Paul Verlaine; Poetry; La Grippe; The Flu Pandemic of 1918-1919; Cold and Flu Tips

DREAMS AND PANDEMICS

(This is a repost.)

Yesterday, (February 23, 2022) when I was checking out a "dream" poem, I came across this blog entry for March 11, 2016, and decided to repost it. Mainly for readers to compare what was innocently posted then about pandemics to our current Covid experience.

March 11, 2016

Another sunny and warm day!  When will it end?

I have a box filled with notes and cut-out articles that contain information that I am interested in.  I'll never get through that box, but I can try.  Here is some more "stuff" from that box.

Paul Verlaine

My Intertel newsletter reminds me of Msr Verlaine, who lived from 1844 to 1896.  For a supposedly ugly, flat-faced mug, he was a popular lover and a gifted poet.  When I was in my twenties I could read his poetry in French; however, now that my French has atrophied from non-use, I give you one of his poems that someone has translated into English:

Clair De Lune

Your soul is as a moonlit landscape fair,
Peopled with maskers delicate and dim,
That play on lutes and dance and have an air
Of being sad in their fantastic trim.

The while they celebrate in minor strain
Triumphant love, effective enterprise,
They have an air of knowing all is vain,
And through the quiet moonlight their songs rise.

The melancholy moonlight, sweet and lone,
That makes to dream the birds upon the tree,
And in their polished basins of white stone
The fountains tall to sob with ecstasy.

Speaking of ecstasy, Paul certainly did have a very active sex life, which can be read about in The Intimate Sex Lives of Famous People, by a bunch of folks in the Wallace family.

La Grippe

The Fall 2015 issue of the Carroll History Journal, published by the Historical Society of Carroll County, Maryland, Inc., was devoted to the "Spanish Flu."  

A very interesting article by Eleanor S. Darcy outlines the effect on Carroll County, as well as around the Nation and abroad of the influenza pandemic of 1918-1919.  

(In the US, more than 25 million Americans, a quarter of the population, got the flu.. or "La Grippe" as it was commonly called.  Almost 700,000 people died, either from it, or from the pneumonia that sometimes followed.)

Thankfully, today, a pandemic of this sort probably is not possible, because of flu shot and pneumonia shot procedures.  

My grandparents had 15 children, but lost only one during the pandemic... however, the person that died was their beloved daughter, Ruth, aged 16. 

My grandfather worked through the pandemic, nursing the ill... yet he never got the flu and did not bring the illness home.  It is not known how Ruth got the illness.

Cold and Flu Prevention Tips

My Giant Pharmacy in Westminster has a handout with tips  on how to prevent colds and flu.  The document mentions companies and products that are concerned about the well-being of their customers and this makes sense, not just in a business sense.  In case you are not able to get the document, here are the tips:

o  Make sure that everyone over six months old in your family gets a flu vaccine shot every fall.

o  Wash your hands!  Lather up and rub your hands while you time two rounds of the "Happy Birthday" song.

o  Use over the counter NSAIDS to treat some symptoms, like fever and achiness.

o   Use a decongestant to combat stuffiness, or use hot chicken soup, like Grandma suggests.

o   If you develop bronchial, sinus or ear infections, make sure you call your doctor.

o   Don't let the flu get you down... it should only last a week or so.

Stay well... we need y'all.

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