The Bloody Sire
POEM VIEWS: 13350
Although closely associated with the California coast, Jeffers was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and spent much of his boyhood at boarding
. . . MORE »BY ROBINSON JEFFERS
It is not bad. Let them play.
Let the guns bark and the bombing-plane
Speak his prodigious blasphemies.
It is not bad, it is high time,
Stark violence is still the sire of all the world’s values.
What but the wolf’s tooth whittled so fine
The fleet limbs of the antelope?
What but fear winged the birds, and hunger
Jewelled with such eyes the great goshawk’s head?
Violence has been the sire of all the world’s values.
Who would remember Helen’s face
Lacking the terrible halo of spears?
Who formed Christ but Herod and Caesar,
The cruel and bloody victories of Caesar?
Violence, the bloody sire of all the world’s values.
Never weep, let them play,
Old violence is not too old to beget new values.
-Colin
Violence most definitely works. It is faster and a better outlet for people's anger. It feeds on emotion far better than protest. And in some instances the only way. However, we can't ignore all the death and destruction just because it works. Civil disobedience works as well, and because no injury is caused, it should be used first. I think violence should be a last resort if all other means fail.
ReplyDelete~Becca
I don't feel that Jeffers supports violence as an agent of change, he merely recognizes (and expresses his sorrow about) it. Because of this, I have no problem agreeing with both Jeffers and Thoreau.
ReplyDeleteFrom my personal moral standpoint, I agree with Thoreau that civil disobedience is the best way to bring about change. However, at the same time I know that violence can be an incredibly powerful force.
-Bryce C.
Despite the fact that violence is often faster, and frequently more effective, than civil disobedience, I still believe that Thoreau's way of thinking wins out. When it does work, civil disobedience provides society with an admirable way to effect change. There have been instances of successful peaceful protests, and these should serve as examples to all people who wish to right social inequities.
ReplyDelete-Tara