Comments on: Cutting a hatchet

By: Dave

Dave — Wed, 16 Apr 2008 18:50:52 +0000

I was thinking b&w too, if anything. Maybe a small porcupine. :)

Thanks for all your input, Jean. I have deep respect for your aesthetic sensibilities.

By: Jean

Jean — Wed, 16 Apr 2008 16:18:51 +0000

Post header: mmm
You could have graphic above the black strip without any loss of clarity, I think… (like Frizzy Logic), but finding the right graphic on this kind of layout is difficult – perhaps a b/w or b/w/pale olive graphic, retaining the green lettering.
Enough of my opinions, I think.

By: Dave

Dave — Tue, 15 Apr 2008 12:53:48 +0000

Lorianne – I think Snyder accepted the pious reading of the poem — I don’t see any evidence to suggest otherwise — but I am intrigued by the idea that procreation might be hinted at in the Shi Jing poem. It seems likely that loss of virginity and impregnation would have been closely linked in Zhou-era notions of marriage ceremonies, so if the hatchet is a synecdoche for the narrator, perhaps he is thinking not just of his penis here but also his male heir.

David – Perhaps so. With Confucius, as I understand it, the cosmos can be brought into order if each individual governs himself properly; proper treatment of others flows naturally from proper treatment of oneself. In the concluding section of the chapter, he gives examples for each of the Five Relationships, such as, you should treat your younger brother the way you would want to be treated by an older brother. So it’s reciprocity within a hierarchical framework. Elsewhere in the book, he says, “The administration of government lies in getting proper men. Such men are to be got by means of the ruler’s own character. That character is to be cultivated by his treading in the ways of duty. And the treading those ways of duty is to be cultivated by the cherishing of benevolence.”

By: David Harmon

David Harmon — Tue, 15 Apr 2008 12:01:16 +0000

Perhaps Confucius’ is making a point about leadership — if you want your subordinates to govern their subjects properly, you need to likewise govern them properly. This of course is currently a major issue in modern America!

By: Lorianne

Lorianne — Mon, 14 Apr 2008 22:11:19 +0000

Fascinating. I’ve no doubt the double entendre is intended, which makes Snyder’s allusion all the more interesting since I sense he’d appreciate that reading.

What I’ve always liked about “Axe Handles” is its emphasis on the passing down of cultural traditions from teacher to student or parent to child: “How we go on.” Of course, sex is another way that “we go on,” so maybe the double entendre is continued (in indirect, implicit form) in his poem.