They met and they talked where the crossroads meet,
Four men from the four winds come,
And they talked of the horse, for they loved the theme,
And never a man was dumb.
The man from the North loved the strength of the horse,
And the man from the East his pace,
And the man from the South loved the speed of the horse,
And the man from the West his grace.
So these four men from the four winds come,
Each paused a space in his course
And smiled in the face of his fellow man
And lovingly talked of the horse.
Then each man parted and went his way
As their different courses ran;
And each man journeyed with peace in his heart
And loving his fellow man
They met the next year where the crossroads meet,
Four men from the four winds come;
And it chanced as they met that they talked of God,
And never a man was dumb.
One imagined God in the shape of a man.
A spirit did one insist.
One said that nature itself was God.
One said that he didn’t exist.
They lashed each other with tongues that stung,
That smote as with a rod;
Each glared in the face of his fellow man,
And wrathfully talked of God.
Then each man parted and went his way,
As their different courses ran;
And each man journeyed with wrath in his heart,
And hating his fellow man.
'Odium Theologicum'
By Sam Walter Foss
Photo - Memorial to The Cathars, Minerve, France - By Alistair
9 comments:
I've never come across this poem before (or heard of the poet), but gosh, what strong emotions within it - and sadly how true . . .
Mornung BB - I'd not seen this before but when I found it I knew it would appear here at some point. I've been looking around for more materiel for these posts as I've exhausted nearly all of my favourite known poems {In fact I never knew that I liked so many in the first place} I may be coming to any of you who have a favourite that you'd like to see in the series. They get so many hits its amazing......
Hey Alistair, this is such an effective piece. It should be required reading at school. Thanks matey. Indigo
Cheers Indigo - I can imagine the hassle from some parts. But I agree!
Excellent poem Alistair, I've never come across it before but it certainly struck home.
In the Officers Mess, there are three things we were not supposed to talk about, because of the dangers of bad feelings (Bad feelings are seen as a BAD THING when the other guy could be pointing a battery of 105mm Howitzers at your back)
The three were (in no order)
Women
Politics
Religion.
Two out of three wasn't so bad.
I can certainly understand that right enough......
No one should be wrathful when they talk of God. If God is love, then so should be the talk :)
Oh, this is a new poem for me. Wonderful. Very powerful too. Hope you are well, Alistair. I've been missing from the blog scene for a couple of weeks. Trying to catch up with everyone now!
Thanks all. Such a great wee bit of work isn't it. Shame it's not better known.
Post a Comment