{"id":1035,"date":"2021-05-19T13:41:05","date_gmt":"2021-05-19T02:41:05","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/davidmhart.com\/wordpress\/?p=1035"},"modified":"2026-04-08T05:59:11","modified_gmt":"2026-04-07T19:59:11","slug":"from-rose-to-a-sick-rose","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/davidmhart.com\/wordpress\/from-rose-to-a-sick-rose\/","title":{"rendered":"From Ros\u00e9 to a Sick Rose"},"content":{"rendered":"

During my first bladder operation I was struck by the conversations among the nursing staff and doctors in which my urine was judged according to the colour of wine. My twisted mind of course turned to Joseph Heller\u2019s novel Catch-22<\/em> and his account of the predicament of \u201cThe Soldier in White\u201d. I thought my situation was rather similar. [see \u201cTurning Ros\u00e9 into Chardonnay via a Middleman\u201d (14 Feb. 2021) post<\/a><\/p>\n

My second operation is fast approaching and my mind has turned to poetry in order to find some solace and comfort. The talk of \u201cros\u00e9\u201d led me to think of William Blake and his poem about a related (at least to my mind) rose of a different colour – a red rose and a \u201ccrimson joy\u201d. I have of course had to change the colour.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

[Blake\u2019s illustration for \u201cThe Sick Rose\u201d]<\/p>\n

The Sick Rose (1794)<\/h4>\n

\nO Rose thou art sick.
\nThe invisible worm,
\nThat flies in the night
\nIn the howling storm:<\/p>\n

Has found out thy bed
\nOf crimson joy:
\nAnd his dark secret love
\nDoes thy life destroy.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

And here is my parody:<\/p>\n

The Sick Gland, by David Hart<\/h4>\n

\nO gland thou art big
\nThe weakening stream
\nThat flowed in the night
\nIn my wildest dream<\/p>\n

Has not found the bowl
\nOf emptied joy
\nAnd its dark yellow tint
\nDoes my life destroy<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

17th Century Lithotomy<\/h3>\n

The British Association of Urological Surgeons has a useful website<\/a> with sections dealing with the history of their profession. They inform me that in the 17th century there were \u201ctravelling lithotomists\u201d who specialized in removing bladder stones. The procedure looks a bit grim from this contemporary drawing but it appears that Samuel Pepys survived the ordeal:<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

[17th Century Lithomotists at work]<\/p>\n

\nUrologically, this was the era of \u201ctravelling lithotomists\u201d who toured the country removing bladder stones through incisions in the perineum without any form of anaesthesia (*pictured*).  Lithotomists of this era included Thomas Hollier who, in 1662, operated on the diarist Samuel Pepys to remove his stone. Pepys was one of the lucky ones – few patients survived this procedure and those that did often suffered from incontinence due to sphincter damage and\/or a urinary fistula.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The Body might well complain of this (mis)treatment but Andrew Marvell has a poem in which the Soul draws up an equal number of complaints about the Body. I have put the entire poem \u201cA Dialogue between the Soul and the Body\u201d online here<\/a>). I quote the opening complaint by the Soul and my rewriting of it for the present circumstances:<\/p>\n

\nSOUL
\nO who shall, from this dungeon, raise
\nA soul enslav\u2019d so many ways?
\nWith bolts of bones, that fetter\u2019d stands
\nIn feet, and manacled in hands;
\nHere blinded with an eye, and there
\nDeaf with the drumming of an ear;
\nA soul hung up, as \u2019twere, in chains
\nOf nerves, and arteries, and veins;
\nTortur\u2019d, besides each other part,
\nIn a vain head, and double heart.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

My updated version:<\/p>\n

\nSOUL
\nO who shall, from this dungeon, raise
\nA soul enslav\u2019d so many ways?
\nWith bolts of bones, and flesh that fetters
\nMe from head to toe and then to bladder;
\nHere blinded with an eye, and there
\nPained by plumbing at the nether;
\nA soul hung up, as \u2019twere, in chains
\nOf tubes, and sacks, and veins;
\nTortur\u2019d, besides that nether part,
\nWith throbbing head, and troubled heart (or spelled Hart).<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

William Shakespeare\u2019s (and Hamlet\u2019s) Existential Dilemma<\/h3>\n

The last word should always be given to William Shakespeare. He, in the mouth of Macbeth, he makes the choice one faces very clear. Again, the original first then my version. I would have addressed a different body part than a skull as we see Olivier\/Hamlet doing in the illustration:<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

[Laurence Olivier talking to a Skull]<\/p>\n

\nTo be, or not to be, that is the question:
\nWhether \u2019tis nobler in the mind to suffer
\nThe slings and arrows of outrageous fortune,
\nOr to take arms against a sea of troubles
\nAnd by opposing end them. To die\u2014to sleep,
\nNo more; and by a sleep to say we end
\nThe heart-ache and the thousand natural shocks
\nThat flesh is heir to: \u2019tis a consummation
\nDevoutly to be wish\u2019d. To die, to sleep;
\nTo sleep, perchance to dream\u2014ay, there\u2019s the rub:
\nFor in that sleep of death what dreams may come,
\nWhen we have shuffled off this mortal coil,
\nMust give us pause\u2014there\u2019s the respect
\nThat makes calamity of so long life.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

My version:<\/p>\n

\nTo pee or not to pee, that is the problem:
\nWhether \u2019tis nobler in the mind to suffer
\nThe stings and pangs of outrageous pain,
\nOr to take pills against my pee of troubles
\nAnd by opposing end them. To die, to pee
\nNo more, and by pee to say we end
\nThe gut-ache and the thousand natural shocks
\nThat flesh is heir to, \u2019tis a constipation
\nDevoutly not be wished. Not die – but pee,
\nTo pee, perchance a stream – aye, there\u2019s the nub:
\nFor in that pee of life what streams may come,
\nWhen we have shuffled off this hurtful gland,
\nThis gives us pause – to hope to bring
\nAn end to so calamitous a life.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

During my first bladder operation I was struck by the conversations among the nursing staff and doctors in which my urine was judged according to the colour of wine. My twisted mind of course turned to Joseph Heller\u2019s novel Catch-22 and his account of the predicament of \u201cThe Soldier in White\u201d. I thought my situation … Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_import_markdown_pro_load_document_selector":0,"_import_markdown_pro_submit_text_textarea":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[84],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1035","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-miscellaneous"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/davidmhart.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1035","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/davidmhart.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/davidmhart.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/davidmhart.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/davidmhart.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1035"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/davidmhart.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1035\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":203946,"href":"http:\/\/davidmhart.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1035\/revisions\/203946"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/davidmhart.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1035"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/davidmhart.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1035"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/davidmhart.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1035"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}