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| The Power of Sleeping |
Today’s topic is about Power. Power could lead one to the
gate of Authority, Resistance and Resilience or even to the Institutional Power
house. One could go on and on and find different facets of Power. Given the
current situation of the world, ‘love of power’ has become an epithet that
could be attributed to countless political leaders all over the world. W.H.
Auden’s poem “Epitaph on a Tyrant” comes to mind in this connection that
describes a murderous narcissist. It reads like this:
Perfection, of a kind, was what he was after,
And the
poetry he invented was easy to understand;
He knew
human folly like the back of his hand,
And was
greatly interested in armies and fleets;
When he
laughed, respectable senators burst with laughter,
And when
he cried the little children died in the streets.
Political dominance cannot be the be all and end all of
this civilization. We do need to celebrate ‘endurance’ as the power of
resilience and survival as well; or the power of Love; the overwhelming power
of Beauty; Time; Education. The list is endless.
So how does the word ‘power’ appeal to you?
Some Power-Poems:
by Allen Curnow
by Emily Dickinson
I
have never seen "Volcanoes" —
But,
when Travellers tell
How
those old — phlegmatic mountains
Usually
so still —
Bear
within — appalling Ordnance,
Fire,
and smoke, and gun,
Taking
Villages for breakfast,
And
appalling Men —
If
the stillness is Volcanic
In
the human face
When
upon a pain Titanic
Features
keep their place —
If
at length the smouldering anguish
Will
not overcome —
And
the palpitating Vineyard
In
the dust, be thrown?
If
some loving Antiquary,
On
Resumption Morn,
Will
not cry with joy "Pompeii"!
To
the Hills return!
by Elizabeth Jennings
Please share your poem using Mr. Linky below
and visit others in the spirit of the community. Please include this link in
your post.
