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+ 2ND POEMS: Mirabile Dictu, In A Dream

[to the most instructive Poet]


Wisdom hath builded her house, she

hath hewn out her seven pillars . . .

---Proverbs 9:1


". . . mirable dictu . . ."

---Vergil, The Aeneid, I


In a dream, last night, Vergil appeared to me;

Vergil, great Poet of ancient history.

In the splendor of Patrician dignity,

he spoke with the tone of utmost courtesy

(he who anticipated Christianity):

"No longer write of the craven perfidy

"of those who betray friendship so easily;

"and those with whose opinions, you certainly

"(and with sufficient reason) disagree.

"Controvery---social, or politically

"embroiled---must no more subvert your poetry.

"Concentrate on Christian spirituality;

"on Biblical facts; on Love that you know should be

"expressed according to nature and destiny,

"and the grandeur of stars and their cosmology."


Starward

[*/+/^]

Author's Notes/Comments: 

I have been reminded of the purpose of Poetry from which, as a flawed and fallible Christian, I sometimes stray.  I need to remember that, at this late and last stage of the course of my life, I need not squander my time on unworthy controversies and unworthier opponents.


Line three alludes to Vergil's dignity, which was very Patrician, although his ancestral descent was not.  The fifth line acknolwedges that Vergil has been believed, especially by the Early Christians, to have anticipated the Gospel's advent in his Poetry---through the morality he described, and especially in the Fourth Eclogue, in which he predicted the birth of a divinely fathered child.

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last updated 15 April 2024 - 5:05pm
©27 April 2023 - 7:57am — S74rw4rd
28 April 2023 - 4:49am — patriciajj
patriciajj's picture

The vehicle for the guiding

The vehicle for the guiding light that bathes this poem is truly unique and extraordinary: Vergil himself appearing in a dream! It's a worthy mouthpiece because the wisdom and articulation is so beautifully elegant, mature and inspired.

 

A dream to live by.

 
28 April 2023 - 8:56am — S74rw4rd
S74rw4rd's picture

Thank you.  One simply cannot

Thank you.  One simply cannot say "no" to Vergil, even in a dream.  I appreciate your kindness in reading the poem and commenting upon it.

Starward