Lucky: the man who measures out his days
among his equals--simple, honest, free,
not gripped by cramping fears or jealousies,
ruling a farmstead kingdom peaceably.
The miseries of grasping for place
do not obsess him. His feelings are unbound,
yet his desire, placid and passionless,
stops at the fence that guards his plot of ground.
Nor does he trouble his heart with any grand
affairs, but sets his hope on what is sure,
serving himself as master, court, and king:
Not wasting his substance in a foreign land.
Not risking his life in someone else's war.
Not wanting more. Not lacking anything.
--Joachim du Bellay translation by Maryann Corbett
I loved this sonnet. It would be wonderful if life could really be so, unlike the world we live in on earth.
ReplyDeleteI had never heard of this poet but I see that First Things published this a while back.
I s'pose the Swiss have come as close to this as anyone. They are certainly not known for their activism; and their neutrality and self-centeredness comes at a price and some vital ethical compromises that are just lately coming to light. It was for this that Frances Schaeffer criticized some of his Swiss neighbors.
Deletethe Swiss probably come as close to this laissez faire estate as anyone in history--but as we are finding out, at the hidden price of bare-knuckled ethical relativity c.f. the two-faced betrayal of the Jews by stealing their money and for the most part refusing them sanctuary as well. This secular hypocrisy does expose the reality of the soft underbelly of the "Virtue Beast."
ReplyDeletesorry about the repetition but I am a little excited that my computer--or Google--is finally letting me comment on my own blog. I tend to hit the enter key too soon--but hay-ho! Fragmentation is the spice of poems and life and many a Wasteland!
ReplyDelete