Short
 

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Tosspot


The swilling spirit washes
till the weakened flesh is seen.
Behold, the spineless creature
bent about the porcelain.

A mewling, puking infant
bared; sobriety a sham.
-- Shank a shrunk,
fool, flaccid, drunk.
Outwitted by a dram.


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Hi, Richard—

I like the opening reference to Matthew 26 where Jesus scolds his sleepy disciples for not staying awake with him: “The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.” Most of us can confess at least one such fall from grace. Many of us struggle daily with sobriety.

I was puzzled by
—Shank a shrunk,
fool, flaccid, drunk.

Is shank a noun (leg/knife) or a verb (stab/hit a golf ball badly)? The /nk/ alliteration works nicely to imitate the sound of retching, but the meaning eludes me. Because of its placement between two other adjectives, I take “fool” to mean “foolish” and “flaccid” to mean “impotent.” I’m stumped.

Hope this is useful.

Glenn

After posting, it occurred to me that the poem is probably aimed at suggesting a double meaning for "tosspot," so my comment won't be helpful.

I'm glad my comment served some purpose.

Thanks, Max. You reminded me of Jaques “Seven Ages of Man” speech. I’m no longer completely stumped.

Glenn

I think Max may be right about the tosspot double meaning. The “shrunk, fool, flaccid, drunk” brings another Shakespeare line to mind, that drink “provokes the desire, but it takes away the performance”. And “shank” reminds me of “Armitage Shanks” UK sanitary ware makers. That name has burned into my soul after long nights bent over the toilet bowl.

Hi Richard,

I'm not sure how you pronounce porcelain and seen. How about:

The swilling spirit sloshes
till the weaker flesh will win.
Behold, the spineless creature
bent about the porcelain.

instead of:

The swilling spirit washes
till the weakened flesh is seen.
Behold, the spineless creature
bent about the porcelain.

I do see, I think, how your "till the weakened flesh is seen" refers to vomit, but it wasn't easy.

Just a thought,
Jim

***Coming back in to say that the slang term for a drunkard, "Tosspot" may obviously derive from an image of one tossing one's cookies into a pot, a porcelain toilet in most cases in the modern world??