2007 is coming to an end and the Festive Season is a time to celebrate and meditate. We have so far discussed texts that explore a number of issues, but all of them have touched, in a certain way, on human conflicts, love and death - isn't it what life is all about after all?
     I thought of bringing you some different this December. It's a short poem from the Poems on the Underground project and it's an extract from 'The Vision of Piers Plowman', written by William Langland in the 14th century.
    
     Click here to read the poem.
    
     I hope you enjoy it and I look forward to reading your comments.
     Cheers - Chris

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Hello everyone
    
     I was looking for some links to bring you more material from Langland when I started asking myself why I have choosen this specific extract to be our December text. I confess that my first intention was simply to give you something definitely short! Something that you could read in a couple of minutes. It's the end of the year, which also means the end of the term and teachers around the world are extremely busy - not to say a bit crazy :)) I also looked for something that could bring you a positive message in the festive season, no matter what your religious beliefs are.
    
     What I find particularly interesting in this short piece is that most messages send to friends and family at this time of year tend to talk about 'Peace and Love' in a very abstract way, but here Langland does not deny the existence of war, woe, suffering and wickedness. He admits their existence without losing hope in love and peace. I confess that I do not share his optimism.
     I find it quite hard to believe that 'peace will put and end to all perils.' Perhaps if we take it to a personal level, it could be possible, but is it really realistic to talk about personal peace when we see the bloodshed that is going on around the world? Can love really heal all wounds?
    
     Looking forward to your comments.
     Cheers - Chris

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Hi Chris and all,
     First of all, I wish you all-in advance- a very Happy and Merry X-Mas full of peace and love.
     The poem is indeed very short but very deep and its choice is even more pertinent on Shris'part. Thanks Chris for this poem .
     My prima facie impression on the poem is that the poet is very concerned and worried about our lovely world which does not cease to bleed everywhere, especially in Africa and in the gulf where muslims are mostly targeted!
     The Utopia(where Love and Peace are masters) our poet dreams of is for the time being an impossibilty as long as the spirit and the culture of cannibalism and egocentrism were and are still the slogans of some of past and present horrifying leaders of the world!
     I like the way the poet deviates from the norms of English language, which may insinuate that the poet was indeed revolting against his reality. For instance, in the "the sun shones brightest" the poet is seemingly talking about a new tense(shones) which mingles both past (shone) and present( the s of present)!
     The profuse use of the sound 'w' is an echo of the wailing and woeing victims of all the stupid wars of history!
     W. Langland was prophetic of the apocalypse of future, which we might be -am afraid- having now, because the daily number of deads we witness on T.V is apocalyptic.
     But let us be as hopeful as Langland:)

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Hello to Mostafa, Chris and all,
    
     I think we are only in a position to evaluate the message of the poem, not the language in which it is written.
     The version that has been made available to us must be a 'translation' since the original, as far as I know, was written in Middle English and is the subject of much academic research into its structure and origins. I doubt that the poet is talking about a new tense - rather that some of the original text slipped through into this version. Langland was born in the West Midlands of England and the poem is set in the Malvern Hills. The language that is used is said to be representative of the dialect of this part of the country.
     As Mustafa points out there are strong aspects of alliteration in these lines but to appreciate this more fully we would need to see the original and, if we did so, an entirely different aspect of the poem might emerge.
     It might be interesting for us to know something about the poet himself, who lived between 1331 and 1385/86 and who had a religious upbringing (in a Benedictine monastery), but who was said to be 'anticlerical'.
     With regard to the message, my questions are "To be able to truly appreciate the value of peace, do we really need wars?" And, "To 'love dearer', do we first need to argue and be nasty to those close to us?" It's a bit like the old story of the man who was bashing his head into a brick wall and who, when asked why, said, 'Because it's so good when I stop'.
     Best regards to everyone.

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Hi Chris
     My name is Rose.
     I just read the poem and I thank you for it.
     I agree that once Love and peace are masters every evil instinct runs away with fear.
     The question is: are they ever going to be ?

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Excellent choice! Peace anf love once more tell us about the how to live happily, the problem is : we seem to be very slow learners. Happy New Year! May all our dreams of peace and love come true!

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Hi everyone
    
     One of the reasons why I believe this poem is still relevant to us is because of what Mostafa so rightly pointed out, the impression we have that however lovely, the world does not 'cease to bleed' and all the potential for peace and love is so tragically wasted.
    
     Janet also poses some interesting questions and I'd say that unfortunately, it's very hard for us to get out of this binary opposition war/peace. Looking at our world from a historical perspective, we have to admit that we have always had a bloody approach to life, indeed.
    
