Imre Madach's "The Tragedy of Man," Revolution and Knowledge

Photo: Illustration from website: http://www.wga.hu/html/z/zichy/index.html 

In The Tragedy of Man (1860), Hungarian playwright, Imre Madach, reveals the inherent spirit within humanity to resolve differences through knowledge. This play, consisting of fifteen scenes, depicts the first couple, Adam and Eve, in paradise whereby Eve questions the validity of the Lord’s request to deprive the couple of all knowledge. In her exchange with Lucifer in Scene II, she philosophizes:

Why should he punish? For if he hath fixed

The way that he would have us follow, so

He hath ordained it, that no sinful lure

Should draw us otherwhere; why hath he set

The path athwart a giddy yawning gulf

To doom us to destruction? If, likewise,

Sin hath a place in the eternal plan,

As storm amid the days of sunlit warmth,

Who would the angry storm more guilty deem

Than the life-giving brightness of the sun? (Scene II)

After leaving the garden of Eden for tasting of the fruit of the Tree of Knowledge, Adam and Eve fall asleep in their new home and experience a number of historical events to become aware of the many ways humanity has grown into self knowledge, beginning in Egypt, where the couple learns of personal glory. Adam then longs to learn of humanity’s struggle for the good of nation, through experiences in ancient Athens, Greece. They discover hedonism in ancient Rome, Christianity in the form of knighthood of the middle ages, where he also discovers medieval fanaticism. This leads to his search for sense in the sphere of Johannes Kepler. However, in the world of Emperor Rudolph, Adam moves on to the French Revolution, where he encounters the deceit of Danton and the ultimate failure in humankind’s ability to execute a lasting revolution. He becomes disenchanted with humanity at the London Fair. In the final scene, Eve tells Adam of the upcoming birth of their second child. She foreshadows:

If God so will, a second shall be born

In sorrow, who shall wash them both away

And bring upon this wide world, brotherhood.

Well, we all know what happened with that relationship, so Imre Madach, who places the burden of man’s struggle at the hands of the woman, also illustrates that humanity has within its grasp the ability to seize control over its destiny as the heavenly choir of angels sings:

…Yet in the glory of thy road,

Let not the thought thee blind

That what thou dost in praise of God

Is wrought of human mind.

Think not the Lord hath need of thee

His purpose to fulfill,

And thou receivest from Him grace,

If thou mayest work His will.

The Lord responds: O Man, strive on, strive on, have faith; and trust! (Scene XV)

Therefore, Imre Madach reveals, through the artistry of his writing, his intense belief that within its own consciousness, humanity has the ability to advance harmonic relevance from dissonant experience, for he presents Eve as the mother of humanity with the conviction that her children will move humanity forward in their quest for true knowledge. (Lakatos 2007)

Ode to Skunk Cabbage

The first day of Spring has passed, and I just had to submit this little ode to one of the harbingers of Spring, the Skunk Cabbage, as an illustration of the connection between artist and nature. 

                 Skunk Cabbage growing near my neighbor's pond and the flower from Google Images                                                            

Ode to Skunk Cabbage

Bursting forth from its ruddy milieu,      

it erects from its hooded spathe.

This courageous prophet boldly faces

the chilly air with unique confidence, 

guided by a mighty force.

Radiating silently, as if to say,

“Come to me, for I offer

the nourishment you need now,”

his sweetness within calls upon

the daring creature to receive its warmth.

And she responds, and she comes:

the beetle, the spider, the queen bee,

warmed by the generosity 

of Spring’s first.

Odiferous, proud, protective,

he inspires the fragrant flora

to engender beauty.

Now, Spring has arrived

with the burgeoning

of the exceptional skunk cabbage.

© Jeanne I. Lakatos

To hear me recite this verse, please click HERE.

Daffodils, Forget-me-nots, and an Old Rock Wall

 

Daffodils and Forget-me-nots, along an old rock wall in Connecticut.

Daffodils, Forget-me-nots, and an Old Rock Wall

Daffodils and Forget-me-nots, 

planted many years ago along an old rock wall, 

remind us that others tread along this path. 

We forget them not, for their brilliance lingers.

Their journey has ended while ours continues,

endeavors never defeated by onslaughts 

of storms, heat, cold winds, and other calamities. 

We are strong, resilient, awakening each Spring:

Daffodils, Forget-me-nots, old rock walls...us.

