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A Most Timely Quotation
" . . . is politeness not still the best formula for liberty? . . ."
This quotation comes from a letter written by the French diplomat and Poet, whose pen name was Saint-John Perse. The quotation appears in an article by Paul Claudel (himself a diplomat, at the rank of Ambassador, and Poet_ and Hugh Chisolm, in The Hudson Review, Vol. 4, No. 3 (Autumn, 1951), pp. 396-408.
Saint-John Perse, whose mundane name was Alexis Leger; who was personally disliked by Adolf Hitler for his uncompromsingly anti-Nazi sentiments, entered the French diplomatic corps; and, at the pinnacle of his career, served as the general secretary (the highest ranking permanent employee, a civil servant) of the French Foreign Ministry. As such, he would have been assisted whatever politician happened to be appointed as Foreign Minister. His openly expressed opposition to Hitler and the Third Reich during the Munich Conference, led to his eventual dismissal from office and exile to the United States.
His poems have a tremendously cosmic perspective and sweep. Although he does not write in the typically Homeric epic format, he is most certainly an epic Poet.
In 2016, and subsequently, the American nation turned against its own soul's courtesies, and attempted to disenfranchise, through one means or another, vast numbers of its citizens. We must make America gracious again---the kind of graciousness described by Lincoln in his resonant words, ". . . with malice toward none; with charity for all . . . ."
With malice toward none and charity for all, is the politeness that the Poet Saint-John Perse is the best formula for liberty.
Starward
