De Rerum Natura

Lucretius seeks to enlighten his fellow men through the beautiful yet arduous
combination of philosophy and poetry...

"...Nor does it fail me that discoveries obscure and dark
of Greeks are difficult to shed much light on with the spark
of Latin poetry, chiefly since I must coin much new
terminology because of our tongue's dearth, and due
to the novelty of the subject matter. And yet to this end
(your excellence and my sweet hope to win you as a friend),
persuade me to tackle any task and take up any toil,

and in the still, small hours, make me burn the midnight oil,

as I seek the right words and the right poetry to light

brilliant lanterns for your mind, so that at last you might

peer deep into the recesses of things once recondite."

-Lucretius, On the Nature of Things, Book I

The Ballad of Reading Gaol

The Ballad of Reading Gaol

by Oscar Wilde

Here is a taste of one of the greatest poems ever written...

...I walked with other souls in pain,
Within another ring,
And was wondering if the man had done
A great or little thing,
When a voice behind me whispered low,
"That fellow's got to swing."

Dear Christ! the very prison walls
Suddenly seemed to reel,
And the sky above my head became
Like a casque of scorching steel;
And, though I was a soul in pain,
My pain I could not feel.

I only knew what hunted thought
Quickened his step, and why
He looked upon the garish day
With such a wistful eye;
The man had killed the thing he loved
And so he had to die.

Yet each man kills the thing he loves
By each let this be heard,
Some do it with a bitter look,
Some with a flattering word,
The coward does it with a kiss,
The brave man with a sword!

...

Now read it in its entirety! You won't regret it!

http://www.gutenberg.org/files/301/301-h/301-h.htm


~

"No Battles to be Fought"

~

It seemed there was no war to win, nor any battles to be fought,

No host of foes, no dragon-kind, no victory to be sought.

Peace was won (or so it seemed) and the drums of war drummed dim,

So in my silent reveries, I would recall my ancient kin…

Their violent days would quicken my heart and excite my every thought;

their very lives were gained by blood, each breath was painfully wrought.

But the days of glory had long since passed (or so it seemed to him,

to that naïve boy that I once was, whose life was ruled by whim).

Today I learned that a war rages on and my pining was for naught.

Today I encountered my enemy and discovered his dreadful plot.

He besieged me like a castle, and tried to take me from within.

Lucifer, the 'Light-bearer', he knows how to incite sin.

The light he bears is fire, of a kind intensely hot.

He set my passions ablaze, and confused the defenses of my thoughts.

When the drawbridge to my heart was down, the invasion did begin.

It was when my mind was darkened that the Enemy entered in.

But hope remained, though I had thought the battle to be lost,

because Christ the King had sallied forth to his death upon the cross.

I recalled the blood and tears of God, which doused the holocaust,

and restored my thoughts to the battlements where they resumed their watch.

Today I fought a battle in the war for my salvation.

An attack was halted by God’s grace and my cooperation.

It was today that the hero within me was awakened;

I’d been armed and armored with a poetic inspiration.

The Sword of Truth was what I used, the weapon of God and men:

Today I won the battle with a trusty little pen.

~

"Let justice be done though the heavens fall"

A representation of Lady Justice

Fiat justitia ruat caelum is a Latin legal phrase meaning "let justice be done though the heavens fall". The maxim signifies the belief that justice must be realized regardless of the consequences. In De Ira (On Anger), Book I, Chapter XVIII, Seneca tells of Gnaeus Piso, a Roman governor and lawmaker.

Piso ordered the execution of a soldier who had returned from a leave of absence without his comrade, on the ground that if the man did not produce his companion, he had presumably killed the latter. As the condemned soldier was presenting his neck to the executioner's sword, there suddenly appeared the very comrade who was supposedly murdered!

The centurion overseeing the execution halted the proceedings and led the condemned soldier back to Piso, expecting a reprieve. But Piso mounted the tribunal in a rage, and ordered the three soldiers to be executed. He ordered the death of the soldier who was to have been executed, because the sentence had already been passed. He then ordered the death of the centurion who was in charge of the original execution, for failing to perform his duty. And finally, he ordered the death of the soldier who had been supposed to have been murdered, because he had caused the deaths of two innocent men.

In subsequent versions of this legend, this principle became known as "Piso’s justice", a term that characterizes sentences that are technically correct, but morally wrong. Although the phrase does not appear in De Ira, it is still linked to the legend.

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fiat_justitia_ruat_caelum#Seneca:_.22Piso.27s_justice.22

~

Fiat justitia ruat caelum ("Let justice be done though the heavens fall")

The Roman governor Piso promoted justice at any cost.

While his intention was noble, his actions were not.

A soldier was thought to have murdered a friend;

for a crime he didn’t commit, the soldier was condemned.

But the friend turned up; he had merely been lost!

“I will get a reprieve”, was what the soldier thought.

“Justice be done!” did Piso contend,

so he sentenced the soldier, the executioner, and the friend.

'There is no justice in mercy' is what we have been taught,

'An eye for an eye', and a penny for that thought!

But mercy is always justified in the end,

because Christ came from heaven and died for all men.

~

"A Rhyme Without a Reason"

A rhyme without a reason is like a castle without a king;

It may be strong and steady, but it houses not a thing.

~

This is an attempt at irony. It is ironic because this rhyme itself has no reason, except to say that rhyming without a reason is unnecessary. I mostly just liked the sound of “a rhyme without a reason”. 

"Against Loneliness"

I will not die a lonely man, for lonely men are sad.

No, I cannot be a lonely man because I am forever glad.

The lonely walk with downcast eyes and they never see the light,

even as it warms their backs and fights off the doubtful night.

The man who trusts in the Sun above, he is a happy lad;

he knows that night is darkest 'ere dawn and loneliness is but a fad.
~

"Say Little"

“Say little, but say it well”;

That’s the motto of a man

who has not much to say,

but wants to say it the best he can.

-Ryan Rochefort

-

"Better to be silent and thought a fool
than to speak and remove all doubt."

-Anonymous

What is the 'Active-Contemplative' Life?

Click to view larger image.

Leading an 'active-contemplative' life may seem impossible. This is due to the view that being active and being contemplative are mutually exclusive. While there is some reason to think that way, I prefer to think of them as being mutually complementary. 

An active life is merely one in which one does things. A contemplative life is merely one in which one thinks about things. I would like to live, and encourage you to live, a life that is full of activity as well as contemplativity (I am allowed to make up words; this is my blog)!

How can we do this? Well, I'm not entirely sure. But I suspect that 'fake it 'til you make it' will play a big part of the strategy. Do things, and then think about the things you have done. Consider the impact your actions have on yourself, and others. Ask yourself, "What can I learn from this experience?" In other words, be mindful of everything you do!

Many incredible experiences in life are lost due to inattentiveness. There are many people (including myself) who live their life in a sort of distracted fog, not fully engaged in the present moment but always looking back to the past or forward to the future. So sit back, and take a moment to experience the moment. Look up from your computer screen or smartphone screen and take a look at what you're missing. You might be surprised that the person beside you has just done the same thing...