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Sun 28 Aug, 2005 12:11 am
hello,
can any one tell me the meaning of the second stanza? Just the second stanza.
THE OLD STOIC
RICHES I hold in light esteem,
And Love I laugh to scorn;
And lust of fame was but a dream
That vanish'd with the morn:
And, if I pray, the only prayer
That moves my lips for me
Is, 'Leave the heart that now I bear,
And give me liberty!'
Yea, as my swift days near their goal,
'Tis all that I implore:
In life and death a chainless soul,
With courage to endure.
thank you
Welcome to A2K, bubu. It is quite difficult to take one stanza of a poem and explicate it without looking at the entire piece.
I think the word, "stoic" says quite a bit about the entire poem, and gives a brief insight into the feeling of the writer about prayer and religion in general.
This is a poem about a kind of freedom of the soul - from "stoic riches", from love, from fame, and from prayer. The author wants a "chainless soul." It reminds me of Buddhism perhaps - a kind of letting go of all desires to achieve trancendance. But here he or she wants that free soul to endure on its own, without depending on anything.
So, the second stanza is about letting go of the desire to involve the belief in a higher power.
Ironically, wanting such a free and courageous soul is itself a desire.
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