Mikalojus Konstantinas Čiurlionis

[spamheid]

Mikalojus Konstantinas Čiurlionis
Received a quite generous bonus
Of 1,000 litų
For some music, brand new:
It was spent with incredible slowness.

[johnny nobody]

this is totally cool.

[Edna Sweetlove]

First of all, I must congratulate you on your incredible bravery in attempting a Čiurlionis limerick. Secondly I must express admiration for having inserted the 'caron' (or in Lithuanian "paukðèiukas" or "little bird") on top of the C in Čiurlionis. But now I have some serious matters to address.
1. I feel it would have been nice to have included some reference to the fact that MKC was not only a musician but also a painter, sculptor and poet. Indeed he held the view that all art stems essentially from the same source; for example, several of his paintings had musical themes, his poems were often written in sonata form and he wrote much pictorial music. He was also inspired by nature, as are so many of us poetical types.
2. You have unearthed the Lithuanian currency (100 cents to the Litas, 4Lt = £1 approx.); however in your desire to get a rhyme you have got the plural wrong. The plural of Litas is Litai (to rhyme with pork pie). Thus the central couplet is totally fucked.
3. The bonus of 1000Lt would be about £250. On the assumption that Mikolajus received this in person before his untimely death in 1911 at the tragically young age of 35, I estimate this could easily be worth £10-£15,000 at today's values. So you are quite correct: this would have been a generous bonus.
4. But, is there any evidence that he actuallly received any financial gifts? He came from a well-do-to family, so perhaps it was an inheritance.
5. Now if he spent it slowly, there would have been quite a bit left over when he fell off his perch.

Bearing in mind all these points, I shall have to attempt a Čiurlionis limerick myself. And here it is:

Mikalojus Konstantinas Čiurlionis
Received a quite generous bonus
Of 1,000 Litai;
But with a loud cry
He complained of its relative lowness.

[spamheid]

I'll need to go to Lithuania to complete my education. But at least we've created two limericks out of my ignorance.

[Edna Sweetlove]

There is one other problem: strictly speaking (I am assured by my resident Lithuanian speaker) "Čiurlionis" doesn't really rhyme with "bonus/lowness"; it rhymes more nearly with "upon us". Thus are we both well and truly fucked.