{"id":476,"date":"2013-07-06T00:03:41","date_gmt":"2013-07-05T23:03:41","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/draigweb.co.uk\/draigweb\/?p=476"},"modified":"2015-08-24T15:22:30","modified_gmt":"2015-08-24T14:22:30","slug":"from-the-eggs-to-the-apples-ab-ovo-usque-ad-mala","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.draigweb.co.uk\/draigweb\/from-the-eggs-to-the-apples-ab-ovo-usque-ad-mala\/","title":{"rendered":"From the Eggs to the Apples (ab ovo usque ad mala)"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/draigweb.co.uk\/draigweb\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/07\/pics-006.jpg\" alt=\"From the apples to the egg illustration\" \/><br \/>\nOut of the dawn&#8217;s shadow<br \/>\nthe consciousness that does not think &#8211;<br \/>\nopens its heart and soul,<br \/>\nreleasing waves of genius over a dry path.An acephalous man attired in blunt armour<br \/>\npresides over these ablutions,<br \/>\nthe weight of the gods is his burden &#8211;<br \/>\na divine rod reluctantly wielded.<\/p>\n<p>The fleeting zephyr and restless waters<br \/>\nare reluctant yet nourishing guardians &#8211;<br \/>\nbystanders in the rows,<br \/>\nsometimes playing an Herodian part.<\/p>\n<p>Fronds nod attentively to the sound of ritual &#8211;<br \/>\ncloud, sky and grass seem to acquiesce;<br \/>\nthese sentinels hang like a shroud,<br \/>\ncalming the waiting suppliant.<\/p>\n<p>The blade of compassion is whetted<br \/>\nin the innocent&#8217;s wonder &#8211;<br \/>\nthis covenant is an indenture,<br \/>\nan indelible mark, borne of ages.<\/p>\n<p>Mummers sow near an altar<br \/>\nforetelling the harvest nemesis;<br \/>\nfrom the seeds of this rite<br \/>\nblack saplings emerge in the soil.<\/p>\n<p>Notes.<br \/>\nAb ovo usque ad mala is Latin, translating &#8216;from the eggs to the apples&#8217;, meaning from the first to last course in an ancient Roman banquet.<br \/>\nAcephalous &#8211; Lacking a head.<br \/>\nHerod &#8211; A king of Judea from Biblical times.<br \/>\nMummers &#8211; Mediaeval entertainers who performed mystery plays.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Out of the dawn&#8217;s shadow the consciousness that does not think &#8211; opens its heart and soul, releasing waves of genius over a dry path.An acephalous man attired in blunt armour presides over these ablutions, the weight of the gods is his burden &#8211; a divine rod reluctantly wielded. The fleeting zephyr and restless waters [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[15],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-476","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-poetry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.draigweb.co.uk\/draigweb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/476","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.draigweb.co.uk\/draigweb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.draigweb.co.uk\/draigweb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.draigweb.co.uk\/draigweb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.draigweb.co.uk\/draigweb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=476"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/www.draigweb.co.uk\/draigweb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/476\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1001,"href":"https:\/\/www.draigweb.co.uk\/draigweb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/476\/revisions\/1001"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.draigweb.co.uk\/draigweb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=476"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.draigweb.co.uk\/draigweb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=476"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.draigweb.co.uk\/draigweb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=476"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}