[lit-ideas] Re: Horace and the preparation for war
- From: Mike Geary <jejunejesuit.geary2@xxxxxxxxx>
- To: lit-ideas@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Wed, 18 Aug 2010 20:07:04 -0500
Yes, Lawrence, you were definitely born two thousand years too late.
Mike Geary
Memphis
Lawrence*:
Horace: *"Of the following two, which one has the better chance
Of remaining self-assured in vicissitude:
The man who has accustomed his mind and magnificent body
To all the luxuries or the man who, content with little,
Fearing the future, provides in time of peace,
As a wise man should, the equipment required for war?"
*Lefty: *Come off it Lawrence,
Horace died in Eight B.C.
At fifty-seven. You must
Know we have advanced
Since then -- the Romans
And the Greeks were primitives.
What are you, seventy-seven?
*Lawrence: *Almost. In medicine perhaps
But Horace here was
Writing of avarice
And war. We are
At least as avaricious
As they
In the world of his day.
*Lefty: *But surely we are
Wiser in regard to war --
That self-destructive
Folly has surely plagued
Us for the last time.
We have subdued our warlike
Madness and mastered peace.
*Lawrence: *If you look only in Europe
And on our own east coast,
But how do you subdue war
While there is an enemy in the field
Who wields the bomb and gun
And propaganda as well as anyone,
And who vows our death?
*Lefty: *Lawrence, fie! They were only
Having a some fun. You take
Them way too seriously.
What's a few burned cars
Or roadside bombs or severed
Heads when the stake is peace. Shall we
Break the bonds of peace for irrelevancies?
*Lawrence: *And the twin-tower destruction?
How can you forget that,
Or their ideology, their
Firm resolve to see us all
Destroyed, their seeking WMDs
And swearing to destroy
Our ally Israel?
*Lefty: *Don't speak of WMDs.
I'm surprised at your audacity,
And the destruction of the towers
Was not an act of war.
You are being bizarre. Consider
Who it was that flew those planes:
Some college kids on a prank or lark?
*Lawrence: *A prank or lark that killed
Three thousand souls?
That was no lark or prank
But the inspiration
Of Bin Laden and his base,
And they continue planning
And carrying out their plans.
*Lefty: *Lighten up, Lawrence, or I
Will leave. What are a few
Misfortunes in the broader scheme?
You can see now, I hope
The folly of your invasion
Of Iraq and Afghanistan,
Those bastions of tranquility,
Bush surely represented
A national wish for death
And very nearly managed.
There is hardly an Arab
Nation that trusts us now,
And Europe's disgust is palpable.
And will you spend our money on more vain war?
*Lawrence: *Horace would
Say we were imprudently
Unprepared for these,
And are spending more
On quibbles than
On learning from
Our mistakes.
*Lefty: *We didn't leave the world
Alone. That was our mistake.
We could have let Saddam
Deal with Iran's nuclear
Ambitions. Did you ever think
Of that? And where's the threat
From the harmless Taliban?
*Lawrence: *I did, actually, and when I
Played it out like chess
It always ended in
Nuclear conflagration, and
The end of fossil fuel
Before we'd developed
Something in its stead.
*Lefty: *Did you ever think
You should have lived
In Horace's day --
With all those simple-
Minded poets and philosophers?
Did you master the use of the sword
In your Marine Corps time?
*Lawrence: *I see no progress in these
Times, neither in common
Sense nor in preparation
For war, for the next
One will come as the last
In every age since Horace lived,
This is our nature and how we survive.
*Lefty: *I'm leaving you.
You are far too pessimistic
For my sunny soul.
How can you live
With such gloomy thoughts --
Of an enemy at every gate
And in every doorway?
*Lawrence: *Adieu, then, Lefty.
May your wish for peace be true,
But may we find enough wise
Souls in case it's not.
May they prudently prepare for war.
And may the Islamists be no more
Unified than we.
On Wed, Aug 18, 2010 at 6:46 PM, Lawrence Helm
<lawrencehelm@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>wrote:
> A poem of little artistic merit was posted at
> http://www.lawrencehelm.com/2010/08/horace-and-preparation-for-war.html
>
>
>
> Lawrence
>
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