[New-Poetry] Philosopher/philosophy poems

[jforjames at aol.com]

Mr. Cogito Tells about the Temptation of Spinoza



Baruch Spinoza of Amsterdam
was seized by a desire to reach God.


in the attic 
cutting lenses
he suddenly pierced a curtain
and stood face to face


he spoke for a long time
(and as he so spoke
his mind enlarged 
and his soul)
he posed questions
about the nature of man


—distracted God stroked his beard


—he asked about the first cause


—God looked into infinity


—he asked about the final cause


—God cracked his knuckles
cleared his throat


when Spinoza became silent
God spake


—you talk nice Baruch
I like your geometric Latin
and the clear syntax
the symmetry of your arguments
let’s speak however 
about Things Truly 
Great


—look at your hands
cut and trembling


—you destroy your eyes
in darkness


—you are badly nourished
you dress shabbily


—buy a new house
forgive the Venetian mirrors
that they repeat the surfaces


—forgive flowers in the hair
the drunken song


—look after your income
like your colleague Descartes


—be cunning
like Erasmus


—dedicate a treatise 
to Louis XIV
he won’t read it anyway


—calm
the rational fury
thrones will fall because of it
and stars turn black


—think
about the woman 
who will give you a child


—you see Baruch
we are speaking about Great Things


—I want to be loved 
by the uneducated and the violen
t
they are the only ones
who really hunger for me


now the curtain falls 
Spinoza remains alone


he does not see the golden cloud
the light on the heights


he sees darkness


he hears the creaking  of the stairs
footsteps going down




—Zbigniew Herbert, 
Translated by John Carpenter & Bogdana Carpenter
Selected Poems (OUP, 1977)


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