This
interpretation of the poem “MIGHTY-GOD-MYTH” is hereby written in response to
Prof Carter Kaplan’s request to state what was in my mind when writing this
poem. This interpretative piece is void of any form of analysis as no talk of
literary devices or figure of speech will be discussed. It is just going to be
a task of line to line explanation. To explain fully the idea of the poem, a
poem written by my very self with the name “How
can I?” will be used to make an appraisal of “MIGHT-GOD-MYTH” in other to
pass on the message better.
In our world where Atheism has gotten
many fans than imagined, there is a dare need to ride on some points, and that,
this poem has driven. The Atheist believes there is no God. He believes God’s
existence is a MYTH. The Almighty God who is Mighty (for the poem’s sake) has
been reduced to nothing but a farce occupied by mind’s thinking. While they
cannot give account of the source of life, they have concluded that any
question that has no answer in human terms is not worthy of existence. One of
their arguments is, since God cannot give account of his beginning, he is not. They
have questioned many actions of the So-called God who created the universe and
concluded that those actions just do not make sense. While the concept of
Free-Will is what many believers hold on to discard the questions of the Atheist,
the atheists give a rejoinder that most acts of the Loving God cannot be
justified as Love founded. Such as: “Why should God kill his only son whom he
said he loved?”. Why was Gomorrah destroyed when contemporary world which is much
more barbaric and sinful than Gomorrah remain? Why do the good men die helpless
and the wicked live longer than expected? Simone de Beauvoir (1908 - 1986), French writer and
feminist theorist, said and I quote: “I cannot be angry at God, in whom I do
not believe.” So, why the anger over a God that does not exist?
Though
many disagree with the creation story and spirit life, fact remains that even philosophers
try to access the next reign using Meta-physics, which is beyond the physical. This
poem argues the condition of these ones who have been made slaves of their own
thoughts, and gives lines as to why they should believe in the ALMIGHY GOD.
DIGGING THE LINES
Before
interpreting the poem, let us refresh our minds with the lines of the selfsame
poem.
MIGHTY-GOD-MYTH
Aye! Six bags of metatarsus
dwell amid these sands
The dusty powders that is earthly earthy-
Bad bruised beasts of banded beds
This is the best my tautology taught me
Those dusty powders are these boring bogs
The bags in my
one dwelled on
Those dusty powders are these boring bogs
But the occupiers are not left to forlorn
Amid soil, full pairs of soil beneat,
Where they madly drunk of sleep and net
Where thy debate in thine wordy words
Govern a brazen in mine government of thoughts
If thou doubt thee, solve and serve this salvation
And if thou win, if they be free of dirt Bad heads
and wigs
Dress I, with only fine fogs and figs
Then I be redeemed from my own redemption
Nay! Note, foolish men are only wise in their own minds
God has long being foolish in many minds
Only trusted knowledge can cure men’s minds
And save these bad long sunk in Sands
O’ Cure, cure this insane-wot-one disturbed
And these Lords traversing in turns
When their thoughts are summary robed
Sound insanity shall surely be cured
The
first and second stanza speaks of the condition
of the Atheist and the dirtiness of their thoughts; thoughts they believe
to be wise. The poet uses SIX atheists for this experiment. “Aye! Six bags of metatarsus dwell amid these sands”, so says
the poet. The metatarsus which is a kind of bone in the human is used in the
poem as a symbolism. In line two (2), the poet emphasizes the fact that these
atheists stand on a ground that is dirty packed and this dirt has so affected
them that they, themselves, look dirty in look. The dirtiness has also affected
their thoughts, thus their thoughts are dirty as well. They are so wounded in
thoughts that they have become wounded as well. Thus the poet speaks: “Bad
bruised beasts of banded beds”. The tautology “Dusty powers” was used to emphasize
the extent of their dirty selves. This the poet explains in line 4 of stanza
one (1), that this is the best way he can simply describe them. Thus he speaks:
“This is the best my tautology taught me”.
