O that ‘twere possible

 

          O that ‘twere possible

O THAT ‘twere possible

After long grief and pain

To find the arms of my true love

Round me once again! …

 

A shadow flits before me,

Not thee, but like to thee:

Ah, Christ ! that it were possible

For one short hour to see

The souls we loved, that they might tell us

What and where they be!

 

            This is a very short poem by the English poet Alfred Lord Tennyson (1809-92). AS Arthur Compton Rickett says there is no other poet who more completely reflects in his verse the questions that were agitating the minds of the average Englishman in Victorian times.

 

The question here is the poet’s reunion with his lady love whose separation has caused him long grief and pain. The arms he wishes to find again are of that true love who is no longer in this world.

 

He sees her as a shadow but not as the real self.  He then prays to Lord Christ could He make it possible for bereaved people to see for one short hour the souls they loved and know from them where and in what form they currently are. This appears impossible to the poet, hence he entitles his poem : O that ‘were possible. 

                                                            *********

G. R. Kanwal

24 July 2023

LEISURE

                    LEISURE

                                                                                           

                                                                LEISURE

What is this life if, full of care,

We have no time to stand and stare.

No time to stand beneath the boughs

And stare as long as sheep or crows.

No time to see, when we pass,

Where squirrels hide their nuts in grass.

No time to see, in broad daylight,

Streams full of stars, like skies at night.

No time to turn at Beauty’s glance,

And watch her feet, how they dance.

No time to wait till her mouth can

Enrich that smile her eyes began.

A poor life this if, full of care,

We have no time to stand and stare.

            This short but very impressive poem belongs to the Welsh poet and writer William Henry Davies (1871-1940). He spent most of his time in the United States and the United Kingdom as a tramp. Despite this fact, he became a prominent poet of his time. He is however continued to be known as a tramp poet.

 

            Leisure is a world famous poem. It draws the difference between a cares--laden and a carefree life which allows people some leisure to watch nature with all its beautiful varieties. There is a latent criticism of modern man’s life-style of too much interest in duties and lack of interest in beauties. The message of the poet is : live a rich carefree life instead of poor life full of routine cares of daily life.  

                                                **********

G.R.Kanwal

23 July 2023

HOW TO PRAY

 

                                HOW  TO  PRAY

In answer to a devotee’s question : ”How Should I Pray” Osho, the Indian mystic, Godman and philosopher (1931-1990), does not speak of rituals.  He answers the question in his own unique way.

Osho’s  original name was Chandra Mohan Jain. As  a Godman he became Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh. Osho is his mystical short name. 

He was a tireless speaker and always full of amazing thoughts and ideas. He disagreed on many  orthodox views, beliefs and rituals and became a controversial figure all over the world where he established his ashrams. He published many discourses on the subject of Prayer. This is how he answered his devotee:

All the religions say that God is Father. In fact, the emphasis should be that man is the child. That is the real meaning when we call God the ‘the Father’. But we have forgotten, God is the Father but we are not His children. Forget whether He is Father or not. You just be a child --spontaneous, true, authentic. Don’t ask me and don’t ask anybody how to pray, Let the moment decide, let the moment be decisive, and the truth of the moment should be your Prayer.

What a wonderful answer !

                                    ************

G. R. Kanwal

22^nd July 2023

 

 

 

 

 

I LOVE ALL BEAUTEOUS THINGS

I LOVE ALL BEAUTEOUS THINGS

I love all beauteous things,

I seek and adore them :

God hath no better praise,

And man in his hasty days

Is honoured for them.

 

I too will something make

And joy in the making ;

Altho’ to-morrow it seem

Like the empty words of a dream

Remembered on waking.

 

This short poem is about the creation of beautiful things . If man creates them in his fast-running days, he is honoured by God because God praises beauty. The author of this poem is the English poet Robert Bridges who was Poet Laureate from 1913 to 1930.  He was a doctor, a sensitive scholar and an excellent artist. He sought and worshipped beautiful things.  Beauty  to him was as  important as his religion. Poet Arthur Symons (1865-1945) said Bridges puts into his verse only what remains when all the others have finished …It is nearest in words to silence.

 

Before concluding, let me say that  many philosophers have stated it as man’s earthly duty to leave it more beautiful than he finds  it.

      

                                    *********

G. R. Kanwal

16^th July 2023

 

 

 

The Glories of our Blood and State

 

 

                                The Glories of our Blood and State

                  ‘‘ The Glories of our Blood and State” is the title of a lyrical poem written by the English dramatist James Shirley (September 1596 -- October 1666). This very popular lyric which has found place in many anthologies has been taken from the play Ajax and Ulysses. His plays, say Legouis  and Cazamian , are  among the most  correct and among the most outstanding of those which appeared in the reign of Charles I, that is from 1625 until the theatres were closed in 1642.

