TO SPINOZA
Curiously I ventured in your Ethics
Unwary reached the Eleventh Proposition
Too late I saw the trap! Retreat was blocked.
The omnivorous God leapt fiercely on my neck,
Knocked me, and swallowed me. I found within him
The universe a prisoner around me -
No bird, no blade of grass, no atom free.
Many things were unchanged in shape and motion,
But through all climates, hours and seasons grinned
A mocking twilight of necessity.Here I am Jonah, in the whale forever;
Three days, three million days will not release me!
They call you gentle, kindly, a blessèd one;
Your universe is a huge torture chamber
Where all things have their life and spirit crushed!
Geometer, give him a mood, this glacial God,
Let him but boast of cruel totality,
Now that I'm proved whatever is worm to a worm
In fourteen propositions, Q.E.D.!