Who Am I? Poem by Valsa George

Who Am I?

Rating: 5.0


‘What a piece of work is a man! '
……… ………
And yet, to me, what is this quintessence of dust? '

From Shakespeare, through Hamlet
It rings down to generations
And falls heavily on my ears too

In vain, I attempt to probe into the mystery
Nay, the enigma called man
Both in the silence of my solitude
And in the learned circle of pundits

(Fool…..
Unable to find who you are
Can you venture to say who the other man is?)

Man, a jumble of contradictions,
I know….A hard nut to crack!
So unfathomable, so mysterious
At once a Satan and an angel

To the outer world I am someone
But in the well guarded cellars of my privacy
Aren't I different?
Hiding my innards to light
As every other man

At times, I feel so proud
Excessively in love with my own image
Like Narcissus, the poor hunter boy
Fated by gods to languish
On the bank of a pond,
Over his own floating image!

However with all my strength within
Do I not feel as helpless as Prometheus bound?
Waiting for a Hercules to come
And save me from my plight
If Prometheus' bondage was God willed
Mine is self willed…! Is the difference so very crucial?

Sometimes I feel I am Janus
Looking backward and forward
Into my past and my future
Never living in the present
Or am I more a Sisyphus
Eternally rolling a rock over to the cliff
From where it keeps falling down

Sometimes I wonder
Amid the splendour, do I not starve?
Like Tantalus of Greece in the pool
Beneath the tree, with the low lying branches of fruits
Constantly eluding his grasp
And the water, ever receding before
He could take a drink!

As a poet how I wish I could
Equate myself with Calliope
Carving my mind on the wax tablet
With stylus, my pen and coloring it with my fancy
Or Orpheus, so skilled in music
That with my sad musings
I can make even Hades weep
And the rocks fall in line

I shudder to be a Medusa
Turning everyone to a stone
With my sinister glance!
Instead, I want to be one of the Graces
And never one among the Gorgons

Pitched in this gallery
Of queer mythological entities
I wonder how I appear to others
And whom I resemble more!

Monday, January 27, 2014
Topic(s) of this poem: Search
POET'S NOTES ABOUT THE POEM
I invite you for a ride through Greek Mythology
COMMENTS OF THE POEM
Dimitrios Galanis 04 February 2016

In two, three days I'll have translated this one here.I hope in my translation it will sound equally beautiful.Thank you dear Lady, for the opportunity given.

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Valsa George 04 February 2016

Thank you sir for this honor!

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Dimitrios Galanis 04 February 2016

In the most emphatic way the question you pose, dear Lady, was posed by Sophocles in the fifth b.d. cent.. In his tragedy Oedipous the enigma put to him by the Sphinx of Thebes had one right answer ''the Human Being''.In other words that is the problem we have to face ''The human Being''.You probe the mystery the right way, through literary history, through the first attempts of human beings who tried for a thousand years from 1500 b.d. until 5th century to face it.This is the period of the greek myths were fformed.The most important thing for human's history is that those myths formed not any religious cast But the Poets.This very fact was it which formed the modern civilization, the whole western civilization.It depends on modern poets to continue on the same route.....And you undertake exactly this Labour by this poem.///I have started translating the poem into greek.

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Valsa George 04 February 2016

I am sorry I won't be able to enjoy your translation as it will ever remain Greek and Latin to me. However I am so happy that you will translate my poem into a classical language!

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Kumarmani Mahakul 23 May 2020

Man, a jumble of contradictions, I know….A hard nut to crack! So unfathomable, so mysterious At once a Satan and an angel.....so touching and meaningful. A brilliant poem is so impressively delineated by yoy dear madam, thanks for sharing. Full vote.

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Savita Tyagi 30 November 2017

The question you pose so exquisitely is one that can be answered in million ways and still would stay incomplete. May be Buddha got it right with his nothingness! Though that doesn’t satisfy me either! Enjoyed reading the poem. I was looking for your other poem but instead opened this one. So much to learn about mythology here. My favorite reading part.

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Glen Kappy 15 July 2017

hi, valsa! so now, with your help, i've read this a second time. the first, coming on it by accident, i was drawn in by the hamlet quote, one of my favorites from the play, one of my favorites from shakespeare in general. it just strikes me that it is we who have leisure who have the time to think long on such things. that said, in the role of teacher (like you) with young people, i have called attention to the importance of knowing ourselves. and certainly an important take-away from sitting in meditation is getting acquainted with ourselves as we watch our thoughts. one of the things this poem of yours reminds me of is of all the impressive writing on us taking both positive and negative views. the hamlet quote contains both. and what a phrase, quintessence of dust(!) on man and self-reflection i have several poems you could read: who are we? my sixty-eight year old self looks in a mirror scrawny chicken nature and man another glimpse of whitman listening to genius loves company on christmas morning imagine me several with home pome in the title fit this category, and in these you'll find some positive views of my wife and granddaughter. as i write this i realize that i tend to find comfort and inspiration in nature as a counter to my disappointment in people. glen

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Susan Williams 13 February 2017

Triumphant! ! ! You put into elegant words my - and I believe all of our- - thoughts about ourselves. And you did it so far far far better than I could by using your highly educated and intelligent mind to reference the Greek mythology in your exploration of the heart and soul of man. We are such a mishmash, and if we live an unexamined life, we are such a train wreck. If we at least confront the man in the mirror, we do have the opportunity to try to change. Powerful piece of literature here. Worthy of a million ten's. Putting this on my Fav list.

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Valsa George 14 February 2017

Thank you so much Susan! As ever, you have once again made me happy with your generous words of commendation! Both the poems are unique in their own ways! Yes, occasionally we have to make a self introspection to find out who we really are and think of ways and means to improve our selves. Glad you find the poem erudite and intelligent!

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Edward Kofi Louis 10 November 2016

Made of Dust! But with hope. Thanks for sharing this poem with us.

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