Sunday, October 24, 2010

Unhappy men

When the news coming out of Haiti is once again just another addition to a long history of disappointed hope & pain, it seems appropriate to remember Wordswoth's fine poem about Toussaint L'Ouverture


TO TOUSSAINT L'OUVERTURE


TOUSSAINT, the most unhappy of men!
Whether the whistling Rustic tend his plough
Within thy hearing, or thy head be now
Pillowed in some deep dungeon's earless den; -
O miserable Chieftain! where and when
Wilt thou find patience? Yet die not; do thou
Wear rather in thy bonds a cheerful brow:
Though fallen thyself, never to rise again,
Live, and take comfort. Thou hast left behind
Powers that will work for thee; air, earth, and skies;
There's not a breathing of the common wind
That will forget thee; thou hast great allies;
Thy friends are exultations, agonies,
And love, and man's unconquerable mind.

William Wordsworth

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