No greater harm there is as when good men
Are silent, shy, and walk with downcast eyes,
Or strangle and restrain the poet's pen,
In toleration of deceit and lies.
Too grim events have taken place of late,
Lo! To ignore them is disgrace and shame,
For to high heaven cries Benghazigate,
It will retain for evermore this name
To sing sweet pious tunes will not suffice
Don't do as did beguiling envoy Rice
Who streamed five times on busy networks Five.
To keep deception healthy and alive
With ghostly voices whispering in the rear,
To reassure the anxious wax-clogged ear.
But do as Jesus did while here on earth,
Rebuking white-washed dwellings that so stink,
In words exquisite, summary and terse,
To keep man's cherished soul with Truth in sync
Four heroes died - for help in vain they cried
For due assistance or swift shield Hotspot,
But were ignored and needed help, denied.
Their blood cries out to heaven and to God.
I am so grateful Sir for giving me the precious tip. Unfortunately I can not change it. on this site. you are so right. I, however must give thanks to God for doing as well as is, being an Austrian steer washer, and - - "malheur" -poliglot. Voila! vive la difference.! Many thanks for commenting and precious tip. Blessings Elizabeth
elizabethdandy 25-Oct-2012 12:22 PM
No greater harm there is as when good men Are silent, shy, and walk with downcast eyes,
If I may illustrate here a better poetic effect:
No greater harm is done as when good men Are silent, shy, and walk with downcast eyes,
the phrase ' no greater harm is done' is idiomatic, as opposed to 'no greater harm there is'. The result of using 'is done' is to provide thrust to the argument, reinforced in the 'd' sound in 'good'; but, further, in line two, 'downcast' echoes 'down', and in association is reinforced in effect.
I trust you will excuse this comment; but poetry is more than literal statement: that is the function of prose. In poetry, sounds and rhythm of words, highlighted in rhyme, play a vital part in the expression of meaning.
Having said that, there is a case for saying that the lines:
No greater harm there is as when good men Are silent, shy, and walk with downcast eyes,
are your lines, uniquely. This is what makes one poem differ from another, and if the difference is a fault, well, vive la differance!
