XIV.
“The Worldly Hope men set
their Hearts upon
Turns Ashes – or it
prospers; and anon,
Like Snow upon the Desert’s
dusty Face
Lighting
a little Hour or two – is gone.”
The
Christmas holiday period seems like an appropriate time to get into this verse.
Here, we see an expression of the notion that worldly existence is illusory and
that the things of the physical world are impermanent and non-lasting. In fact
this stanza is quite Buddhist in its approach, although I suspect that Omar and
FitzGerald would both find the idea faintly heretical.
By
“Worldly Hope” we are told that we shouldn’t put too much faith in tangible,
physical things. Things of the spirit are what last, while baubles and trinkets
fade over time and lose their efficacy – they “turn Ashes”. This is not to say
that we should have no hope whatsoever; it just means that the Bird of Time
will eventually pass by the things of this world upon which we count to see us
through.
Money
drains away; fortresses crumble; youth and beauty fades. Politics shifts;
ideals are replaced with new ones; treaties and contracts are broken. The only
constant in the world is change and trying to fight it is like trying to pin a
river in place with a lance.
There
is a sense though, that worldly things do offer comfort - they turn ashes or
they prosper. Some things will return on an investment; in the long term
however, they disappear like snow falling on a desert. But, like snow falling
onto the dust, it creates a small space of beauty and pleasure before vanishing
– it lights a little hour and is gone.
With
Christmas consumerism in full overdrive, I was sent a link to a Youtube channel
with a short program displaying the “Top
Ten Most Expensive Things on the Planet”. These ranged from a $2,000,000
pair of shoes, to a $16,200,000 iPhone, to a $52,000,000 ocean liner, to a
woman willing to sell her virginity to the highest bidder – at last count
$3,700,000. The whole display made me feel only that we live in a pretty sick
world where such transactions and manufacturing take place. Sure, $16,200,000
makes for a pretty swanky mobile phone (until the next model comes out) but
that amount of cash could also cure quite a bit of Ebola, I’m thinking.
I’m
not sure that Omar (and FitzGerald) are telling us that we should invest
wisely, that we should “live like there’s no tomorrow, but farm as if we’ll
live forever” (as the Africans have it); in the context of their general “seize
the day” philosophy, maybe they’re telling us we should just go for that
diamond-studded footwear and be damned. If it makes you feel good, then why
not? Just remember: it won’t last.
