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SAYS PLATO, by                 Poet Analysis     Poet's Biography
First Line: Says plato, 'once in greece the gods
Last Line: From pure soft gold of old?
Alternate Author Name(s): Miller, Joaquin
Subject(s): Plato (428-348 B.c.)


Says Plato, "Once in Greece the gods
Plucked grapes, pressed wine, and reveled deep
And drowsed below their poppy-pods,
And lay full length the hills asleep.
Then, waking, one said, 'Overmuch
We toil: come, let us rise and touch
Red clay, and shape it into man,
That he may build as we shall plan!'
And so they shaped man, all complete,
Self-procreative, satisfied;
Two heads, four hands, four feet.

"And then the gods slept, heedless, long;
But waking suddenly one day,
They heard their valley ring with song
And saw man reveling as they.
Enraged, they drew their swords and said,
'Bow down! bend down!' -- but man replied
Defiant, fearless, everywhere
His four fists shaking in the air.
The gods descending cleft in twain
Each man; then wiped their swords on grapes;
And let confusion reign.
"And such confusion! each half ran,
Ran here, ran there; or weep or laugh
Or what he would, each helpless man
Ran hunting for his other half.
And from that day, thenceforth the grapes
Bore blood and flame, and restless shapes
Of hewn-down, helpless halves of men,
Ran searching ever; crazed, as when
First hewn in twain, they grasped, let go,
Then grasped again; but rarely found
That lost half once loved so."

Now, right or wrong, or false or true,
'Tis Plato's tale of bitter sweet;
But I know well and well know you
The quest keeps on at fever heat.
Let Love, then, wisely sit and wait!
The world is round; sit by the gate,
Like blind Belisarius: being blind,
Love should not search; Love shall not find
By searching. Brass is so like gold,
How shall this blind Love know new brass
From pure soft gold of old?





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