In another bit of interconnectedness, as I was reading Tennyson's poem I came across a stanza that went, "Adieu, Adieu for evermore", and, glancing down to the footnotes, I saw that Tennyson was consciously echoing a lament by the ancient Roman poet Catullus for his brother. That one goes like this:
That last line (and probably the rest of the poem) clearly inspired the Jack Yeats painting that I nearly fell into a few months ago in Dublin, which I mentioned some time ago.Through many peoples and many seas have I travelled
to thee, brother, and these wretched rites of death
I bring a last gift but can speak only to ashes
Since Fortune has taken you from me
Poor brother! stolen you away from me
leaving me only ancient custom to honour you
as it has been from generation to generation
Take from my hands these sad gifts covered in tears
Now and forever, brother, Hail and farewell.
That's all for now. I'll have more again soon.
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