© Jeanne I. Lakatos 

Fiddlehead Feast

Here is a poem that I revised a bit on fiddlehead ferns, another group of plants that are harbingers of Spring. I included a recipe for Fiddlehead Quiche below the poem. Bon appetit!

photo from the front garden at my home

Fiddlehead Feast

Did you happen upon the fiddlehead fern

growing in the woodland mulch,

amidst the other springing buds

like skunk cabbage, crocus and such,

unfurling its primitive merit

with vitality richly designed?

Relentlessly, I search for the fiddlehead fern;

its presence seen, not much,

but then it boldly appears to me,

and I honorably prepare it to touch

my awaiting, salivating palate

that accepts its flavor divine!

What blissful company with which to dine:

this fiddlehead fern ~ a collation so fine!

 © Jeanne I. Lakatos  

To hear me recite this verse, please click HERE.  

***************************************************************

YANKEE FIDDLEHEAD PIE (OR QUICHE)

Recipe by L.L. Bean Book of New England Cookery:

Serving Size : 8  

  4 Eggs

  1 c  Milk

  1 c  Fiddleheads, cooked, chopped

  2 Tbs Leeks -- chopped, cooked

  1 Tbs  Parsley, chopped -- or 2

  1 c  Cheddar cheese, mildly shredded

  Salt to taste

  1 Pie crust, partially baked, 9  or 10"

  8 Whole cooked fiddleheads

Beat the eggs with the milk until blended.  Fold in the chopped fiddleheads, leeks, and parsley, and half of the grated cheese. Season with salt to taste. Turn into the partially baked shell and sprinkle on the remaining cheese. Decorate the edge with whole fiddleheads.  Bake in a preheated 350 º oven for 40 minutes, or until set.  Let rest 10 minutes before serving.

Thomas Paine and Revolutionary Consciousness: A Lesson for Twenty-First Century Readers

Thomas Paine, Rights of Man (photos from Google images)

Thomas Paine differentiates between natural and civil rights of man, with the latter originating from the former. He interprets the aristocracy’s use of language as a means of establishing a sense of power. Relating the consciousness of the eighteenth-century mindset, Paine elucidates for his readers an emerging global consciousness in Rights of Man:

The progress of time and circumstances, which men assign to the accomplishment of great changes, is too mechanical to measure the force of the mind, and the rapidity of reflection, by which revolutions are generated:  All the old governments have received a shock from those that already appear, and which were once more improbable, and are a greater subject of wonder, than a general revolution in Europe would be now…. what we now see in the world, from the Revolutions of America and France, are a renovation of the natural order of things, a system of principles as universal as truth and existence of man, and combining moral with political happiness and national prosperity.

These fundamental beliefs authentically provide Paine's readership with contrasting attributes of the narrow vision present in governmental hierarchy in contrast with those belonging to humanity in general. A correlation between humanity and nature formed the consciousness of revolutionary thought, which eventually fed into the elaborate (and beautiful) artistic, musical, and literary expressions of Romanticism. 

Our politicians of the twenty-first century could do well to consider Mr. Paine's words. Are we on the brink of realizing free expression, found within the core of human creativity derived from Divine Love or are we on the brink of mass destruction? As with all significant moments, we will know for sure...in God's time.

Cognitive Revolutions: Creative Revelations, all in God's Time

A Beautiful Sunset in Danbury, CT

The Gospel Reading at church with the story of Jesus, meeting His disciples on the Road to Emmaus, (Luke 24:13-35) made me think...

We learn to recognize aspects of our lives that create impressions, unaware of the cognitive variations that our minds and bodies interpret and reinterpret. Yet, we continue to move gracefully through our personal universes. How often have we affected others? How often have others affected us?

Revolution of thought is inclusive of awareness within the mind and body with inter/intra-connections. Very simply, as we perceive and cognitively organize our environment, we slowly create the opus that is only ours to share. To consider this concept in a positive way, that opus can move humanity to a higher level of consciousness.

Just think! If individuals elevated their thinking to those matters that pertain to the goodness and creative genius that dwells within, how generous we could be with each other! How marvelous this Earthly experience could be!

As we concentrate intently on our thoughts and their influences, we affect our reality, and thus, we open the possibilities of individual, creative, and loving connections... in God's Time.

Ballerina

This was a prompt, based on a photo by Keith Carter, which you see below. An example of ekphrasis, you will see my poetic interpretation of Carter's work. 

Ballerina

She had dreams

of becoming a ballerina

but God had other plans

even though she maintained

beauty

discipline

kinesthetic poetry 

on stage.

Up in smoke they went...

forming an obscurity

from which her Truth emerged,

clarified, revitalized:

beauty

discipline

kinesthetic poetry 

in stages.

© Jeanne I. Lakatos

To hear my reading of this verse, please click HERE.