SOLITUDE

 

SOLITUDE

What follows is a short poem by English poet Alexander Pope I1688-1744).  Pope was a satirist.  This poem on solitude does not belong to his major poetic interests. It is an exception but very popular because of its recipe for ‘health of body’ and ‘peace of mind. It begins with a simple secret of happiness.

Happy the man,  whose wish and care

A few paternal acres bound,

Content to breathe his native air

In his own ground.

 

Whose herds with milk, whose fields with bread,

Whose flocks supply him with attire;

Whose trees in summer yield him shad,

In winter, fire.

 

Blest, who can unconcern’dly find

Hours, days and years slide soft away

In health of body, peace of mind,

Quiet by day.

 

Sound sleep by night; study and ease

Together mixt, sweet recreation,

And innocence, which most does please

With meditation.

 

Thus let me live, unseen, unknown;

Thus unlamented let me die;

Steal from the world, and not a stone

Tell where I lie.

 

            The theme of the poem is relevant in today’s crowded city life. Peace and happiness, according to Pope, like in one’s paternal village where every need of life is fulfilled naturally and there is ill effect of the madding crowd on one’s days and nights. There is also a plea for living a contented life which is void of material hunger and social competition.  This type of life is marked by innocence, aloofness and meditation. But it s not  poor life. In fact, it has its own reflective and meditative richness which ensures: ‘health of body, peace of mind’ in every age and every land.

 

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2^nd July 2022                                                                           G,R.Kanwal