Monday, February 18, 2013

Solitude



There are times when I want to fly from it all, just get away and never have to chafe myself in the society of men. Don’t we all feel that way at times? This little piece from my new book by Martin F. Tupper addresses it and its consequences.

“The branch can not but wither, that is cut from the
parent vine.
Wouldst thou be a dweller in the woods, and cast
away the cords that bind thee,
Seeking, in they bitterness or pride, to be exiled
from they fellows?
Behold, the beast shall hunt thee, weak, naked,
houseless outcast,
Disease and Death shall track thee out, as
bloodhounds in the wilderness:
Better to be humblest of thy kind, in the hated
company of men,
Than to live a solitary wretch, dreading and wanting
all things;
Better to be chained to thy labor, in the dusky
thoroughfares of life,
Than to reign monarch of Sloth, in lonesome savage
freedom.”

2 comments:

Douglas Abbott said...

I agree with this perspective wholeheartedly. I was one of those lone wolves, and I was just as wretched as the author of this poem describes. I really believe that I am better off boiling with the annoyances of interpersonal conflicts than calcifying in the absence of them. I am a believer in the human need for community!

FCB said...

Me too, a believer in community; that being said, no easy task.