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PaperclipPerfector  8d ago (text post)   2312 thread views

Small-Scale Question Sunday for March 23, 2025

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I read my aunt's old poetry album from the 60s. Rural Germany, mind you. The poetry was entirely of the wisdom kind; dozens of people all writing down exhortations along the lines of

  • Be pious and pray fervently.
  • You live for others, not for yourself.
  • Work hard to give God something to work with on your behalf.
  • When life sucks, suck it up.
  • Be glad at all times, even when life is hard.
  • Remember the people around you, and the good times you shared.
  • Honor your parents, they won't be around forever.
  • Speak softly or don't speak at all.
  • Do somethign with your life that you are good at.

It struck me as very different from what one would hear as poetic advice nowadays. Not exactly surprising insights, I suppose.

Work hard to give God something to work with on your behalf.

Oh I like this one.

One of them, which most closely fit this pattern, used the imagery of cutting beams and hewing rocks so that God may build a house for you.

Yes, that's good too. Thanks.

Not long ago, I was struck for similar reasons when reading a Joyce Kilmer poem: To a Young Poet Who Killed Himself. I can’t imagine coming across anything similar from a modern-day poet.

Plus, Kilmer is most famous for his poem on trees (beloved by hippies everywhere), so I tend to think of him as a soft-hearted liberal. In reality, he was a devout Catholic, and he shared his church’s—and his society’s—negative views on suicide.

I would expect the modern-day equivalent to have more pop-psych, like "What doesn't kill you still gives you PTSD". Or maybe eco-friendly, like "Take nothing but pictures, leave nothing but footprints".

See, that's defeatism, not advice. I'm not sure there is a modern-day equivalent, maybe Jordan Peterson?

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