04.01.06 Domestic flurries!

Q143.

Lo! As a careful housewife runs to catch,
One of her feathered creatures broke away,
Sets down her babe and makes all swift dispatch,
In pursuit of the thing she would have stay.

Whilst her neglected child holds her in chase,
Cries to catch her whose busy care is bent,
To follow that which flies before her face,
Not prizing her poor infants discontent.

So runnst thou after that which flies from thee,
Whilst I, thy babe, chase thee afar behind,
But if thou catch thy hope, turn back to me,
And play the mothers part, Kiss me, be kind.

So will I pray that thou mayst have thy Will,
If thou turn back, and my loud crying still.

This sonnet is an extended vignette on the Grand Guignol of ordinary life. Life is busy; a bird in one hand, an infant in the other, when an event happens that takes your focus away from other cares : you spring into action, leaving your perhaps more important cares behind. Hopefully you return when its over. Til then Ill scream willfully.

Choice is an amazing motor but do we actually have any? Contrariwise, no-choice is also an amazing motivator. Freedom of choice is what makes us human. Or do we feel/think/live the illusion of freedom of choice?

We are all subject to pressures: Motor-physical, emotional, psychological, familial, societal, philosophical, religional. Are any of you perfect in any or all of these areas? These pressures pre-ordain a pathway from cradle to grave, depending on which part of the planet you were born.

This sonnet shows us an image of an industrious working woman; whose world suddenly gets busy with a squawking hen and a wailing child. And it doesnt let up in volume either. It carries on crying till the last line.

Now thats what I call a piece of art for the future. Sh. does the ˜immortality through verse” theme thing so realistically, you often realize (i.e. make real) the prediction, as you speak the words. (See Q81). It happens constantly in the sonnets.

With this LOUD sonnet, Sh. may not have written another ˜Shall I” but he does guarantee his sounds will resonate through time. That was his choice.