Literary Inspiration from on High
“The gods arranged all this, and sent them their misfortunes in order that future generations might have something to sing about.” ~ King Alcinous in the Odyssey at the end of Book VIII
The question of our poets’ impulse, long
Ago explained by Alcinous, clears
Up all the theory. Great bardic song
And lines came springing up from shield shaped tears
And wounds. Philosophers, esthetic thought,
And modern literary academe,
Spare our minds then, which have been too fraught
With suppositions, fancy and extreme.
Accept the simple truth. The reason that
Great poetry exists is due to gods
Who tortured primal men and made them splat
Against the worst of evils and bad odds.
..If gods had not thus intervened, our hearts
….Would now make do with small pathetic arts.