The Last Words, Christopher Orlet, The
Vocabula Review
‘With few exceptions, the last words of history’s great players
have been about as interesting and uplifting as a phone book,’
Christopher Orlet writes in his survey of swan songs. From funny
quips to painful petitions, Orlet publishes in his article for
Vocabula–a literary review dedicated to the
preservation of the language–that the great writers and thinkers
of history often have more on their mind at death than how their
last words will be perceived posthumously. ‘… After a lifetime of
setting down le mot juste, Walt Whitman’s last barbaric yawp was
‘Hold me up; I want to shit.” And, Oscar Wilde’s last words were
nothing more than an offhanded comment about a novel he’d just
recently read. It makes you wonder what your own last words may
be.
–Sara V.
Buckwitz
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