The text of the lyric reads as follows:

The glories of our blood and state

Are shadows, not substantial things;

There is no armour against Fate;

Death lays his icy hands on kings:

Sceptre and crown Must tumble down ,

And in the dust be equal made

With the poor crooked scythe and spade. 

 

Some men with swords may reap the field,

And plant fresh laurels where they kill;

But their strong nerves at last must yield;

They tame but one another still.

Early or late,

They stoop to fate,

And must give up their murmuring breath,

When they, pale captives, creep to death.

 

The garlands wither on your brow,

Then boast no more your mighty deeds ;

Upon Death’s purple altar now

See where the victor-victim bleed;:

Your heads must come

To the cold tomb;

Only the actions of the just

Smell sweet and blossom in the dust.

            The moral of the poem is that Death is a great  leveller. It makes no distinction between the rich and the poor, the high and the low ; all  have to die. The glories of our blood and state are transient. Victors are no better than victims. No body is exempted from death. Everyone  has to die sooner or later. What survives and blossoms  are not the  possessions of a person  but his good deeds.    

 

                                                *********

G. R. Kanwal

15^th July 2023                  

 

A Man’s a Man for A’ That

    

                           A Man’s a Man for A’ That

“A Man’s a Man for A’ That” is the title of the poem written by Robert Burns (1759—1796).  He was a Scottish peasant who founded his poetry on the popular folk-songs  and ballads of his Lowland countryside.  Providence had, however, granted him the skills of a great artist.  His style is plain but the subject matter of his poetry which is largely autobiographical, is universal. .

Burns wrote both in Scottish dialect and standard English.  According to several critics , he is one of the greatest poets of his time.  Kate O’Brien says  Burns added to the natural qualities of folk-poetry, a grace, a finish and a humour of his own. The elemental feelings of humanity , the massive fun and pathos and passion of the natural man become , in his hands, the stuff of immortal poetry.

            In the lyrical  poem mentioned above   Burns argues that  the true worth  of man is not reflected in his wealth, rank and material possessions   but in  his  personal  qualities like honest poverty.

            “Is there for honest poverty

            That hangs his head, an’ a’ that;

            The coward slave ----we pass him by,

            We dare be poor for a’ that!

            For a’ that, an’ a’ that

            Our toils obscure an’ a’ that,

            The rank is but the guinea’s stamp.

              The man’s is the gowd for a’that.

           

            What though on homely fare we dine,

            Wear boddin grey, an’ a’ that

            Gie fools their silks, and knaves their wine.

            For a’ that, an’ a’ that

            Their tinsel show an’ a’ that,

            The honest man, tho’ e’er sae poor,

            Is king o’ men for a’that.

            ………………………………………………….

            Then let us pray that come it may,

            (As come it will for a’ that,}

            That Sense and Worth o’er,  a’ the earth,

            Shall bear the gree, an’ a’ that

            For a’ that, a’ that,

            It’s coming yet for a’ that,

            That man to man, the world o’er,

            Shall brothers be for a’ that

                        **********            

            G.R.Kanwal

            13^h July 2023

                       

 

 

 

 

 

                       

WHO PRAYETH WELL?

 

                       WHO PRAYETH WELL?

In his long poem “The Rime of the Ancient Mariner”, the English romantic poet Samuel Taylor Coleridge (1772-1834) says towards the end of his poem:

            Farewell, farewell ! but this I tell

            To thee, thou Wedding Guest!

            He prayeth well, who loveth well

            Both man and bird and beast.

           

            He prayeth best, who loveth best

            All things both great and small;

            For the dear God who loveth us

            He made and loveth all.

This message of universal love is indeed the unforgettable moral of the  poem which is a blend of marvel and mystery.  The poet rightly makes it as our sacred  duty to love all objects of God’s creation.  Somewhere earlier in the poem he tells his only listener, the Wedding Guest :

           O happy living things ! no tongue

            Their beauty might declare:

            A spring of love gush’d from my heart ,

            And I bless’d them unaware:

            Sure my kind saint took pity on me,

            And I bless’d them unaware.

A little further, he also tells him:

            O sweeter than the marriage feast ,

            ‘Tis  sweeter far to me,

            To walk together to the kirk

            With a goodly company !—

 

            To walk together to the kirk,

            And all together pray,

            While each to his great Father bends,

            Old men, and babes, and loving friends

            And youths and maidens gay !

