Sonnets xx
by Langston Hughes
POOR soul, the centre of my sinful earth--
My sinful earth these rebel powers array--
Why dost thou pine within and suffer death,
Painting thy outward walls so costly gay?
Why so large cost, having so short a lease,
Dost thou upon thy fading mansion spend?
Shall worms, inheritors of this excess,
Eat up thy charge? Is this thy body's end?
Then, soul, live thou upon thy servant's loss,
And let that pine to aggravate thy store;
Buy terms divine in selling hours of dross;
Within be fed, without be rich no more:
So shalt thou feed on Death, that feeds on men;
And Death once dead, there 's no more dying then.
My sinful earth these rebel powers array--
Why dost thou pine within and suffer death,
Painting thy outward walls so costly gay?
Why so large cost, having so short a lease,
Dost thou upon thy fading mansion spend?
Shall worms, inheritors of this excess,
Eat up thy charge? Is this thy body's end?
Then, soul, live thou upon thy servant's loss,
And let that pine to aggravate thy store;
Buy terms divine in selling hours of dross;
Within be fed, without be rich no more:
So shalt thou feed on Death, that feeds on men;
And Death once dead, there 's no more dying then.
I love this sonnet!
ReplyDeleteI want to try to answer his questions.
1. Why dost thou pine within and suffer death,/Painting thy outward walls so costly gay?
Evolution and selfish genes are why we suffer death. But as for the expensive paintings, society and culture have conditioned us. Maybe that too is a byproduct of evolution. That's my answer for now.
2. Why so large cost, having so short a lease,/Dost thou upon thy fading mansion spend?
I guess if you have it spend it. Whatever wealth one has will be worthless in death, but of course it could be better spent. I blame capitalism now. Death is also a business.
3. Shall worms, inheritors of this excess,/Eat up thy charge?
Yes. Among other decomposes.
4. Is this thy body's end?
Yes.
I love the ending, and I agree with the narrator. Feed on death!