{"id":90850,"date":"2021-06-26T12:56:09","date_gmt":"2021-06-26T16:56:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thepoetrymarathon.com\/blog\/?p=90850"},"modified":"2021-06-26T13:00:44","modified_gmt":"2021-06-26T17:00:44","slug":"return-of-folly","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thepoetrymarathon.com\/blog\/2021\/06\/return-of-folly\/","title":{"rendered":"Return of Folly"},"content":{"rendered":"

———————————-
\nLast lines, and theme, taken from ‘Praise of Folly’ by Erasmus of Rotterdam (1511).
\nTranslated with an introduction and notes by Betty Radice (Penguin Books Ltd., London, 1974).<\/em>
\n———————————-<\/p>\n

Folly speaks:<\/p>\n

I have missed you, mortal souls.
\nThough I have not been away.
\nFive hundred years since last we spoke.
\nYet you have worshipped every day.<\/p>\n

If you\u2019ll allow me to find fault –
\nIt\u2019s likely my uncertainty
\nWould be that once or twice too often
\nYour folly transform’d to cruelty.<\/p>\n

Take weaponry \u2013 although of course
\nI am grateful for the vaulting
\nof my fiefdom over that of War\u2026
\nA bomb to make the whole earth molten?<\/p>\n

And whilst feasting has ever been
\nA passion of both yours and mine
\nI watched small countries starve the world
\nOf bread, whilst they grew drunk on wine.<\/p>\n

Pestilence, that naughty fellow
\nHas been abroad, but curiously
\nYou paid him little heed; instead
\nYou sacrificed too much to me.<\/p>\n

But I cannot stay to chide
\nIt\u2019s not my nature; more\u2019s the pity
\nI speak now to offer hope
\nTo\u2026 redirect your folly more fitly.<\/p>\n

Please recall that love is better
\nFitted to my jolly altar
\nPlease remember I would rather
\nSee you sing, or rhyme, or balter.<\/p>\n

Though your cynic side urge caution
\nOpen arms to those who offer
\nCare and kindness, health and home
\nTo you and those you think the other.<\/p>\n

Don\u2019t believe the poisoned-tongued,
\nThough in my temple they would stand
\nAnd prey upon your blind devotion;
\nYour mortal power is to refuse their hand.<\/p>\n

These have been five heavy centuries –
\nAnd now I think I\u2019d like to see
\nSome folly in a brighter form
\nSome deep and vulnerable empathy.<\/p>\n

Keep safe, my sweet and silly mortals
\nKeep one another safe. And so Goodbye.
\nClap your hands, live and drink;
\nDistinguished initiates of folly.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

———————————- Last lines, and theme, taken from ‘Praise of Folly’ by Erasmus of Rotterdam (1511). Translated with an introduction and notes by Betty Radice (Penguin Books Ltd., London, 1974). ———————————- Folly speaks: I have missed you, mortal souls. Though I have not been away. Five…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2314,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-90850","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-marathon-poem"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thepoetrymarathon.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/90850","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thepoetrymarathon.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thepoetrymarathon.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thepoetrymarathon.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2314"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thepoetrymarathon.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=90850"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/thepoetrymarathon.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/90850\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":90984,"href":"https:\/\/thepoetrymarathon.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/90850\/revisions\/90984"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thepoetrymarathon.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=90850"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thepoetrymarathon.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=90850"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thepoetrymarathon.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=90850"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}