The Mudcat Café TM
Thread #164968 Message #3954012
Posted By: Steve Gardham
01-Oct-18 - 10:53 AM
Thread Name: Origins: The Vulture of the Alps
Subject: RE: Origins: The Vulture of the Alps
Impressions, Jon.
A very well-crafted piece and as you imply it could very likely have started out as a poem or recitation. For an American to set such a piece in a far-off country does not normally smack of a 'folk' piece and the whole poem is written by a sophisticated writer anyway: It is well-balanced and, though matter of fact, builds up the tension carefully. Of note is that there is no mawkish appeal to religion except perhaps a mention of the Sabbath. The imagery is also pretty sophisticated.
I have a similarly horrific Swedish piece called The Bluebell of Hull which I have translated. It's on Mudcat somewhere.
Not sure who is the narrator in the last stanza.