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Eucharistic
Cultural Significance
Ruben Dario, born in Nicaragua, clearly displays Spanish culture in his poetry. Spanish culture is widely known for their bullfights. The word “Eucharistic” (3) itself is the white wafer used in the Eucharist, the Christian ritual of communion. The symbolism of the Eucharist represents new life to all those who participate. The bull comes from the fact that it is a very significant animal in their culture and means a lot to them. The bull is highly respected and well regarded. In the end the bull dies and everybody celebrates. Like the Eucharist, the bull’s death symbolizes new life to all those who participated in the event. Further evidence of a connection to the bullfight comes from the “cloak” (22), which in many aspects looks like the same used by the matador. Therefore, the bullfight of Spanish culture and the Eucharist tradition of the Catholic Church parallel one another. Dario also uses swans to portray imagery. If the reader compares the bull and the swan oddly enough they have some of the same characteristics. Both are mystical animals that are highly respected in their cultures. Therefore, in “Blazon” and other Dario poems, by replacing swan with bull the cultural significance becomes more apparent. For example, “he is the magic, the regal bird / who, dying, rhymes the soul in his song” (23-24). This could easily represent a bull because his death at the bullfights represents new life much like the Eucharist.
Works Cited
Spanish Culture. 16 Apr. 2004 <http://www.donquijote.org/culture/spain/>.
Submitted by Michael Zeisweiss
According to Merriam-Webster’s dictionary, Eucharist comes from the word eucharistos meaning grateful. In the Christian church, the Eucharist is seen as the body of Christ. It is seen as a spiritual communion with God. According to the Oxford Reference Eucharist, in the Christian worship, means “thanksgiving” or “giving thanks” (par. 6) The action of receiving the Eucharist represents Jesus’ last super with his disciples. In this poem the Eucharist could represent purity or show that the swan is flying so high that he is close to God.
“Eucharist.” Oxford Reference
Online. 25 April 2004
<http://www.oxfordreference.com/views/SEARCH_RESULTS.html?q=eucharist&ssid=210111782&time=0.305171122752714>
Submitted by Maureen Callahan
Eucharistic
Culture Significance
Religion was always a large part of Dario’s life, and he uses biblical images in his poetry to describe the beautiful things that he writes about. He spent three years at a Jesuit school, and this experience “had a lasting impact on him” (1713). Although religion was only in his life for a short period of time, as he later spoke out against the Jesuits and Christianity, it remained an influential image in his poetry for years to come. The Eucharist symbolizes the body of Christ in the Christian religion. In “Blazon” Dario writes “the snow-white Olympic swan…preens his Eucharistic wing” (1-3). He is using the image of the Eucharist to describe the beauteous color of the swan’s wing. He uses multiple analogies to describe the beauty of the swan he is writing about, and in this case uses his previous passion for religion to describe the whiteness of the swan’s wing. Just like the whiteness of the Eucharist used for communion in Christian churches.
Ruben Dario. The Norton Anthology of World Literature.
Ed. Sarah
Lawall, and Maynard Mach. New York: Norton and Company, 2002.
1712-1715.
Submitted by: Derek Eichler
Eucharistic
Cultural significance
The cultural significance of the word Eucharistic comes from its origin in the Church during the thirteenth century. It originated as practice of the Church, part of the communion. ‘Eucharistic worship consists in our active participation in the Mass, culminating in Holy Communion and our public and private adoration of the Lord in the Blessed Sacrament.’ The act is also tied in with the bread and wine ceremony, in which the bread is Christ’s last meal, and wine as the blood of Christ. This is a holy element in the Church and is to bring an individual closer with God and Jesus. Due to the fact that in early practices of the Eucharist the language was in Latin, a language in which most of the population could not understand, could not understand what is was this ceremony represented. To keep the tradition alive, variations and native languages were used for the ceremonies. In the poem of, “Blazon,” Dario uses this element to describe his favorite animal, which is seen throughout a multitude of his poems.
The snow-white Olympic swan,
With beak of rose-red agate,
Preens his Eucharistic wing,
Which he opens to the sun like a fan.
The symbol of the swan’s wing in a Eucharistic aspect, shows the religious significance of the swan. The swan is described as a holy and highly regarded creature. This section of the poem used a lot of religious aspects, old and new. There is also a regard to Olympus, where the Greeks gods lived, an amazing place where only the Gods could go. This helps exemplify the how majestic the swan is trying to be described, as a Christ-like figure, innocent and pure.
Works Cited
"Blazon." The Norton Anthology of World Literature.
New York: W.W. Norton and
Company Anthology, 2002. 1717-1718.
Eucharistic Theology. 1997. 2004
http://www.blessedsacrament.com/theology/index.html
Submitted by Jordan Fox