Line
one of stanza two speaks of the boring state of this dirtiness. The boring
state that comes from the Six atheist (bags) mentioned in line one of stanza
one (my one dwelled on). The line of the boring state was repeated in line
three (3) of stanza two (2) whilst concluding in line four (4) of same stanza
that they are not lonely in this journey of failure they have sojourned. Thus the
poet speaks: “But the occupiers are not left to forlorn”. The poets described
them as occupiers; remember they occupy a dusty earth.
Stanza
three (3) then speaks of the extent of this falling thoughts. That beneath the
soil, these thinkers who wish to exercise their free minds, who are simply
unconscious of the truth of GOD because of their numerous debates begin to get
me wonder in thoughts of the kind of humans they are. Note, a man who is
sleeping in his net is not conscious of reality. So this was used to describe
the state of the atheist towards the things of GOD. Note also, that the
spelling of the word “Beneat” is a wrong spelling of beneath having omitted
“H”. The wrong spelling is deliberate to
create the necessary rhyming scheme in the flow; a simple use of poetic
license.
Amid soil, full pairs of soil
beneat,
Where they madly drunk of sleep and
net
Where thy debate in thine wordy
words
Govern a brazen in mine government
of thoughts
Stanza
four appeals to an imaginary character created in the poem. The appeal to this
character is that he or she should understand the plight of these atheists.
That their condition is a condition of failure and that on their own, they
cannot be saved from it. The argument is also that not even this character can
solve their failures and this should not be doubted. If he doubts it, and wins
in solving this problem of theirs, if these thinkers become free from this corruption
by his own effort, it then means that the redemption I have through Christ is
fake.
If thou doubt thee, solve and serve
this salvation
And if thou win, if they be free of
dirt Bad heads and wigs
Dress I, with only fine fogs and
figs
Then I be redeemed from my own
redemption
Stanza
five (5) and six (6) speaks of their wisdom which is not wisdom indeed. And
that since no one can save them, there is but, one knowledge that can cure them
and that knowledge, is the WORD OF GOD (BIBLE). The last stanza then talks of a situation
where these folks are placed in roll for a cure, one by one. “O’ Cure, cure this insane-wot-one disturbed.” And these Lords
traversing in turns” and if this is successfully done, that is, if they
agree to be ruled by the word of God, sound insanity which is their weak sense
shall be cured.
NB:
To explain this further, the poem “How can I?” is used to buttress further.
HOW CAN I?
And
time was seasoned with time
So
men’s wisdom denied them sense
So
their soul and spirit are mime
So
tell me the very essence
Wise
wisdom once boldly said:
“Be wise and make God like men
And clear all your doubts by then,
And wise on God’s own stead”
Rather
be fool on men’s foot
And
kiss God’s feet instead
Than
challenge and remove my toot
And
be victim of a dreaded dread
How
can I
Who
cannot give account of my blood?
How
can I
Question
God’s drop of the flood?
How
can I
Who
cannot tell how the moon hung?
How
can I
Say:
it is given by Sung?
How
can I
Who
know not how time does lie?
How
can I
Say:
Why does the good man die?
How
can I ask: Who made the Almighty God?
Then
I must ask: Who made our very first God?
If
I must know who surely created God
I
must seek to know his very creator
And
if I know God’s own creator
I
shall seek to know the very other
Thus,
I shall seek on and on
Until
I get so tired upon
But
that, I cannot doubt our beings
So
surely is the Alpha of things
So
where my findings shall end
There
does our God begin
And
many I cannot explain
Hence
is my knowledge detain
Two
giant points are there to discuss. One, if I say God is not real because I
cannot say or God cannot say who created God. I am saying if one knows who
created God; one will also seek to know who created the other. If I know the
other I will seek to know the other, if I know the other-other I will seek to know the other-other-other. So will I seek to know on and on until I get
tired of seeking, and where I end, GOD begins. For no matter my thinking of
life and absence of God in one’s mind, Life is a sure thing and cannot be
discarded.
In
all, there are many questions that have no answer. God had been from time immemorial,
if you doubt it you can’t doubt your existence, and if one can’t doubt his
existence then he should shut up.
Atheism
is about finding answers to statements that are no questions
Ebi Robert