Peter Kirby
04-20-2008, 08:34 PM
William Blake wrote a few centuries ago, as follows:
Mock on, mock on, Voltaire, Rousseau:
Mock on, mock on: ‘tis all in vain!
You throw the sand against the wind,
And the wind blows it back again.
And every sand becomes a Gem,
Reflected in the beam divine;
Blown back they blind the mocking Eye,
But still in Israel’s paths they shine.
The Atoms of Democritus
And the Newton’s Particles of Light
Are sands upon the Red Sea shore,
Where Israel’s tents do shine so bright.
My reply to Blake has no particular literary merit, but is of personal importance. I have been carrying this poem around in my memory for some time now, and it is a curious bit of writing to commit to memory, is it not? Almost an ode to mysticism over science; is it any wonder that my brain has at times gone funny? With the idea of fighting fire with fire, I decided to write my own poem to counter Blake.
"Reply to Blake"
Rock on, rock on, Einstein, Darwin,
Rock on, rock on, ride out the tide.
Each wave of thought comes crashing in
And smooths out more sand with each slide.
Reaction force always does spin
To meet another wave's collide.
The youth love this eternal din,
Debate of where coastlines abide.
The depths of Moses's lore
And Plato's heights of insight
Are old waves for a California shore,
Where silicon hums to our delight.
This poem was penned on Sunday, April 20, 2008, in the afternoon at the Pacific ocean.
Mock on, mock on, Voltaire, Rousseau:
Mock on, mock on: ‘tis all in vain!
You throw the sand against the wind,
And the wind blows it back again.
And every sand becomes a Gem,
Reflected in the beam divine;
Blown back they blind the mocking Eye,
But still in Israel’s paths they shine.
The Atoms of Democritus
And the Newton’s Particles of Light
Are sands upon the Red Sea shore,
Where Israel’s tents do shine so bright.
My reply to Blake has no particular literary merit, but is of personal importance. I have been carrying this poem around in my memory for some time now, and it is a curious bit of writing to commit to memory, is it not? Almost an ode to mysticism over science; is it any wonder that my brain has at times gone funny? With the idea of fighting fire with fire, I decided to write my own poem to counter Blake.
"Reply to Blake"
Rock on, rock on, Einstein, Darwin,
Rock on, rock on, ride out the tide.
Each wave of thought comes crashing in
And smooths out more sand with each slide.
Reaction force always does spin
To meet another wave's collide.
The youth love this eternal din,
Debate of where coastlines abide.
The depths of Moses's lore
And Plato's heights of insight
Are old waves for a California shore,
Where silicon hums to our delight.
This poem was penned on Sunday, April 20, 2008, in the afternoon at the Pacific ocean.