For That, Marcus Aurelius, Whenever You Look At Yourself, 'The Darkness Will Understand' Poem by Leila Samarrai

This is a tough poem, tough to read, to understand, and I suspect for you to write. On one level, it shows that the Stoic Philosophy which served Marcus so well in the ancient Imperial days, will not help us now. His quest for self-knowledge although a noble endeavor cannot solve our contemporary problems. At least I think that's the attitude you are expressing, but if it's the wrong idea and you consider Marcus a man with the solution, i'd like to know that. When as a teenager I read the opening pages of his sole book, I stiffened at his notion your thoughts should be so controlled that you can reveal them at any time. No, I thought, I won't let just anyone read my thoughts. They're private, not to be bandied about, not even to the moral philosopher. My view is that since he did not know modern psychology, his view of humanity cannot satisfy our needs. But Fabrizio is one of my good friends at Poemhunter, If your view is closer to his, you just might change my mind.

Welcome! This is my comment on yur 1st Poem here ('For that, Marcus Aurelius, whenever you...') 'to the sages of the ages' from your note - - and an interpretive key in the same time, as Imperator Caesar Marcus Aurelius Antoninus Augustus was not just an emperor (a good one, as historians tell us) , but also an important stoic philosopher. 'Do not act as if thou wert going to live ten thousand years. Death hangs over thee. While thou livest, while it is in thy power, be good.' - from his remarkable work 'Meditations' (Τὰ εἰς ἑαυτόν) And so, here we have a philosophical and poetic meditation from you on human nature.. Not bad at all for the first lyric you've posted on PH, Leila. Good. Keep on writing and thanks for sharing! P.S.: a big CIAO from Italy :) Fabrizio