Wonders of the world

   
                       POEMS  AND POETS

          31. Wonders of the World!

"The world is so full of a number of things,
I'm sure we should all be as happy as kings"

wrote Robert Louis Stevenson. But now this analogy may not hold. For one thing, the modern world has dispensed with most kings, and the remaining ones are sustained by the doles from parliament, one wonders whether they are really happy. Most of us have no idea of kings any way, and authorities tell us their heads lie uneasy! And the number of things that Stevenson probably had in mind have all been replaced by science,technology and commerce.

Where things still are, they are either rendered unseeable,or unapproachable. The simple sun rise or full moon cannot be seen in most cities due to highrises, and the artificial city lights of the night block the vision of the twinkling little stars. Trees that attracted and sheltered birds have made way for metros or widened roads, and lakes have been converted into stadia. Fog and smog envelop the cities and towns, and the hills and vales have become objects of packaged tourism.  

" And it is good to know that overhead
     Blue skies will brighten, and the sun will shine,
And flowers be sweet in many a garden bed,
     And all divine,
   ( For are they not, O Father, thoughts of thine?)
Earth's warmth and fragrance  shall on men be shed.

" And I am glad that Night will always come,
     Hushing all sounds, even the soft-voiced birds,
Putting away all light from her deep dome,
     Until are heard
   In the wide starlight's stillness, unknown words,
That make the heart ache till it finds its home."

                                           Edward Rowland Sill

If you live in an Indian city, and can still recite this, you are fortunate! You are a real optimist!

Science has robbed the mystery of the world, and commerce has conquered every art and sport. Philosophers for their part have rendered the world even more incomprehensible than it already is.

" His wheel of logic whirled and spun all day;
All day he held his system, grinding it
Finer and finer, till 't was fined away"
                       
                                         E.R.Sill

But philosophy need not mean such heavy stuff,always. See this sample:

James W. Riley
My Philosophy

I allus argy that a man
Who does about the best he can
Is plenty good enough to suit
This lower mundane institute-
No matter ef his daily walk
Is subject fer his neighbor's talk,
And critic-minds of every whim
Jest all git up and go fer him!

The signs is bad when folks commence
A findin' fault with Providence,
And balkin' 'cause the earth don't shake
At ev'ry prancin' step they take.
No man is great tel he can see
How less than little he would be
Ef stripped to self, and stark and bare
He hung his sign out anywhare.

My doctern is to lay aside
Contensions, and be satisfied:
Jest do your best, and praise er blame
That follers that,counts jest the same.
I've allus noticed grate success
Is mixed with troubles, more or less,
And its the man who does the best
That gits more kicks than all the rest.

This world indeed is a curious place. We do not know how it will treat us, how our work will turn out, in spite of good intentions. Our poet  Hasrat Jaipuri sang  light-heartedly:

Karein bhalayi hum, bhure bane hardam
Iss jahan ki reet nirali
Pyar ko samjhe haye re haye sitam.

I always do good, but results turn otherwise
The way of the world is quite strange
Just understand the love.

The Gita asks us to do our duty, and leave the result to God. This is echoed by Browning:

" Loving! what claim to love has work of mine?
     Concede my life were emptied of its gains
To furnish forth and fill work's strict confine,
     Who works so for the world's sake- he complains
     With cause when hate, not love, rewards his pains.
I looked beyond the world for truth and beauty:
     Sought, found and did my duty."

                                   From: Ferishtah's Fancies.

However it may be, and in spite of all the 'development', there are still a few spots where we can still commune with nature. There are still a few things , small but wonderful, so that in small measures we may just beauties see!

The stars know a secret 
     They do not tell;
And morn brings a message
     Hidden well.

There is a blush on the apple,
     A tint on the wing,
And the bright wind whistles
     And the pulses sting.

Perish dark memories!
     There is light ahead;
This world's for the living;
     Not for the dead.

In the shining city,
     On the loud pave,
The life-tide is running
     Like a leaping wave.

On mart and meadow,
     Pavement or plain,
On azure mountain,
     Or azure main-

Heaven bends in blessing;
     Lost is but won;
Goes the good rain-cloud,
     Comes the good sun!

Down the great currents
     Let the boat swing;
There was never winter
     But brought the spring.

                 - E.R. Sill

The blue sky bends over all!