From Henry James' Ambassadors: "Live all you can, it's a mistake not to"...

Villanelle : If you haven't had that, what have you had*

If you haven't had your life, what have you had
In fear of what lies beyond the locked safe-door
Live you now the moment, not for what's ahead

Fear of what others may think, nothing's more sad
Yet if you abandoned all care, who'll forbear
If you haven't had your life, what have you had

Since James*, Mottram*, Barrau* live not a day dead
Yet don't they live safe as Confucian State's heir
Live you now the moment, not for what's ahead

Or do they live safe to be thought Reason-bred
The best of all the Worlds where Time's a mere snare
If you haven't had your life, what have you had

Walk Eternity back to Big-Bang zero-bed
What has no Beginning cannot End-fruit bear
Live you now the moment, not for what's ahead

No Future's secret the Yi Jing* has not read
Don't ephemeral hordes breed the Jün Tzu* to bear
If you haven't had your life, what have you had
Live you now the moment, not for what's ahead


Resources/Notes

" Quotation from Henry James' Ambassadors : " If you haven't had that (your life), what have you had "
" Henry James (American novelist), Eric Mottram (British poet, professor, critic), Aurélien Barrau (French astro-physicist, philosopher, poet)
" Yi Jing : the ancient Chinese Classic of Change
" Jün Tzu : the Noble or Superior Man, the advice given in the Yi Jing is meant primarily to distinguish the Superior Being, all the rest are mutatis mutandi " ephemeral beings " which makes one wonder if Life on Earth is not a mere breeding-ground experiment to produce the " Superior Being ", the rest - if you believe in " samsara " or reincarnation - condemned to be born again and again until they make the grade.

© T. Wignesan - Paris, May 14, 2019