 

                                    ********

G.R.Kanwal

12^th July 2023                                                        

              

THE EAGLE A POEM BY TENNYSON

 

                          THE EAGLE

                        A POEM BY TENNYSON

Whereas the English poet Alfred Tennyson (1809—1892) is known for his longest poem “In Memoriam“  which he completed in 17 years, from 1833 to 1850, grieving at the death of his very intimate friend Arthur Henry Hallam, he is also famous for his shortest two –stanzas of three  lines each poem “The Eagle”. According to literary critics in this short poem Tennyson uses artistic devices like personification , imagery and simile to render the  eagle  more than a mere bird.

 

                Dictionaries define the eagle as a bird of prey with keen sight. Dr, Roland DeRenzo says eagles fly alone at high altitude; have vision, are tenacious and never surrender to the size or strength of its prey. Urdu-Persian poet philosopher  Dr. Muhammad Iqbal (1877-1938) uses the word “Shahin” for Eagle and presents him as a symbol of loftiness of ideas, bravery  and upward spiritual flight.

                   The text of  Tennyson’s “The Eagle” reads as follows:

 

“He clasps the crag with crooked hands;

Close to the sun in lonely lands;

Ringed with the azure world, he stands.

 

The wrinkled sea beneath him crawls;

He watches from the mountain walls,

And like a thunderbolt he falls.”

 

Tennyson’s eagle symbolizes freedom, power, enlightenment and fortitude. It is a model of fearless onward movement for humans.

 

                                                ********** 

   

G.R.Kanwal

11^th July 2023

TWO COUPLETS

 

          TWO  COUPLETS

1.     “As long as skies above are blue

            To you, my love, I will be true”

2.     “Life teaches us ---- how to live

Love teaches us ----how to forgive.”

                        ********

     G. R. Kanwal

      9^th July 2023

                       

THE QUALITY OF MERCY

THE QUALITY OF MERCY

            Dictionary defines ‘mercy’ as capacity for holding oneself back from punishing, or from causing suffering to, whom one has the right or power to punish.

            Some of the synonyms of ‘mercy’ are: leniency, pity, forgiveness, generosity, charity, sympathy, kindness, soft-heartedness and compassion.

             Spanish writer Miguel de Cervantes (1547—1616) said among the attributes of God, although they are all equal, mercy shines with even more brilliance than justice.

             Probably, the best of all quotes on this subject is the sonnet written by the British dramatist and poet William Shakespeare (1564-1616) which reads as follows:

            “The quality of mercy is not strain’d,

            It droppeth as the gentle rain from heaven,             

            Upon the place beneath : it is twice bless’d;

            It blesseth him that gives and him that takes;

            ‘T is mightiest in the mightiest ; it becomes

            The throned monarch better than his crown ;

            His sceptre  shows the force of temporal power,

            The attribute to awe and majesty,

            Wherein doth sit the dread and fear of kings :

            But mercy is above this sceptred sway.

            It is enthroned in the hearts of kings ,

            It is an attribute to God himself,

            An earthly power doth then show likest God’s

            When mercy seasons justice.

                                                                                                From: Merchant of Venice, Act 4.  

                                                            *********

G.R.KANWAL

7^TH JULY 2023

                                                   

 

SHAKESPEARE ON MEN AND GODS

SHAKESPEARE ON MEN AND GODS

British dramatist and poet William Shakespeare (1564-1616) has left hundreds of thoughts on a large variety of themes.  Most of those them are full of wisdom and impressively quotable.  Given below are only five of them  concerning men and gods. As I am quoting them from memory , it is impossible  to recall the names of all the plays in which they occur. As for their worth, they are unquestionably great.

1.     Men are sometimes masters of their Fate.

2.     There is a tide in the affairs of man

Taken at the flood leads on to Fortune.

3.     The fault dear Brutus is not in our stars     

But in ourselves that we are underlings.  (Julius Caesar)

4.     As flies to wanton boys are we to the Gods

They kill us for their sport                             (King Lear)

5.     The Gods are just, and of our pleasant vices

Make instruments to plague us.

 

       Shakespeare is most admirable for the fact that his views are not one-sided.  He looks at his themes from every pro and anti angle and expresses them objectively.

                                                            *******

G.R.Kanwal

6^th July 2023

 

    

                                               

QUOTES ABOUT TEACHERS AND TEACHING

 

QUOTES  ABOUT TEACHERS AND TEACHING

On this Guru Purnima Day (July 3), let us share  some quotes about teachers and teaching. Briefly speaking, teachers are not as great as gurus. While they (teachers) impart knowledge, gurus dispel darkness of minds and souls. They enlighten their pupils thoroughly. Lord Buddha is a great example of a perfect guru.