     I have a dear friend in Pakistan and I have just felt that I had to send him a message because of the troubled and violent times his country is going through at the moment; but then looking back we can see that the whole history of his country is stained with blood and so it is almost everywhere in the world. Anyway, let's not lose hope ...
    
     As for Langland text, I don't really think texts can only be interpreted taking into consideration authorial intention and/or the language and the times when they are created. Meaning is also in the history of the text, how it has been read, interpreted and translated along the time and also dependes on the reader's contextual situations. Certainly, reading the ME text can bring us one sort of reading but this does not mean that we cannot interpret the translation into English and its own implications. The way we read Langland nowadays in English may not be the same way we read the original text, but it is no less valid. The resonances and interpretations we find in its present versions and the meanings we create will in time also be part of the texture of the text and probably influence other readers.
    
     Having said so, if you wish to have different versions of the whole text in ME, please visit the Langland webpage at Luminarium
    
     Cheers - Chris

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Better late than never! Thanks, Chris, for very sensibly making last month's text a short one... and none the less stimulating for it! I was particularly drawn to the affirmation that:
    
     There was never war in this world, or wickedness so keen, // That love, if he liked, could not turn to laughter
    
     As teachers, we surely believe that by exercising our 'love' for our students, we can overcome the greatest of obstacles, bringing hope and opportunity where many students only perceive obligation and limitation. Here in Brazil, we face harsh inequalities bordering on civil war (only those untouched by urban violence or unmoved by daily news of atrocities would see this as an exaggeration) but yet there is always hope. In fact, there is a popular saying in Brazil which goes something like "Hope is the last to die" (A esperança é a última que morre).
    
     As has already been said, it is unrealistic and downright naïve to believe that there will ever be a world without war or suffering. Indeed, some of the current discontentment than many privileged individuals feel, despite all their wealth, health and education, is possibly due to a mistaken belief that it IS possible to live a life free of any suffering. Then, when their heart is broken by a failed romance, or a loved one dies in the natural course of things, or, heaven forbid, they are robbed or attacked, they tend to ask WHY? WHY? WHY? Why me?
    
     In fact, such things are part and parcel of human existence. If every cloud has a silver lining, every ray of sunshine has the potential to cause skin cancer!!!
    
     This doesn't mean that we shouldn't strive to make the world a better place, perhaps even tip the balance of good vs. evil, love vs. hate, peace vs. war... but it's certainly an uphill struggle.
    
     I believe this is the message of Langland's poem. We must accept the good with the bad and not despair in the face of suffering, as all's well that ends well.
    
     Happy New Year !!!
    
     Graeme.

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Dear Graeme,
     I have just read your message and I totally agree with it.
     We must accept the good with the bad, because that's the way life is.
    
     Regards
     Liliana

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Hi everyone,
    
     I have just read this poem by Langland and I can't help agreeing with all the sentiments expressed so far.
     Those who have lived through wars (especially in Africa) know the value of peace and love. But we need not experience war and woe in order to appreciate the importance of love and peace in the world. As I write, my brethren in Kenya are hacking each other to death beacuse of disputed elections. It's important to remember that those who genuinely love ( and many politicians are driven by greed not love), usually also have the spirit of patience to work for peace. Those with true love will shed sharp showers of disappointment (as they lose elections) but arise strengthened and full of warmth. We can, if we liked, turn the spirit of war and strife in us to laughetr and peace and harmony.
     Thanks Chris.

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Dear All
     Thanks for your messages. They really bring a bit of hope and I couldn't agree more when you say that the good and the bad come with the pack.
    
     As I see it, there will always be suffering in this world; however, most of the evil we see nowadays, does not come from natural causes. On the contrary, it is brought out by people who make profit of others' suffering. Just think of people who produce and sell guns and weapons, people who traffic on drugs and other human beings, using human misery to make money and have power. If we could eliminate the causes of unnecessary suffering, there would still be plenty to remind us that joy and sorrow are part of life as unrequited love and death will always torment us. It all reminds me of part of a song which says:
    
     We live in an uncertain world
     Fear of understanding and ignorance
     are leading to death
     Only the corpses are left
     For vultures that prey on their bones
    
     But some are just not wanting peace
     Their whole life is death and misery
     The only thing that they know
     Fight fire with fire, life is cheap
    
     But if they do stop to think
     That man is teetering right on the brink
     But do you think that they care?
     They benefit from death and pain and despair
    
     Chris
    

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