What Hath The Wise More Than The Fool?

A sonnet done for English.

He fears that he is another tortured intellectual,

a sighted man amongst the blind

He wants nothing more than to believe

in a higher being �" but he can't.

He can't whole-heartedly immerse himself in illusions,

for all the bliss it would bring him.

He knows far too much;

not a man in the dark who

can't quench his insatiable thirst for knowledge,

but a man who'd much rather be a

contented fool.

He sits amidst four walls that

slowly close around him.

There he loses his grip on reality

gradually, slowly wasting away -

a mountain climber clinging to the ledge

with one hand, fingers dwindling until he holds

only by some dampened faith.

He feels his quest for knowledge

has dug him six feet under �" trapped

in a premature grave to live out

his sorrowful life, but truly,

he's died long ago.

He wants only to live in sleep,

where the lights go out like a

fragile flame flickers on the wick of a

candle and perishes without sympathy,

where he's not plagued by the turmoil

of reality,

where he may find a little solace -

a little piece of mind,

where he may rest his troubled soul.

From his mound of knowledge he stands,

watching the busy life below...

...and there he cannot help but

envy the ignorance of the happy creatures.

Hannah Vance

Reviews

[Dizzyspells]

Blimey. This is really, really good. You've taken incredibly complex ideas and feelings and put them in exactly the right words. I have to admit, I can relate to quite a few of the sentiments in it--but I also have to wonder whether this was written about a person at all. If there is such a thing as a sentient God, this may be how he/she/it feels, eh? Either way, this is very well-written and thought provoking. I think everybody's going to have their own personal interpretation of it. Great work.

[imagination]

Oh! I love it! :3 It reminds me of quite a few of us, haha. Good job, Sanneh!