tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1107758010639847749.post6132402309856777520..comments2022-02-17T21:15:06.985-08:00Comments on The Scant Gold I Bring : Contra MortemJeff in Seattlehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08096023145399598798noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1107758010639847749.post-10458936557421801512020-08-18T07:13:16.383-07:002020-08-18T07:13:16.383-07:00Your connection between this poem "Contra Mor...Your connection between this poem "Contra Mortem" and CAS' prose work from the same time period is not something I had considered. It is interesting to ponder the different ways CAS reacts to the idea of Death throughout his body of work, and it feels like there is a more investigation that could be done on that very point. Maybe one day...Jeff in Seattlehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08096023145399598798noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1107758010639847749.post-30788635168590370992020-08-15T15:55:31.386-07:002020-08-15T15:55:31.386-07:00A very interesting CAS poem, and I'm glad you&...A very interesting CAS poem, and I'm glad you're here to share it! With his tales and other poems embracing death, it's refreshing as well as strange to see this one. I've always admired "Do not go gentle into that good night", and I think "Contra Mortem" is sincerely speaking in a similar spirit, though far more aggressively than Dylan Thomas' piece. It feels and sounds like it was written during an intense time.<br /><br />I was a little perplexed that the same man who wrote this piece had also written, in roughly the same time frame, stories like "Empire of the Necromancers", "Isle of the Torturers", and "Dark Eidolon." All these stories, especially the third, rather revel in the inescapable silence of oblivion. But this poem practically accuses Death of being a cliche, so I wonder. But then again, Smith's protagonists are generally bold beings who try to survive and fight for their lives before death, or some dark allurement, takes its hold on them, so maybe it isn't so strange after all.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com