Author: Ano Sensei
Format: Video
Structure: Blank verse, Epic
"Vala, or The Four Zoas": A reading. An introduction to the poetry of William Blake. PART 4
What is the price of Experience? Do men buy it for a song?
Or wisdom for a dance in the street? No it is ...bought with the price
Of all that a man hath, his house his wife his children.
Wisdom is sold in the desolate market where none come to buy
And in the withered field where the farmer plows for bread in vain.
It is an easy thing to triumph in the summers sun
And in the vintage & to sing on the waggon loaded with corn.
It is an easy thing to talk of patience to the afflicted,
To speak the laws of prudence to the houseless wanderer,
To listen to the hungry ravens cry in wintry season,
When the red blood is filled with wine & with the marrow of lambs.
It is an easy thing to laugh at wrathful elements,
To hear the dog howl at the wintry door, the ox in the slaughter house moan;
To see a god on every wind & a blessing on every blast
To hear sounds of love in the thunder storm that destroys our enemy's house;
To rejoice in the blight that covers his field, & the sickness that cuts off his children
While our olive & vine sing & laugh round our door & our children bring fruits & flowers.
Then the groan & the dolor are quite forgotten & the slave grinding at the mill
10And the captive in chains & the poor in the prison, & the soldier in the field,
When the shatterd bone hath laid him groaning among the happier dead.
It is an easy thing to rejoice in the tents of prosperity
Thus could I sing & thus rejoice, but it is not so with me.
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4 Comments
Wow! So much depth. It’s easy at one end but it isn’t for the other. And what’s sounds of love for one is thunder to the other…
Exactly! He captures perfectly the hypocrisy of those “Christians” who argued that poverty was a good thing because it gave people an opportunity to demonstrate how “virtuous” they were. Of course, he does this even more plainly in “The Human Abstract”, which I’ll read and discuss in the next video in this series, but I just love the way the language rolls and echoes in this extract!
@anosensei which is actually sad that people diminish people’s suffering…
Looking forward to your next one!
@NissiPearl Working on it now!