Talk:polyphiloprogenitive

The word "Polyphiloprogenative" is probably a made-up word (neologism.) T.S. Eliot "coined" the term in his poem "Mr. Eliot's Sunday Morning Service." It is a play on words regarding the creation story.

It has much more meaning than dictionaries tend to ascribe to it. It does not simply mean prolific. First of all, any definition without mentioning love shows a gross lack of understanding. It is the act of creation that is both multiple in its nature and loving.

To be clear, Polyphiloprogenative is the verb, not the object. It is God.

So, Mr. Eliot's poem begins with the word "Polyphiloprogenative." And that word is God.

Here are the words of the creation story in the Bible: John, Chapter One, Verse One:

Ἐν ἀρχῇ ἦν ὁ Λόγος, καὶ ὁ Λόγος ἦν πρὸς τὸν Θεόν, καὶ Θεὸς ἦν ὁ Λόγος

This translates to:

"In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God."

Anyway, just to underline Mr. Eliot's subtle word play: In the beginning of the poem is the word "Polyphiloprogenative," and that word is God. 206.109.195.126 20:47, 17 July 2009 (UTC)


 * It can't be a verb in English. It looks like an adjective, just as we define it: the sentence structure is analogous to "hungry, I wandered to the fridge". Equinox ◑ 12:35, 23 March 2018 (UTC)