Petrarchan Sonnet on a Bouguereau
For Kith & Kin
Patriot lost, mourned by no country, but
a wife and infant attend in tearful
elegy—all grief is personal—Full
as these heroes’ lives, too young they die, glut
Death with his impatient hosts. Who knows what
change each war can bring? Our headlines are full
of patriotic verve . . . Who’s this to fool?
A soldier dies for kith & kin. One may strut
to war with flag and chin held high, duty
filling heart and mind, but when the killing
begins, Life’s instinct shrugs nobility
aside so the panicked heart can beat. Thrilling
to war is the place of mad men—zealotry
a tyrant more evil than any despot king.
David M Pitchford
Picture: “Elegy” by William-Adolphe Bouguereau, 1899
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David M Pitchford
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Hrm…thought-provoking with truth in your verse. I envision lives dedicated to and lost for Iraq when I read this.
-Nicole
Nicole,
Thanks for your comment. I meant to reply much earlier.
Yes, it is dedicated to our American soldiers. Most certainly to those of the current war. And also to every soldier in every war – and every family who sacrificed one of their own for . . . whatever reason.
It’s also meant to honor the spirit of the warrior, an archetype we sometimes tend to forget when philosophizing over the virtues/vices of armed conflict. The poet writes poems because he is a poet. The warrior goes to war because he is a warrior. Each is much more than that primary roll.
Thanks for your comment!
David
Without zealotry for kith and kin, there would have been no American Revolution. Without zealotry there is no resistance to evil. Remember the words of Edmund Burke, the patriot:
“All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing.”
Just a few words from the other side of the coin…
Just want to clarify that I write for Inner Fulfillment, among other things, but my name is Linore Rose Burkard.
http://www.LinoreRoseBurkard.com
Also–I love Bouguereau! Thoughtful interpretation of this painting.
Linore,
Thank you for the point of view.
I agree with Burke.
But evil triumphs as well when good men do the wrong thing for the wrong reason and brainwash their youth into polarizing and dehumanizing an enemy based on a single or a few differences which can be overcome without the savagery of war.
I believe that in the relationships of nations, evil is a political stance. War itself is evil. Actions are evil. Motivations are evil. Persons and nations are seldom evil; they are a mix of right and wrong.
The American Evolution had nothing to do with good and evil. It was about liberty and democracy. Purely political.
“Evil” is a chimera used to hypnotize ignorant people into zealotry against a political stance.
All that aside . . . and I’m fine with it if you disagree . . . the point in the poem was that zealotry itself is tyranical, that the grief of loss is one most keenly felt by individuals, and that the soldiers on the ground (worthy as they are of our respect and recognition) very often fall for reasons much more banal than the lofty patriotic ideals their leadership convinced them was their cause worth dying for.
Thanks for the comment. I, too, love Bouguereau.