The Glebe 1914/04 (Vol. 2, No. 1): CollectsTraubel, Horace
General
The Glebe 1914/04 (Vol. 2, No. 1): Collects
Traubel, Horace
American essays -- 20th century; Literature, Modern -- 20th century -- Periodicals
empty look upon me when we pass. That telltale look. That look that
means more than your riches. That look of infinite self pity. You have
the key to all locks. But you are helpless before that which having no
lock needs no key. You are alive. But you do not possess life. You are
your own master. But that is not enough. There is something beyond.
After being your own master you must know how to become your own slave.
You can live in the senses. In the gratification of the passions. In the
accumulation of temporal properties. But living is not life. So many in
so many generations have been fooled. They have got what they reached
for. But they have found that what they reached for was not what they
desired. When a man is greedy. When he seems willing to do anything to
get goods. Then life seems to say to him: Here's what you want: now what
are you going to do with it? You are filled to the brim. What are you
going to do with it? You run over with success. What are you going to do
with it? You are known everywhere you go. The instant your name is
mentioned everybody knows who you are. What are you going to do with it?
This is living. But this is not life. You are a conqueror. You are a
maker of laws. You rule people. What you say goes. Those who hate fear
you. Those who love despise you. You are an arrogant force upon whose
will for fair or foul the formal living of the world depends. You have
reached deepest into the dirt. You have reached highest into the blue
ether. Yet you look at me as if you who seem to have all after all have
nothing. You have not discovered that living is not life. You have not
seen that far. But you have discovered that something is the matter with
you. That something is the matter with the crown you wear. That a diadem
does not make a king. That living does not make life. That sometimes the
more a man contains the less he contains. That somehow one dream is
worth a thousand facts. That one cipher is worth more than a thousand
figures one. A man may find that out too late. He often leaves it to his
children to find it out for him. And a race often finds it out too late.
A dazzling generation of strutters and pirates finds it out too late. It
often leaves it to posterity to find it out. That's where you are and I
am to-day. We have done wonders. But we have not done enough. We have
still to find ourselves out. We have done wonders. You and I. Our
countries. Your country. Germany, England, Canada, America. Our
countries. Any countries. They have still to find themselves out. To
find out that living is not life. To find out that the church and the
state are not life. That priesthoods and plutocracies are not life. That
love alone is life. That love which means brotherhood all around and
justice going with it all around. That that love alone is life. That is
why our civilization bulging at the belt is still so empty. That is why
our governments bragging so vastly about their omnipotence are still so
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account