After reading Pope’s Rape of the Lock, I noticed a portion of Canto V that bashes the way that people focus on things that are temporary instead of things that last. In lines 25-30, Pope says,
“But since, alas! frail beauty must decay,
Curled or uncurled, since locks will turn to gray,
Since painted, or not painted, all shall fade,
And she who scorns a man must die a maid;
What then remains but well our power to use,
And keep good humor still whate'er we lose?”
So many times, my viewpoint of things is based on what I see on their surface. That may be human nature, but I shouldn’t be focused on those things to find joy or anything like that. I think that I need to begin to make sure that I “keep good humor still whate’er [I] lose.”
Although this wasn’t written to be spiritual in nature, it could be viewed that way meaning that we should not focus on the world, but instead we should focus on Christ and the other two things that will last for eternity, the Word of God and the souls of men.
P.S. - I commented on Kaylie’s Blog.
I was thinking the same sort of concept in the read. I think the point he is trying to make in the nonspiritual aspect is "what is going to be left when your good turns to bad, or when your riches that shine turn to rust?". To your spiritual aspects, i have nothing more to say than "That'll Preach!".
ReplyDeleteWow, that's a cool point, I actually didn't think about that at all when I was reading. But I agree, in a way, Pope is preaching that message to a world. He is definitely poking fun at human nature to only focus on appearances.
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