I’m beginning to think that Dictionary.com hates me! Or maybe it is just Fridays. Today’s word of the day contains a whopping 5 syllables! Fortunately I am allowed 7 syllables on line 2. This is one of those classic words. Not generally used in modern times as much as it was in literary circles in the 16th century.
The Encyclopaedia Britannica describes this word thusly:
Peripeteia, ( Greek: “reversal”) the turning point in a drama after which the plot moves steadily to its denouement. It is discussed by Aristotle in the Poetics as the shift of the tragic protagonist’s fortune from good to bad, which is essential to the plot of a tragedy. It is often an ironic twist, as in Sophocles’ Oedipus Rex when a messenger brings Oedipus news about his parents that he thinks will cheer him, but the news instead slowly brings about the awful recognition that leads to Oedipus’s catastrophe.
When I consider this word and its meaning, I find it to be tragically timely in light of recent events in our insane, violent country. I thought of several final lines, my own heart and soul still trying to reconcile our nation’s complicity in the daily violence that has become so commonplace. I’ll let you, dear reader choose the one that resonates. You may even wish to add your own in the comments. I wish it had been more difficult to come up with context for today’s Haiku. 😦
A Timely Haiku
When mad young men snap
it’s a peripeteia…
…that never ends well
…that pierces our hearts
…that rips through our souls
…that leads to terror
…of innocence lost
~kat ~ 2 October 2015
