A SHROPSHIRE LAD: LXII

Terence, this is stupid stuff…

“Terence, this is stupid stuff:
You eat your victuals fast enough;
There can’t be much amiss, ’tis clear,
To see the rate you drink your beer.
But oh, good Lord, the verse you make,
It gives a chap the belly-ache.
The cow, the old cow, she is dead;
It sleeps well, the horned head:
We poor lads, ’tis our turn now
To hear such tunes as killed the cow.
Pretty friendship ’tis to rhyme
Your friends to death before their time
Moping melancholy mad:
Come, pipe a tune to dance to, lad.”

Why, if ’tis dancing you would be,
There’s brisker pipes than poetry.
Say, for what were hop-yards meant,
Or why was Burton built on Trent?
Oh many a peer of England brews
Livelier liquor than the Muse,
And malt does more than Milton can
To justify God’s ways to man.
Ale, man, ale’s the stuff to drink
For fellows whom it hurts to think:
Look into the pewter pot
To see the world as the world’s not.
And faith, ’tis pleasant till ’tis past:
The mischief is that ’twill not last.
Oh I have been to Ludlow fair
And left my necktie God knows where,
And carried half way home, or near,
Pints and quarts of Ludlow beer:
Then the world seemed none so bad,
And I myself a sterling lad;
And down in lovely muck I’ve lain,
Happy till I woke again.
Then I saw the morning sky:
Heigho, the tale was all a lie;
The world, it was the old world yet,
I was I, my things were wet,
And nothing now remained to do
But begin the game anew.

Therefore, since the world has still
Much good, but much less good than ill,
And while the sun and moon endure
Luck’s a chance, but trouble’s sure,
I’d face it as a wise man would,
And train for ill and not for good.
‘Tis true, the stuff I bring for sale
Is not so brisk a brew as ale:
Out of a stem that scored the hand
I wrung it in a weary land.
But take it: if the smack is sour
The better for the embittered hour;
It will do good to heart and head
When your soul is in my soul’s stead;
And I will friend you, if I may,
In the dark and cloudy day.

There was a king reigned in the East:
There, when kings will sit to feast,
They get their fill before they think
With poisoned meat and poisoned drink.
He gathered all that sprang to birth
From the many-venomed earth;
First a little, thence to more,
He sampled all her killing store;
And easy, smiling, seasoned sound,
Sate the king when healths went round.
They put arsenic in his meat
And stared aghast to watch him eat;
They poured strychnine in his cup
And shook to see him drink it up:
They shook, they stared as white’s their shirt:
Them it was their poison hurt.
–I tell the tale that I heard told.
Mithridates, he died old.

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Your comment reminds me of the blessing received by the blind man who told his interrogators he did not know how Jesus had healed him, but “One thing I know: that though I was blind, now I see.” (John 9:1)
Just a little encouragement: to know how or why is not as important as it is to “know,” or believe, and trust. Do we know how or why the laws of physics, science or nature work? Even though we do not know or understand the reasons for their working, we can and do and must trust/beleive that they will work. Our is not to know but to trust and obey. I am happy you see (and correctly credit) God’s provision for you.

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It can, for example, mean making comments about another’s beliefs.

It can, for example, mean making comments about another’s politics.

It can, for example, mean making comments about another’s looks or origin.

I do believe that Lynn has been very clear on the following point:

1) it is open season on ideas, so long as the comments are fact based and use reasonable standards of language

2) the individuals themselves are off limits

So calling a poster insane is probably inappropriate.

Saying that a posted idea is insane because [fill in with supported reason] is perhaps appropriate.

And politeness, I suggest, is always within the context of the situation.

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“And what part of the discussion has been impolite? Please point it out.”

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And then you go on, after calling people you disagree with insane, to decry the lack of “polite discussion”. What a hypocrite.

And what part of the discussion has been impolite? Please point it out.

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Foolishly, I haven’t actually read your column on prayer, your son’s car accident, etc. Since I’m not planning on addressing that, I feel a bit less hypocritical.

That said, I know a bit about having to be thick-skinned in regard to negative responses. For the last couple of years, I’ve written religious/political essays published in a local university political magazine, here in the midwest.

Sometimes I get polite appreciate feedback. More often, I don’t. But, I feel spiritual freedom to write about what needs to be said, with less care and apprehension for myself. What I’ve written is a smidgen of what you’ve written for WORLD. You understand, I think, that part of you is always on display, for untold numbers of people you’ll likely never meet. And yet, you continue to do this, for a variety of reasons…spiritual gifts, encouragement, etc. Part and parcel with this is a senstitivity to how your readers will take this. Most, like myself, are appreciative, and glad for the words and thoughts. Others, however, may be possessed of various insanities that do not lend themselves to polite discussions. Such folks may need to be ignored, and prayed for, instead of allowing them to get under your skin.

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