    Here are some quotes about teachers and teaching:

1. Alexander the  Great (356-323 B.C), the King of Macdon said: I am indebted to my father for living, but to my teacher for living well.
2. American author Mrs. Lydia H, Sigourney (1791-1865) said: Teachers should be held in the highest honour. They are the allies of legislators; they have agency in the prevention of crime; they aid in regulating the atmosphere, whose incessant action and pressure cause the life-blood to circulate and to return pure and healthful to the heart of the nation.
3. According to another American author Horace Mann (1796-1859) the teacher who is attempting to teach without inspiring the pupil with a desire to learn is hammering on cold iron.
4. French essayist and philosopher Michel de Montaigne (1533-92) says : A tutor should not be continually thundering instruction into the ears of his pupil, as if he were pouring it through a funnel, but induce him to think, to distinguish, and to find out things for himself; sometimes opening the way, at other times leaving it for him to open; and to accommodate his precepts to the capacity of his pupil.
5. Finally, let us listen to French author Anatole France: Let our teaching be full of ideas. Hitherto it has been stuffed only with facts.  

                                    *****************

G.R.Kanwal

3^rd July 2023

 

                         

 

RUMI’S VIEW OF LOVE

 

RUMI’S  VIEW  OF  LOVE

Rumi is the short name of the Persian poet Mawlana Jalal al-Din Muhammad Rumi. He was born in Balkh (now in Afghanistan) on 30 September 1207 and passed away in Konya, Turkiye on 17 December 1273. The greatest Sufi mystic and poet in the Persian language, he is famous for his most  didactic epic Masnavi –yi Manavi .  It is a great book in spiritual couplets which have influenced mystical thought all over the world either in the original Persian language or translated versions. Here is an example from Coleman Barks ‘ The Big Red Book, a masterpiece, celebrating Rumi’s mystical love and friendship :

                                    The soul comes every day at dawn

                                     Good to see you again, my friend

                                    The peace of God be with you.

 

In a Persian couplet Rumi says:

 

Bar Shah-e-khub—ruyan

Wajib wafa na bashad,

Ai zard-ruye ashiq !

Tu sabr kun, wafa kun

This is a short view of Rumi’s love philosophy . A slightly wider view is available in the following  liberal English version:

                                    The King of Beauty owes no duty,

                                    Of fidelity to a single one !

                                    Thou pale-faced lover ! do thou cover

                                    Thy love with resignation !

                                    Be faithful ever, and forget never,

                                    His constancy is to every one;

                                    As to every dew-drop, of the Sun !

                                    He loveth all; do thou love all;

                                    So thy smallness shall be all undone,

                                    His greatness shall by thee  be won,

                                    And thou shall gain All of the One !

                                                **********

G.R. Kanwal

2^nd July 2023   

                                   

  

A DIVINE POEM

 

                A  DIVINE  POEM

         English poet and essayist, Joseph Addison (1.5.1672—17.6.1719)  wrote a poem with the title “When All  Thy Mercies , O MY GOD” and published it in his newspaper “The Spectatator” on 9 August 1712. It is a hymn inspired by Psalm 89:1 “I will sing of the mercies of the Lord forever “ and was first published following an essay on gratitude, accompanied by the following introduction:

            “I have already obliged the public with some pieces of divine poetry which have fallen into my hands, and as they have met with the reception they deserve, I shall from time to time, communicate any work of the same nature which has not appeared in print, and may be acceptable to my readers.”

            “When All Thy Mercies, O My God ” is a great poem of gratitude to God whose mercies are unlimited and are provided to every human being from the beginning till the death of his life. The poem gives concrete examples like:

                 Unnumbered comforts to my soul

                  Thy tender care bestowed,

                   Before my tender heart conceived

                   From whom those comforts flowed.                  

It is not only in present life that God pours His manifold mercies upon His children but as the poet says:

                     Through every period of my life

                      Thy goodness I’ll pursue

                      And after death, in distant worlds,

                        The glorious theme renew.

The poem ends with the stanza”

                         

                        Through all eternity to Thee

                        A joyful song I’ll raise;

                          For, oh, eternity’s is too short

                        To utter all Thy praise!

 The lyrical quality of the poem has made it an all-time popular hymn.

                          Here are three more exemplary stanzas:

                       

When in the slippery paths of youth

With heedless steps I ran,

Thine arm unseen conveyed me safe

And led me up to man.

 

Through hidden dangers, toils and deaths,

It gently cleared my way;

And through the passing snares of vice,

More to be feared than they.

 

O how shall words with equal warmth

The gratitude declare,

That glows within my ravished heart?

But thou canst read it there.

 

                                    ********

G. R. Kanwal

1^st July 2023