“Atavism”John Myers O'Hara
Know the vocabulary, understand the poem, understand why Jack London includes it as an epigraph in The Call of the Wild.
Vocabulary for “Atavism”
Helots:
Serfs or servants
Vocabulary for “Atavism”
Morbid:
Psychologically unhealthy or
unwholesome
Vocabulary for “Atavism”
Primal:
Being first in time; original; primeval
Verdure:
The lush greenness of flourishing
vegetation
Atone:
To make amends, as for a
sin or a fault; conciliate or
appease
Nomadic:Referring to a group of people who have no
fixed home and move according to the seasons from place to place in search of
goods, water, and grazing land
Callous:
Having calluses; toughened/
emotionally hardened; unfeeling
Torpor:
A state of mental or physical inactivity or insensibility/
Lethargy or apathy/ the dormant state of hibernating animal
Sedge:
Any number of grass-like plants of the
family cyperaceae, having solid stems and leaves in three
vertical rows
Brumal:Referring to wintertime
Vocabulary for “Atavism”
Terrene:
Of or relating to the earth; earthly
Vocabulary for “Atavism”
Atavism:
The reappearance of a characteristic after
several generations of absence, usually
caused by the chance recombination of
genes
Vocabulary for “Atavism”Feral:
Referring to wild animals
“Atavism” by: John Myers O'Hara
1 Old longings nomadic leap,
Chafing at custom’s chain;
Again from is brumal sleep4 Wakens the ferine
strain.
5 Helots of houses no more,Let us be out, be free;
Fragrance through window and door8 Wafts from the woods, the
sea.After the torpor of will, Morbid with inner strife,Welcome the animal thrill,12 Lending a zest to life.
Banish the volumes revered,14 Sever from centuries dead;Ceilings the lamp flicker cheered Barter for stars instead.
Temple thy dreams with the trees,18 Nature thy god alone;Worship the sun and the breeze, Altars where none atone.Voices of solitude call,22 Whisper of sedge and stream;Loosen the fetters that gall, Back to the primal scheme.
Feel the great throbbing terrene
26 Pulse in thy body beat,
Conscious again of the green
Verdure beneath the feet.
Callous to pain as the rose,
30 Breathe with instinct’s delight;
Live the existence that goes
Soulless into the night.