Sour grapes or dog in the manger or cutting off your nose?
30 Wednesday Mar 2011
Written by Jo Jordan in POSITIVE PSYCHOLOGY, WELLBEING & POETRY
Tags
change, cutting off your nose, dog in the manager, sour grapes, temper, unwelcome change
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Having dropped an urn with water, a maiden shattered it against a cliff.
The maiden sits sadly, holding the empty crock.
Miracle! the water doesn’t run dry, flowing out of the shattered urn;
The maiden, above the eternal stream, sits eternally sad.
I found this translation of a Russian poem and think it so appropriate to times of great societal change. What is the equivalent in English – sour grapes or dog in the manger or cutting off your nose to spite your face?
And if one doesn’t want to be defensive or sulk in the face of unwelcome change, what is the alternative – in poetry or fable?
