March 20, 2005
Leopardi, "La Ginestra"
From my spring break reading, a lovely poem by Leopardi--the basis of a common, secular political ethic:
La Ginestra O Il Fiore del Deserto (Broom Or The Flower of the Desert) (tr. Eamon Grennan)
[conclusion]
[Nature]: She's the one he calls the enemy,
And believing the human family
Leagued to oppose her, as in truth it is
And has been from the start, he sees
As allies all men, embraces all
With unfeigned love, giving and expecting
Prompt assistance, useful aid
In the many hazards and lasting hurts
Of the common struggle [Della guerra comune]. And he believes
It sheer madness
To arm your hand against another,
Lay snares or stumbling blocks for your neighbor,
As mad as, in a state of siege--
Surrounded by enemies, the assault at its height--
To forget the foe and in blind rage
Turn your force upon your friends,
Smite with the sword, sow havoc and panic
Amongst those fighting on your own side.
When ideas such as these are clear,
As once they were, to the common people,
And when the terror that first forged
For human beings the social bond
Against the savagery of nature
Shall, in part, be again restored
By a true grasp of things as they are, then
Justice and mercy
And an open, honest civil life
Will no longer take root in those swollen fables
On which our stolid common morals
Are mostly grounded, and where they stand
As steady as anything built on sand.
And believing the human family
Leagued to oppose her, as in truth it is
And has been from the start, he sees
As allies all men, embraces all
With unfeigned love, giving and expecting
Prompt assistance, useful aid
In the many hazards and lasting hurts
Of the common struggle [Della guerra comune]. And he believes
It sheer madness
To arm your hand against another,
Lay snares or stumbling blocks for your neighbor,
As mad as, in a state of siege--
Surrounded by enemies, the assault at its height--
To forget the foe and in blind rage
Turn your force upon your friends,
Smite with the sword, sow havoc and panic
Amongst those fighting on your own side.
When ideas such as these are clear,
As once they were, to the common people,
And when the terror that first forged
For human beings the social bond
Against the savagery of nature
Shall, in part, be again restored
By a true grasp of things as they are, then
Justice and mercy
And an open, honest civil life
Will no longer take root in those swollen fables
On which our stolid common morals
Are mostly grounded, and where they stand
As steady as anything built on sand.
Posted by jim at March 20, 2005 01:32 PM
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