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Throughout the course of th generations
men constructed the night.
At first she was blindness;
thorns raking bare feet,
fear of wolves.
We shall never know who forged the word
for the interval of shadow
dividing the two twilights;
we shall never know in what age it came to mean
the starry hours.
Others created the myth.
They made her the mother of the unruffled Fates
that spin our destiny,
thev sacrificed black ewes to her, and the cock
who crows his own death.
The Chaldeans assigned to her twelve houses;
to Zeno, infinite words.
She took shape from Latin hexameters
and the terror of Pascal.
Luis de Leon saw in her the homeland
of his stricken soul.
Now we feel her to be inexhuastible
like an ancient wine
and no one can gaze on her without vertigo
and time has charged her with eternity.
And to think that she wouldn't exist
except for those fragile instruments, the eyes.
Jorge Luis Borges
Read poems about / on: destiny, mother, fear, history, death, night, time, house
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Michael Pruchnicki (7/21/2008 9:58:00 AM)
Some of the comments posted here border on the absurd that fascinated Jorge Luis Borges as both poet and novelist! Except, of course, that Borges's poem makes sense, while the comments do not. Borges specialized in blending myth, fantasy, symbolism and erudition in his work.
Who are the unruffled Fates? How do they spin our destiny? Who were the Chaldeans and their twelve houses? Define Zeno and his infinite words! What exactly are Latin hexameters? Who was Pascal and what was his terror? Why the allusion to those fragile instruments, the eyes? Do you know of any problems that Borges had with his own eyesight?
What does the title HISTORY OF THE NIGHT allude to? Comments posted here should be based on more than 'absolute brilliance, ' 'expressive poem, ' and other such emotional and subjective reactions! Poetry can be difficult and take some study and effort to comprehend fully, that's true, but most great poetry is NOT obscure. I do not know what 'encapsuled visions' of our predecessors has to do with 'poetic hindsight' or whatever!
Would it help to know that Chaldea was an ancient civilization on the Euphrates where magic and astrology (twelve signs of the zodiac) flourished? That the Fates were three Roman goddesses that controlled human destiny and life? That Zeno was a logician and sophist who could argue the logic of illogic? Blaise Pascal was a genius and philosopher in 17th century France who converted to Christianity and recorded his ideas about theology in his PENSEES! |
Cyrina Moon (7/21/2007 6:12:00 PM)
Absolute brilliance. You've unveiled encapsuled visions of ones who've walked before us in remarkable poetic hindsight. Cy |
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Jorge Luis Borges
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