Villanelle for Our Time

[Shadow Nexus]

And this says more than I could ever say in a million posts.

http://membres.lycos.fr/discepolin/villanelle.mp3

[The Captain]

Just curious, do you have the translation?

Take care all.

[Shadow Nexus]

From bitter searching of the heart,
Quickened with passion and with pain
We rise to play a greater part.
This is the faith from which we start:
Men shall know commonwealth again
From bitter searching of the heart.
We loved the easy and the smart,
But now, with keener hand and brain,
We rise to play a greater part.
The lesser loyalties depart,
And neither race nor creed remain
From bitter searching of the heart.
Not steering by the venal chart
That tricked the mass for private gain,
We rise to play a greater part.
Reshaping narrow law and art
Whose symbols are the millions slain,
From bitter searching of the heart
We rise to play a greater part.

[Big D]

Over the decades, a Kantian emphasis on individual rights and freedoms has grown and flourished around the world. 'The individual' now has a strong voice, and sometimes genuine influence, thanks to changes in law, philosophy, and national priorities. In stead of being cogs in the global machinery, each of us is potentially a part of the decisions that are made.

This trend is by no means universal; some states do not follow it while others selectively restrict it. The emphasis on individual freedoms is very much a product of western liberalism; thus is it incompatible with many socialist systems. I'm not saying either of these is 'good' or 'bad', they are simply different approaches to how society should be ordered and maintained.

[Shadow Nexus]

Why do you think that poem is even related to socialism?

[Big D]

I don't, but I think it *is* related to political patterns and societal trends.

[eestlinc]

I kinda like the way a villanelle reveals many facets of a single line as that line is juxtaposed with different contexts.