Welcome to February’s Poem of the Month!
Valentine’s Day is right around the corner, and I must admit that every year when the television starts telling us about the candy, flowers, jewelry, and fancy dinners that we need to give our loves to show that we really, really, really care, it usually forces me to dig a little deeper to try and uncover something more meaningful about what the day really should mean.
This month’s poem was perfect for me for several reasons: 1) it was written by the French poet Jean de Sponde in the 1500’s, long before Valentine’s Day was the commercialized juggernaut that we know today, 2) it mentions Archimedes, who I think is such a fascinating figure (with my history minor, go figure); 3) it is a reminder that humans loved deeply long before Hallmark…
To you, and yours – Happy Valentine’s Day…
Jean de Sponde
(1557 – 1595)
Sonnets on Love XIII
“Give me a place to stand,” Archimedes said,
“and I can move the world.” Paradoxical, clever,
his remark which first explained the use of the lever
was an academic joke. But if that dead
sage could return to life, he would find a clear
demonstration of his idea, which is not
pure theory after all. That putative spot
exists in the love I feel for you, my dear.
What could be more immovable or stronger?
What becomes more and more secure, the longer
it is battered by inconstancy and the stress
we find in our lives? Here is that fine fixed point
from which to move a world that is out of joint,
as he could have done, had he known a love like this.
