To help the season along a little, I thought I would recycle this very ancient post devoted to the poets as they might have been had they been not poets but fine wines. What sort of wines would they have been, with what sort of characteristics? A very happy, imaginary Christmas to you all.
Seamus Heaney
A strong, no-nonsense spirit with a distinctive, peaty flavour.
W.B Yeats
A somewhat grandiloquent wine, at times having more the characteristics of a slightly sticky liqueur. Ideal for the grand occasion, though be warned that this fine, slightly hallucinatory drink, has suggestions both of majesty and rebellion in its heady bouquet.
George Szirtes
An honest, slightly gritty wine that requires a serious meat dish for the drinker to appreciate its full authority.
Hugh MacDiarmid
The product of a robust grape that thrives in either of two soils, the one resulting in a refreshingly wild and unambiguous flavour, the other in a cloud of hints and associations.
W. H. Auden
A serious taste beneath a lively, jovial bouquet. A wine for either public or private occasions.
W. S. Graham
The punch with a punch. The first draught may be totally befuddling, but eventually - probably a day or two later - a cold clarity will hit. And you will never forget that you drank!
T.S. Eliot
One for the connoisseur, having in both taste and bouquet many associations to be enjoyed by the acquired palate.
R.S. Thomas
A severe wine with an enduring, uncomplicated flavour. A happy complement to simple fare.
Marianne Moore
Edith Sitwell once referred to this wine as "thick and uncouth", which is strange, considering its allusive and tantalising nature. Perfect with a light meal.
Robert Graves
A traditional wine, though with more than a touch of the free spirit. Ideal for the picnic hamper on a hot, sunny day, or to accompany a Mediterranean-style meal. A wine for lovers everywhere.
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15 comments:
Great post, Dave, I had a chuckle over this one. And I agree the descriptions are definitely appropriate!
" W. H. Auden
A serious taste beneath a lively, jovial bouquet. A wine for either public or private occasions. "
The above, and Robert Graves struck a note with me. I haven't the education to appreciate many of the others I'm afraid.
You are a down-to-earth wonder, Dave
Happy Christmas with Aloha from Honolulu
Comfort Spiral
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Excellent!
Anna :o]
Perfect! I'll have what they're having.
Great info... thanks ~
Wishing you and your family Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays ~
This gave my morning a burst of Christmas spirit (or should I say spirits? - ha) this morning, Dave! Raising my glass (I think I will have a "Robert Graves") to wish you a Merry Christmas.
smiles...nice walk through the poets and like marry i will take a little robert graves...have a very merry christmas friend...
Oh...I'm drunk with rhythm and rhyme and all of those lovley things that make me love my poets....thnakyou Dave and Happy Christmas to you and yours!
A W.B. Yeats, with a dash of Robert Graves for me, please?
That just about sums me up!
Season's Blessings
&
A Wonderful New Year :)
I'll have to sample each tipple one day :-).
So many characteristics on wine!
I will enjoy more about wine when I will have it remembring these significant phrases.
Mamma mia, Dave, I couldn't remain sober after this superb selection of wines! By the way, some of them, like George Szirtes and Hugh MacDiarmid, unknown to me; I'll order some bottles next year. Thanks for introducing them to me.
I missed Shakespeare's flavour though. Maybe the sweet swamn of Avon could presume of aphrodisiac attributes, a soft taste of red fruits with a hint of roses mixed with lingering chocolate, in short, a winner with women! A cup of Shakespeare's wine, matured in an old oak barrel for almost 4 centuries! I'd get drunk for sure.
And... which wine would you yourself be compared with? I bet you don't dare.
I must confess that my fav flavour is my Gnomie's, a unique wine which does not resemble any other I have tried. He is my sweet cherry wine.
:)
Ha ha! Love this! Yeats, "suggestion of majesty and rebellion" oh yes. A little Auden and/or Eliot would do nicely too. Ms. Moore is a piquant, insouciant wine, with a lovely long finish, and I quite agree with your assessment of Mr. Heaney (perhaps he is better as a whiskey?). Please reserve some Szirtes, McDiarmid, Graham, and Thomas for me, as I have not yet had the pleasure.
Such fun--thank you!
Hey Dave pass the Graves!
Feliz Navidad!
Nicholas V
Thanks. Good to hear you thought them apt.
Cloudia
Auden and Graves: good mix.
(I recall as a child my dad saying that Graves white wine was the best there was!
HyperCRYPTICal
Much thanks
Titus
I'll join you!
Heaven
Thanks - and all blessings to you and yours.
Mary
Chink, chink - and here's to you and yours!
Brian
Many tyhanks and a Goodly Holiday to you and yours.
Gerry
Thank you for this and all the best - tipples and all - to you and yours.
Ygraine
That's a fine drink. Make mine the same.
Windsmoke
Good on yer - spoken like a trooper. Have a happy time!
haricot
Good health to to you and yours!
Dulcina
Yes, you are right to point out the absence of Shakespeare. Bad miss, that!
Me? I think I'm a supermarket plonk.
Sweet Cherry wine would not be my taste - but would be Doreen's (My wife's).
Have a happy time.
ds
Good point. I hadn't thought of Heaney as a whiskey... maybe a brandy. Not sure, I'll have to contemplate that for a bit. -What a delightful way to spend Christmas, though: contemplating Heaney! Thanks for the suggestions. All good ones.
The Unknowngnome
Sorry. Just drunk the last!
Good to have had you coming round. Have a happy time!
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