
Saragun Springs 
Oh Daisy – your translations are erm – mind blowing!
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Hi Diane
Thank you
I tryly try to bely be uniquely unique
ddk
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Leila
Like Edward Lear’s famous nonsense writings, the quatrains of the billigits are entertaining and funny, sometimes hilarious, upon first reading/s, but they also yield up further subtle meanings upon repeated readings – which makes them “PURE” poetry even tho’ they appear in their hilarious original guises and disguises.
Nonsense Literature, which arose into a kind of peak during the 19th century, and comes out of such eternal things as nursery rhymes and children’s stories, had a massive impact upon such 20th century art movements as surrealism and The Absurd.
One example would be Kafka’s Gregor Samsa, the Man Who Turned Into a Bug. In that case, NIGHTMARE is involved more than fantasy or daydreams, but the fable-like nature of Kafka’s famous tale arises from Nonsense Literature and children’s stories, etc etc.
The billigits seem to exist in some sort of Freudian dream world which both reflects AND creates the real world. Freud is far, far, far more transcendent than people give him credit for. And if what he said about jokes isn’t true, I don’t know what is.
And donkeys who get drunk and don’t suffer the consequences are awesome!
Dale
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Hi Dale.
Thank you. The billies are becoming a little like the Greek Chorus in the old sense. Or Lear’s Jester/Fool. The Magic Willie is a dangerous fellow because he is coming together as amoral.
Leila
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Leila
After citing Freud on humor yesterday, I just want to elaborate on what he said about humor briefly. His observations are so obvious-seeming, AFTER they’ve been pointed out, that they have that tang of truth that can (almost) be attributed to something like the tablets upon which the ten commandments were written. Five key points:
One: Good people produce good humor: life-affirming, subversive, light-bringing humor. The flipside of this is also true: Bad people produce bad humor – contentious, hateful, sarcastic, cynical, punching down, often racist or aimed at other minority groups. Anyone who reads the billigits truly can see what kind of humor this is, AND what kind of humor this is NOT.
Two: Not everyone can produce humor.
Three: Only a very very few among us are masterful at producing humor.
Four: Humor comes from a place of dreams.
Five: Dreams are things of imagination, not fantasy. Fantasy is escapist, while imagination takes us INTO reality (is truth-telling).
The summing up of all this is that humor from a good person is a moral force (moral, NOT moralistic, which are two different, and opposite, things). Twain and Vonnegut are two other great examples of this.
So is Falstaff!!
Dale
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Hi Dale
Thank you so kindly. It’s my belief that humor is never self-conscious and is a quality that exists in the mind like electro magneism, the nuclear forces and gravity in spacetime.
Not to make it haughty sounding, unaffected humor is all around us just waiting to be seen.
Leila
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Feodor Dostoevsky said:
“The world will be saved by beauty.”
Beauty CANNOT BE FAKED.
Since beauty cannot be faked, it is equivalent to truth. Since it is equivalent to truth, it is equivalent to goodness, because truth IS goodness.
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This is not my last message to you, but it is a great quotation, so it’s worth quoting here. It’s such a good quotation that it can bring tears to the eyes, either literally or spiritually.
“This is my last message to you. In sorrow, seek happiness.” – Feodor Dostoevsky
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Hi Dale
The great Russians are wonderful reading as long as they translators understand the spirit of their works. Too much reverence makes them come of like a dirge or a sermon. But in reality their works are human and lively.
Thank you!
Leila
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