Saturday Rave: The Pulley, by George Herbert.

The twenty second of February, as any ex-Girl Guide knows, is Thinking Day.

I always liked the idea of a Thinking Day, because thinking was viewed in my childhood home as foolish, self-indulgent, arrogant, and a threat, and therefore strongly discouraged. 

So, anyway, here's something to think about.

George Herbert wrote about man's relationship with God, but, as with all great Art, his work has a wider-than-literal application.

When God at first made man,
Having a glass of blessings standing by;
Let us (said he) pour on him all we can:
Let the world's riches, which dispersed lie,
Contract into a span.

So strength first made a way;
Then beauty flowed, then wisdom, honour, pleasure:
When almost all was out, God made a stay,
Perceiving that alone of all his treasure
Rest in the bottom lay.

For if I should (said he)
Bestow this jewel also on my creature,
He would adore my gifts, instead of me,
And rest in Nature, not the God of Nature:
So both should losers be.

Yet let him keep the rest,
But keep them with repining restlessness:
Let him be rich and weary, that at least,
If goodness lead him not, yet weariness
May toss him to my breast.

***

Actually, come to think about it, I seem to remember Captain Kirk saying something rather similar about six hundred years later.

As I said, Great Art has a wide application.

Word To Use Today: weariness. This word comes from the Old English wērig. Entertainingly, it's related to the Old High German wuarag, drunk, and the Greek hōrakian, to faint.