Toska in Writing
The Epic of Gilgamesh
I Like it When You're Quiet
Pablo Neruda
A Short Story by Anton Chekhov
The Aftershocks
From "Next to Normal"
An Italian
Opera
Toska in the face of inescapable mortality:
The Epic of Gilgamesh is one of the oldest stories on Earth—it is perhaps the oldest written work. Gilgamesh was originally written in Sumerian Cunieform on clay tablets in Ancient Mesopatamia and. The Epic is a mystical version of the adventures of the historical King of Uruk (called Erech in the bible) and originates from (somewhere between 2750 and 2500 BCE). The entire work is a beautiful example of Toska, but it was really the last tablet that came to mind when I thought of the world. The translation presented here is based on the "standard" Akkadian "edition", (most of which was in the ruins of the library of Assurbanipal, the last great king of the Assyrian empire, in Nineveh) but is filled in with excerpts from the Old Babylonian when unavoidable.
In the last tablet, we find Gilgamesh finally meeting with Utnapishtim, the only mortal known to have defeated death. Gilgamesh has had to face the reality of death after his best friend, Enkidu, perished…and became obsessed with finding Utnapishtim to gain the secret of eternal life. Gilgamesh is on a hopeless quest to overcome death. Once he meets Utnapishtim, Utnapishtim asks Gilgamesh if he really thinks he’s worthy of eternal life…long story short, he’s proven not to be and his quest ends in bitterness. Gilgamesh was so blinded by his quest for eternal life that it poisoned him. But, at the end of his epic, he returns home to Uruk, to the Temple of Ishtar (the very goddess plagued by grief for humanity after the flood).
I will not try to explain these two because I feel that, by their nature, their creatures understood or exhibited toska more effectively than I can...so my explaining it, I would dilute it...and that's the last thing that I want to do. So enjoy these two for what they are: purer forms of this emotion that I'm trying to understand.
Pablo Neruda (1904-1973), born Neftalí Ricardo Reyes Basoalto, came into the world on 12 July, 1904, in the town of Parral in Chile. Many of his poems (especially the early ones) we see toska--unrequited love pinning for unattainable satisfaction.
All the words used in this poem indicate distance: quiet, distance, flown away, closed, melancholy, keening, silence…this poem is, more than anything, about learning the value of silence so as to better appreciate the sounds when they are present. It follows the Western dichotomy of present/absent (speech/writing) and through this, we see that the speaker feels a lovesickness because of an ineffable distance.
GABE
They've managed to get rid of me, returned me to the grave
ECT, electric chair, we shock who we can't save
They've cleared you of my memory and many more as well
You may have wanted some of them but who can ever tell
Your brainwaves are more regular, the chemistry more pure
The headaches and the nausea will pass and you'll endure
You son is gone forever though, of that the doctor's sure
The memories will wane, the aftershocks remain
You wonder which is worse, the symptom or the cure
DAN (spoken)
Diana, honey, you've been at this for days.
DIANA (spoken)
There's something missing Dan. It's like its tugging at me. I can almost see it.
DAN (spoken)
Come to bed. If the memories and meant to come back, they will.
HENRY (spoken)
Oh, sorry Ms. Goodman. I just need to talk to Natalie about some homework.
I know it's late and she's not answering her is everything alright?
DIANA (spoken)
Henry
HENRY (spoken)
Yes?
DIANA (spoken)
You remind me of someone. How old are you?
HENRY (spoken)
Seventeen. Why?
DIANA (spoken)
I don't know. Natalie's in her room.
GABE
They've managed to get rid of me. I'm gone without a trace
But sear the soul and leave scar no treatment can erase
They've cut away the cancer but forgot to fill the hole
They moved me from your memory, I'm still there in your soul
Your life goes back to normal now, or so they all believe
Your heart is in your chest again, not hanging from your sleeve
They've driven out the demons and they've earned you this reprieve
The memories are gone. The aftershocks live on
But with nothing to remember, is there nothing left to grieve?
DIANA
With nothing to remember
SPOILER ALERT: If you intend to ever watch "Next to Normal", then don't read this. Okay?
I really liked this musical...and I usually hate musicals. It was really good, and the Pulitzer Board called the show "a powerful rock musical that grapples with mental illness in a suburban family and expands the scope of subject matter for musicals." Which, of course, makes it perfect for the subject of this website. The entire musical is well worth watch, but here is some context for this song:
In the beginning of the play, we meet a family of four: Diana and Dan as well as their two children Gabe and Natilie. However, it turns out that Gabe actually died as a baby...and that Diana has been afflicted with bipolar disorder as well as hallucinations for 16 years. For want of any other solution, it is decided that Diana will undergo ECT therapy to finally vanquish her demons. After the ECT, Diana loses a large chunk of her memories...she forgets Gabe, as well as her own daughter. Diana is left lost and confused..and you can realize the rest from the song.
Arts; Sense perception and langague
Arts; Sense perception and langauge
Arts; language
Arts; language
Arts; language
Тоска