One man once teased me, saying:
“I laugh at the way you compose
Your poems, sir, like a blind man
Who sings the praise of the sun!"
At that, I retorted: “A blind man
Is mostly diligent and searching;
So, how can a blind be afraid of
His bad fortune?” A blind man
Has no perception of the beauty
Of graceful and elegant figures,
Nor a deaf of the sound of tunes.
But is it only the bodily senses,
Of which deafness and blindness
Can be predicated? There is also
A similar defect in the intelligence;
And in these poetic lines of mine
An illustration in itself supplied.
Yes, eyes are all of the same form,
I do not know any big difference
Between them all, yet the blind,
Alas, have no power of eyesight.
Ears are also all of the same form;
I do not know any big difference
Between them all, yet the deaf,
Alas, have no power of hearing.
Minds are all of the same nature,
I do not know any big difference
Between them all, yet the mad
Cannot make the minds of others
Their own. My good personality
Is very like yours, but something
Seems to separate between us, too.
I would wish to find in myself
What there’s in you, but I’m not
Able to do so. You now say to me,
"Keep your body and soul tight
And complete, hold your life
In your close embrace, and do not
Let your intentions and thoughts
Keep working anxiously, that’s it."
With all my efforts to learn
Your good method, your words
Reach only my ears—and there’s
Nothing better to be said,
Pure and simple. I’d also retort:
“Have you not heard how
A true man deals with himself?
He forgets that the liver is
On the right side of his stature
While the spleen on the left.
He takes no care of ears and eyes;
He seems completely lost
And aimless beyond the dust
And dirt of the mundane world,
Enjoyed himself at ease
In occupation untroubled
By affairs of business and trade
Run all around him by others,
Not by himself. He may be
Described as acting and yet
Not relying on what he does,
As being superior and yet
Not using his superiority
To exercise any control,
Dwelling on it for his private.
But now you’d make a display
Of your wisdom to astonish
All the ignorant; you’d cultivate
Your personality to make inferiority
Of others more apparent;
You seek to shine as though
You were carrying the sun
And moon in your both hands.
That you’re complete
In your well-built frame,
With your soul and flesh firmly tied
And with all bodily nine openings,
And that you have not yet
Encounter any serious damage
And calamity in the middle
Of your course, such as deafness
Or blindness or lameness
Or HIV-positive, Heaven forbid,
And can still take your place
As a man among other men—
In all this you are goodly fortunate.
What leisure you have
Putting yourself above other men
And lecturing them to no purpose?
Now grab your stuff and
Wend your way to do what you do,
As I am going my way to do
What I have to do now and then.
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