Epitaph
I think they
will remember this as the age of lamentations,
The age
of broken minds and broken souls,
The age
of hurt creatures sobbing out their sorrow to the rhythm of the blues –
The music
of lost Africa’s desolation become the music of the town.
The age
of failure of splendid things,
The age
of deformity of splendid things.
The age
of young men and bitter children,
The age
of treachery and of great new faith,
The age
of madness and machines,
Of broken
bodies and fear twisted hearts,
The age
of frenzied fumbling and possessive lusts –
And yet,
deep down, an age unsatisfied by dirt and guns,
An age
which though choked by the selfishness of the few who owned their bodies and
souls,
Still struggled
blindly to the end,
And in
their time reached out magnificently
Even for
the very stars themselves.
H.D. Carberry (1921-1989)
H.D.
Carberry was born in Montreal, Canada, in 1921, the son of the former Jamaican Chief
Justice, Sir John Carberry and Lady Georgina Carberry. He was taken to Jamaica
as a small child and lived there for the rest of his life.
I felt this
poem was particularly apt at a time of great unrest and cruelty across the
world, when lives are cheap and greed is master, when the self is more
important than others.
I'm not familiar with H D Carberry, but I note he was born in the same year as my father (who would definitely have taken a more positive view of his era).
ReplyDeleteWhat year was the poem written, I wonder?
Cheers, Gail.
I can't find much information about H D Carberry. 'Epitaph' was included in an anthology of his works , 'It Takes a Mighty Fire', published in 1995, six years after his death. Odd!
DeleteA poem of sorrows and unmet expectations I think.
ReplyDeleteYes, it is very sombre.
DeleteOh yes, so very apt for our times.
ReplyDeleteIt's not all doom and gloom, though it feels like that sometimes.
DeleteIt's a good piece. I was a boy in Montreal, so that is a connection with the poet.
ReplyDeleteSo, do you speak French? Sorry if you're tired of that question.
ReplyDeleteVery sobering and very true.
ReplyDeleteAlison in Wales x
'the age of lamentations' is most apt.
DeleteBeautiful and sadly true.
ReplyDeleteIt is a lovely poem, I think.
DeleteReading that I assumed it was a modern poem. Grim days.
ReplyDeleteIt sounds contemporary, I agree.
DeleteOh dear what a deeply sad poem that does unfortunately convey a lot of what is wrong in the world - I agree with your last paragraph.
ReplyDeleteSadly, there are always troubles in the world and the lamentations are repeated from generation to generation.
DeleteProfundo poema . La humanidad es su propia enemiga y destruirá todo lo que se ponga a su alrededor. Te mando un beso.
ReplyDeleteMan is very destructive.
DeleteThere is indeed so much unrest at the moment in our world, it is very concerning.
ReplyDeleteI do my best to make my corner of it as pleasant as possible, spread some kindness every day.
All the best Jan
Individuals are kind and compassionate, usually, but it all goes awry with politics.
DeleteDefinitely a poem of the day.
ReplyDeleteI agree.
DeleteThis poem tugged at my heart. Thank you for it.
ReplyDeleteThank you, Debby.
DeleteFear twisted hearts... Perhaps he was not writing about any age he had lived through but was expressing a portent of the future.
ReplyDeletePerhaps so. I can't find much information about him.
ReplyDeleteI think the sobering lesson here is that (to paraphrase the American author Mark Twain) "history never repeats itself, but it does often rhymes." H D Carberry seems to have written a lot of nature poetry, also, on a less gloomy note.
ReplyDeleteWe never seem to learn from history.
DeleteSuch a poignant poem, and very apt for this day and age indeed. I too am wondering about the year this poem was written. xxx
ReplyDeleteI don't know - maybe the 60s?
ReplyDeleteA very thought provoking poem and your observations so true.
ReplyDeleteA sobering poem.
ReplyDelete