... plus c'est la même chose!"
January, 1795
by Mary Darby Robinson
Pavement slipp'ry, people sneezing,
Lords in ermine, beggars freezing;
Titled gluttons dainties carving,
Genius in a garret starving.
Lofty mansions, warm and spacious;
Courtiers clinging and voracious;
Misers scarce the wretched heeding;
Gallant soldiers fighting, bleeding.
Courtiers clinging and voracious;
Misers scarce the wretched heeding;
Gallant soldiers fighting, bleeding.
Wives who laugh at passive spouses;
Theatres, and meeting-houses;
Balls, where simp'ring misses languish;
Hospitals, and groans of anguish.
Arts and sciences bewailing;
Commerce drooping, credit failing;
Placemen mocking subjects loyal;
Separations, weddings royal.
Authors who can't earn a dinner;
Many a subtle rogue a winner;
Fugitives for shelter seeking;
Misers hoarding, tradesmen breaking.
Taste and talents quite deserted;
All the laws of truth perverted;
Arrogance o'er merit soaring;
Merit silently deploring.
Ladies gambling night and morning ;
Fools the works of genius scorning ;
Ancient dames for girls mistaken,
Youthful damsels quite forsaken.
Some in luxury delighting;
More in talking than in fighting;
Lovers old, and beaux decrepid;
Lordlings empty and insipid.
More in talking than in fighting;
Lovers old, and beaux decrepid;
Lordlings empty and insipid.
Poets, painters, and musicians;
Lawyers, doctors, politicians:
Pamphlets, newspapers, and odes,
Seeking fame by diff'rent roads.
Gallant souls with empty purses;
Gen'rals only fit for nurses;
School-boys, smit with martial spirit,
Taking place of vet'ran merit.
Honest men who can't get places,
Knaves who shew unblushing faces;
Ruin hasten'd, peace retarded;
Candour spurn'd, and art rewarded...
Lawyers, doctors, politicians:
Pamphlets, newspapers, and odes,
Seeking fame by diff'rent roads.
Gallant souls with empty purses;
Gen'rals only fit for nurses;
School-boys, smit with martial spirit,
Taking place of vet'ran merit.
Honest men who can't get places,
Knaves who shew unblushing faces;
Ruin hasten'd, peace retarded;
Candour spurn'd, and art rewarded...
Posts
I was also struck by these similarities when teaching a unit on the French Revolution last fall. Really tried to get my students to think about whether or not history repeats itself.
ReplyDeletethanks for reading, and for the comment; I often remind people of the similarities between the situation now, and prior to the French and most other revolutions...
ReplyDeleteI hope that this time - and I am convinced we are on the road to a revolution, indeed that it has already started - we finish the job, and throw out both the political and economic/societal structures that allow this structure to keep reforming...
And that's not by putting in place any of the current and past "isms" - thought up by privileged dead white men, tried and found to fail on multiple levels...
We really need to be willing to try something completely new, perhaps based on indigenous views of the world and sustainability... incorporating the work of some of the world's most gifted visionaries and futurists...
A world created by making decisions and taking actions based on Triple P Bottom Line Accounting...
It must be good for the Planet
It must be good for the People
It must bring Prosperity (different to profit) to all beings...
If we cant fulfil each and all of these conditions, then we don't proceed...
Have lots of other ideas - will put them into a post soon...