Sunday 15 June 2014

He Sees Not Gain

Not To Be Reproduced, 1937, Rene Magritte 

Errare humanum est, perseverare autem diabolicum

He sees not gain from broken hearts
yet ‘gainst himself he stacks the deck.
All hopes of love he pulls apart
and ‘gainst himself he turns his back.  
Hope nullified: compulsion marks
a broken heart as love he wrecks.
(And persistence perpetuates
as self-destruction replicates)

Anna :o]

Posted for Real Toads - Yeats Octaves, Magpie Tales (image) and shared with Poets United.
Thank you Kerry, Tess & Mary

32 comments:

Arushi Ahuja said...

love your words spoken so easily and yet being so strong in themselves!!

Mary said...

An intense write, Anna....so sad about the broken heart. Really.

Brian Miller said...

sometimes we are our own worst enemies in those moments....you know....we will eat ourself alive....

Anonymous said...

hope nullified - what a sad thing this must be - K

Sherry Blue Sky said...

A bleak outlook this fellow has, but the form of the poem you have executed with precision.

Magaly Guerrero said...

The last line is haunting. I shall go for a walk with it...

ZQ said...

Bravo!
ZQ

Truedessa said...

this was rather sad as he turned his back..breaking hearts...

Anonymous said...

Your poem expresses the fear some feel of comment. Well done with the pic also. K.

Martin said...

The strict form and the poem's brevity evoke a fascinating impression of closeness and poignancy. And well observed ...

kaykuala said...

Knowing fully well what he's up against, he still persist in not being fair to himself. There are good guys who sacrifice more than necessary for the sake of love!
Great write Anna!

Hank

Claudia said...

if we're our own enemy it's the worst you can think of cause you can't run away from what threatens you...tight write anna

Jim said...

Anna, your hero needs to learn the 'nothing laws.' that "nothing gained is nothing lost" and "nothing ventured, nothing gained."
I.e. he needs to step out and try.
..

Sumana Roy said...

the painting is chilling so are your lines...truly he has turned his back against himself when love is no more.

Kerry O'Connor said...

Wow! What an excellent reading of the painting and so well executed in the Yeats octave. Your use of the Latin truism is especially powerful.

Gabriella said...

Lack of hope and self-destruction. You have painted a forceful and sad portait in a few words.

Cait O'Connor said...

Poignant, beautiful, thank you.

Silent Otto said...

Who among us has not known the pain of compulsive replication ...best to start afresh ...very powerful, Anna

Optimistic Existentialist said...

Sad but beautiful. We are definitely our own worst enemy sometimes...

brudberg said...

To always turn the back against yourself.. I think your captured the essence in the picture... that is what Magritte wanted to say.

^.^ said...

I'd like to think that the deck of cards in front of that mirror is a stack of money ... so he can buy time/love ... oops, did I just say that?

Helen said...

Lovely writing, not an easy form ~ you managed it beautifully.

Arathi Harihar said...

so intense..it's like not respecting one self..sad but sometimes true:)

Eddie Bluelights said...

He's not in a win win situation - that's for sure ~ Eddie

Grace said...

Very well done with form Anna ~ Too bad on the love he wrecks ~

J Cosmo Newbery said...

Truly a tragic tale and a common cycle.

HA said...

The tragedy of self destruction.. so eloquently expressed in your words. Powerful writing. :-)
(And I apologize for the delayed visit)
-HA

Anonymous said...

Goodness me, we can be such foolish animals, can we not? Very well written.

Marian said...

i adore this! absolutely perfect, what a great voice this piece has. though it's a Yeats octave i hear e.e. cummings here. well done!!

Friko said...

Turning your back on yourself, not a good place to be.

Tess Kincaid said...

Powerful last line...worth mulling over a bit...

Helena said...

Oh, I'm definitely relating to this!