Rabindranath Tagore - Poetry

This is another poet that I haven't heard of before this.  This is a translation from Bengali.  I'm told that this poet was renowned as a songwriter.  The poem is 'The Gardner'.  (Note: I'm typing this out as it is presented in the book so I don't know if the line breaks are set this way in the poem or if they simply come out this way in the printing.)

Your questioning eyes are sad. They seek to know my
meaning as the moon would fathom the sea.
I have bared my life before your eyes from end to end,
with nothing hidden or held back. That is why you know
me not.
If it were only a gem, I could break it into a hundred
pieces and string them into a chain to put on your neck.
If it were only a flower; round and small and sweet, I could
pluck it from its stem to set it in your hair.
But it is a heart, my beloved. Where are its shores and its
bottom?
You know not the limits of this kingdom, still you are its
queen.
If it were only a moment of pleasure it would flower in an
easy smile, and you could see it and read it in a moment.
If it were merely a pain it would melt in limpid tears,
reflecting its inmost secret without a word.
But it is love, my beloved.
Its pleasure and pain are boundless, and endless its wants
and wealth.
It is as near to you as your life, but you can never wholly
know it.

Wow, that's quite a poem.  Another one that should be memorized by anyone looking to romance a young woman.  Some of this is quite beautiful.  "If it were only a gem, I could break it into a hundred pieces and string them into a chain to put on your neck. If it were only a flower, round and small and sweet, I could pluck it from its stem to set it in your hair. But it is a heart, my beloved. Where are its shores and its bottom?"  That's gorgeous writing.
The poetry element of this project was kind of a lark, but I've found it to be quite rewarding.  I've never heard of this poem and it's quite possible that outside of this book ('The 100 Best Poems of All Time", edited by Leslie Pockell), I never would have.  My life would have been poorer for that.

Readings for March

It's a busy month.

March
Plato: Statesmen link
Aristotle: On Interpretation (Chapters 1-10) link
Aristotle: Politics (book III-V) link
Euclid: Elements (book I) link

I'm through the first three and they're worth your while. 

Update: I just started in on Euclid and found this series of videos to be wonderfully helpful.

Books Read in February

I started this last month.  This is simply a list of the non Great Books books that I read during the month.

• A War Like No Other, Victor Davis Hanson - I already mentioned this.  I'll just say again that this was extremely helpful in understanding the Peloponnesian war.  Highly recommended.
• Lest Darkness Fall, L. Sprague de Camp - This was a reread for me.  An archeologist from the 30's gets transported back to 5th century Rome.  He uses his knowledge of history to try and prevent the dark ages.  Wonderfully entertaining.  My favorite alt-history book.
• The Tiger's Wife, Tea Obreht - A more recent book and a new one for me.  This was highly reviewed when it came out a couple of years back and I've been looking forward to it.  The story takes place in the Balkans and concerns the efforts of a young doctor to uncover part of her Grandfather's history from the stories he told her.  It was readable, but fell short of the expectations presented from the reviews.

Again, I dipped into a bunch of other things.  One of the more enjoyable was 'The Olympics 50 Craziest Stories'.  I'm a fan of the Olympics (yes, despite some of the awful things that surround them) so it went well with late nights of watching speed skating and skeleton. 
I've got one more book on Greece on my list and then, after this months works, I'm ready to say goodbye to Hellenic culture until next January.  Not that the last few months haven't been enjoyable, of course, but between Herodotus and Thucydides, I'm ready for a change from Greek history. 

A War Like No Other - Victor Davis Hanson

I've mentioned that I found the 'Landmark Thucydides' to be a good translation of the the Peloponnesian war.  The other book that helped lead me through it is 'A War Like No Other' by Victor Davis Hanson.  Hanson is a professor of Greek history in California and an expert in the field.  In this book he breaks down the conflict by subject, one per chapter.  The chapters/subjects:

• Fear
• Fire
• Disease
• Terror
• Armor
• Walls
• Horses
• Ships

And so on.  He also does a good job of relating the war to modern ears.  For instance, he talks about how both the pro and anti Iraq war sides cited Thucydides in their arguments during the run up to the war.  A very worthwhile read.

A.E. Houseman - Poetry

The name Houseman is faintly familiar to me but I couldn't say that I know anything about this poet.  Or this poem, which is titled 'When I was One-and-Twenty'.

When I was one-and-twenty
I heard a wise man say,
"Give crowns and pounds and guineas
But not your heart away;
Give pearls away and rubies
But keep your fancy free."
But I was one-and-twenty,
No use to talk to me.

When I was one-and-twenty
I heard him say again,
"The heart out of the bosom
Was never given in vain;
'Tis paid with sighs a plenty
And sold for endless rue."
And I am two-and-twenty
And oh, 'tis true, 'tis true.

A very nice poem.  How well I remember those two or three relationships where I gave my heart too freely and it ended up smashed.  Part of me wishes that I'd read this back when I was younger, but I don't know if it would have helped.  'But I was one-and-twenty/No use to talk to me.'  How true, how very true.

Readings for March

It's a big month coming up:

March
Plato: Statesmen link
Aristotle: On Interpretation (Chapters 1-10) link
Aristotle: Politics (book III-V) link
Euclid: Elements (book I) link

I won't kid you, this isn't an easy month.  But its doable!

Go to War?

A while ago I was asked if this reading list has led me to any big pops of understanding.  I answered that I'd begun to see just how important the idea of challenging the status quo has been.  Another idea occurred to me though.  Quite a bit of what we've read so far has dealt with the terrible costs of war.  Think of what we've gotten from the Greeks:

• Aristophanes - Lysistrata talks about how hard war is on the women at home.  
• Homer - The Iliad shows that the Trojan war was pretty much a disaster for all involved.
• Aeschylus - A continuation of the tragedies of the Trojan war.  Agamemnon's family was simply shredded in the aftermath.
• Herodotus - The parts of the History we read mainly dwells on the follies of various Persian leaders.  Spoilers: they didn't do well.
• Thucydides - The Peloponnesian war was terrible for pretty much every part of Greece.

The only balance I can think of comes from Plutarch where both Alexander and Caesar benefited from war.  And then were killed.  But their deaths were from disease and politics so they seem to be in a little different category.
Some of this is simply timing.  Quite a bit of the classic Greek works were written during the Peloponnesian war.  It understandably dominated the thinking of the time.  But all the same, these are foundational works of Western thought.  You could very easily read some of the greats and come away anti-war. 
At the very least, this reading has put some caution into my thoughts on the subject.  Not that I was rabidly pro-war before.  (In fact, the rabid pro-war person is more of a caricature than an actual representation.)  But my ideas of the costs and benefits have changed.  My threshold for supporting war is much higher than it was before.