Plato's Dilemma Poem by Paul Hartal

Plato did not like poets.
They twist and distort reality,
he said. Furthermore, claimed
the ancient Greek philosopher,
instead of advancing reason,
poets incite passions.

Consequently,
Plato wanted to banish poets
from his ideal state
as he envisioned it
in his "Republic".

Nevertheless,
the philosopher himself
was not immune from passions
and he fell in love with Stella.
"Thee stare at the stars, my star! "
he wrote to her in a poem,
"I wish to be those stars myself
as countless eyes
so that I might stare at thee."

Plato's genius,
his towering imagination
and powerful, incisive intellect,
combined with his wide use
of metaphors
in poetically presented dialogues,
created an enduring
and inspired philosophy,
wherein, as he stated,
"Time is the moving image
of eternity."

I think from all this
it is quite evident
that Plato was a poet.
Therefore now,
the question rises:
If he had been consistent,
would he have extended
the banishment from the Republic
also to himself?