“I ache not from need –
but from my heart’s gluttony of you.” (muse slice)
Logophile Pastry:
Gluttony is our modernized English version taken from an old Latin word ‘gluttire’. Precisely it describes the act of gulping down or swallowing with greed or excessive indulgence. The emotional attachment to the word gluttony immediately gives our brain visions of vulgarity, waste, indiscretion, extravagance, bloat, vile and in some cases, sinfulness.
One of the first recorded uses of the term comes to us from the Biblical book of Leviticus (and Deuteronomy) 538–332 BCE. The reference point deals directly with food/wine etc. excess above and beyond what is required to exist. So, in effect we have been imprinted with images of massive bodies, slothfully gorging at a never ending banquet. This mental picture rightfully gives us pause. We innately know that this behavior is detrimental to our well being.
Let us then ask the question, can there be true gluttony of something which is entirely good? Can we be gluttonous with the air we breathe, if we breathe deeply? Are we treading into ravenous oceans if we consume more than the daily recommended allowance of water? And what of love? Can we love in a manner, so all consuming it becomes a loathsome cardiac entanglement? Sadly the answer is yes to all of the above. When these basics become addictions, such once beautiful things as love become an affliction.
In all good things show temperance.
In this slice of Muse poetry, I have offered up the term in a more ‘palatable’ fashion (hopefully).
