Another vote for “The Raven.”
That stanza is the most important in the whole poem, it explains what the entire poem is about.
Lots of variety in people’s exposure to this.
Why crass? Because the song “There is a Balm in Gilead” was my immediate thought, and the metaphorical balm in that song is Jesus.
For me, “Balm” and “Republic of” both immediately came to mind.
This. Then it would call to mind that the background and demographics of what Atwood posted makes absolutely no sense, then I would think about the message she was trying to say and how badly she handled it, then I would think about her denying that anything she wrote could be called “Science Fiction” while simultaneously rolling my eyes, then I would think…
Yeah, I’d probably go down a long, winding thoughtpath.
Mt. Gilead, a town in Ohio. Also a place in the Bible.
Sir Galahad and the Green Knight.
As above, the first thing it brings to mind is the reference from Poe’s “The Raven.” Close behind is a wry aside that a literature professor once made about his department’s reluctance to teach Homer’s second most famous epic: “There is no balm in Illiad.”
The town in Maine.
Forgot to mention: the “no balm in Illiad” phrase above is how I finally learned to pronounce “Giliead.” I was raised Methodist; we never sang that hymn.
I’m almost shocked, even though I shouldn’t be, that anyone else I run into has even heard of the place. I grew up about 10 minutes from there. (Near Chesterville)
It was Handmaid’s Tale for me
A bomb/balm and the book by Marilynne Robinson.
Is there no balm in Gilead; is there no physician there? why then is not the health of the daughter of my people recovered? - Jeremiah 8:22
I used to read the bible in church to pass the time, and I’ve got large chunks of the King James version memorized.
Hmm, I wonder why I’ve heard of it. It’s nowhere near me. I know our current school superintendent/my mom’s former boss came to us from there but I had heard of it before. I wonder if it is on a highway sign I’ve passed before.
The sign is on I-71 at exit 151.
Without reading anything but the thread title:
My mind immediately goes to passage in the Book of Psalms (or perhaps Proverbs) with the line “Is there no balm in Gilead”. From there I go to the geography of ancient Israel and also to the notion of healing.
The drug company was the first time I’d ever seen the name used.
One of Zenna Henderson’s stories about the People is called “Gilead”. After that, the hymn.
It made me think of King Arthur…but only because I misrecalled the spelling for Galahad.