by Brett Rutherford
Adapted from Victor Hugo, l'Annee Terrible, "November 1870"
VI
“Now you preach war,
but you preached peace before!
Wisdom,” said the wise man, “how you have deceived me!
O wisdom, where are the merciful words?
Have we blinded you somehow,
or do you now deceive yourself?
And what about fraternity? There you go,
exterminating Cain, and striking down Attila!” —
— “Man, I have not deceived you,” protested Wisdom.
“Everything begins in refusal and ends in concession.
Winter leads to spring, and hate to love.
We believe we are working against a thing,
and all the while we are working
for it.
Facts bolster theories; theories sometimes
require that facts be overlooked, till Truth
itself becomes a heavy mass of shadows.
That man is worried by their depth;
Providence is black because of its grandeur;
thus the sinister and holy night makes its sail
out of darkness with layers of stars."
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