by Pa Rock
Poetry Appreciator
Twentieth century British poet W.H. Auden penned the following poem, "Epitaph on a Tyrant" in 1940 at a time when the world was encumbered with several tyrants on the rise. This piece is only a few lines long, but in those lines Auden managed to capture the essence of a crop of ruthless dictators, the ones who ravaged the planet for their own glory in World War II.
Now, eighty years later, those same lines still serve to remind us of the ease with which some people manage to ensnare others in their personal delusions. And yes, one delusional world leader in particular jumps quickly to mind. Auden's words today are as prescient and powerful as they were then.
May God give us the vision and good sense to protect ourselves from tyrants.
Epitaph on a Tyrant
by W.H. Auden
Perfection, of a kind, was what he was after,
And the poetry he invented was easy to understand;
He knew human folly like the back of his hand,
And was greatly interested in armies and fleets;
When he laughed, respectable senators burst with laughter,
And when he cried the little children died in the streets.
Poetry Appreciator
Twentieth century British poet W.H. Auden penned the following poem, "Epitaph on a Tyrant" in 1940 at a time when the world was encumbered with several tyrants on the rise. This piece is only a few lines long, but in those lines Auden managed to capture the essence of a crop of ruthless dictators, the ones who ravaged the planet for their own glory in World War II.
Now, eighty years later, those same lines still serve to remind us of the ease with which some people manage to ensnare others in their personal delusions. And yes, one delusional world leader in particular jumps quickly to mind. Auden's words today are as prescient and powerful as they were then.
May God give us the vision and good sense to protect ourselves from tyrants.
Epitaph on a Tyrant
by W.H. Auden
Perfection, of a kind, was what he was after,
And the poetry he invented was easy to understand;
He knew human folly like the back of his hand,
And was greatly interested in armies and fleets;
When he laughed, respectable senators burst with laughter,
And when he cried the little children died in the streets.
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