It is indeed a pleasure to find in authors conclusions that we have reached previously and on our own. But nothing compares to finding them contrary to ours when, if they do not refute us completely, they prove to be equally reasonable. In the first case, we only rejoice out of vanity; in the second, we actually grow. It must be admitted, however, that this is a rare pleasure, hardly innate, and more often the result of a continuous effort, of an education of the mind to accept contradictions and understand reality as ambiguous and multifaceted—something that very few spirits are willing to do.
Category: Notes
In Portuguese, the Beauty and Precision of the Speech…
In Portuguese, the beauty and precision of discourse, whether in prose or verse, is mainly due to the good choice of verbs. These, well-chosen, dispense with adverbs and avoid periphrases, only justifiable when the cadence demands. It is impressive to note the number of verbs in the language, something that requires careful and constant study by the serious artist, who will only master them perhaps after long years of effort. Flaubert, if he wrote in Portuguese, would probably devote his obsession to them, and not to nouns.
Marriage Is the Death of Lyric-Love Poetry
Verses by Byron:
There’s doubtless something in domestic doings
Which forms, in fact, true Love’s antithesis;
Romances paint at full length people’s wooings,
But only give a bust of marriages;
For no one cares for matrimonial cooings,
There’s nothing wrong in a connubial kiss:
Think you, if Laura had been Petrarch’s wife,
He would have written sonnets all his life?
There are truths that are too unpleasant and deservedly avoided. There is no denying it: marriage is the death of lyric-love poetry. Or, rather, it ends the latter the instant the desire is consummated. To exist, it is necessary that the poet regrets not having what he covets, that is, it is necessary that something hinders the realization of his fantasy. The verses will sprout only as long as the idealized object is unavailable, and therefore allows itself to be painted with extraordinary form, something that will never occur if it proves to be a real entity. And here we go: Petrarch’s love gave birth to verses because it was unrequited,—an obvious conclusion that needs no biographical support,—as it occurred and occurs with all his peers. Whatever one may say, this is the truth: the poet capable of fulfilling his own will will hardly ever make “love” verses.
Christianity Is the Main Barrier to Collectivism
Very few saw that Christianity would be the main barrier to prevent the West from being totally dominated by the collectivist ideas that flourished in the last century. Today, a war is raging that would already be lost, were it not for the honorable Christian resistance. The historical moment is already clear, and too interesting to ignore: after decades of insults and loss of prestige, only Christianity seems to have forged strong enough bonds to supplant this plague called communism. Who would have thought it! In a secular world, it was precisely religion saving it from totalitarian oppression that allowed it to progress to unprecedented levels. Historians will have to do justice, should the West be freed from the disgrace and misery that threatens it, and credit Christianity with avoiding what would perhaps be the most infamous and darkest chapters of human dignity.